Inbound Receptive Services

Planning a tour to New England, the Northeastern United States or Eastern Canada has never been easier. You can't afford to compromise quality. All of our tours feature customized itineraries designed to meet the interests and budgets of your travelers. These tours are enriched by local and our professional guides who will introduce your guests to the lore and legends that make our region special, while both entertaining and informing your travelers. We arrange lodging, meals, entertainment, professional multilingual guide service, sightseeing and attractions. Notch Above has earned an enviable reputation for offering an incredibly diverse range of tours, many thematic in nature.

Notch Above offers three options for Step-On Guide,
Tour Planning and Receptive Services:

1. Full Receptive Services-We will provide a proposal and itinerary for your visit including lodging, meals, attractions, transportation, entertainment and guide service. As a full-service receptive tour operator of New England and Eastern Canada, Notch Above will save you time and money and introduce your clients to the essence of our region.

2. Limited Tour Planning-If you need advice about the region or assistance with reservations, we will provide that service to you on a hourly fee basis. You will be given an estimate for charges and will be contacted for approval if the time we need to spend will exceed the estimate. Our fee for tour planning is 60.00 per hour with a one-hour minimum.

3. Step-On Guide Service-Our guides will provide commentary about a specific region or topic. We will adhere to your itinerary. Our fee for step-on guide service is 150.00 for a half day (up to 4 hours) and 275.00 for a full day (up to 8 hours.) After 8 hours, the fee is 30.00 per hour. Our assumption is that the guide will depart and return to the same location. Mileage/travel/meal expenses may be additional depending upon the itinerary. Second language/non-English speaking guides are available. Add 25% to the fees listed above.

Private Guide Service

Multi-Day Tours

Vermont is renown for granite, maple syrup and fall leaves. However, there are a few more facts that make Vermont the special place that it is. Vermont is home to some of the oldest and most quaint country stores in the nation and to the town with the most covered bridges in the country! In fact, Vermont has the highest number of covered bridges (104) relative to the state’s size.

Join us as we travel Vermont’s country roads to explore these fascinating and historical landmarks.

DAY ONE
The Vermont Country Store in Rockingham is our first destination. Known as "purveyors of the practical and hard-to-find", this store is known worldwide for its unique, old-style mail order catalogue. Witness first hand the vast variety of apothecary, apparel, candy and Yankee Bargains.

From the Country Store you’ll begin to see covered bridges. The Victorian Village Bridge, built in 1872 was dismantled in 1959, modified and rebuilt in 1967. Vrest Orton, founder of the Vermont Country Store was instrumental in rescuing the bridge from a flood control project. You will also witness the Hall Covered Bridge, c1870 and the Bartonsville Covered Bridge, built in 1870 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

By this time you will be ready for lunch. Arrive at an authentic Vermont country inn, built in 1840 as a Victorian summer hotel. Enjoy fine food served with the best of New England hospitality.

Olson’s Bridgewater Corners Country Store, built in the 1840’s and FH Gillingham and Sons General Store are next. Gillingham’s is one of Vermont’s oldest country stores where you can buy everything from caviar to cow manure! As you wind your way between country stores, witness the Taftsville Bridge c1836, Middle Bridge and Lincoln Bridge c1877.

The last stop before arriving at your hotel is certain to sweeten your travels. The Sugarbush Farm welcomes you with samples of Vermont maple syrup and artisan cheeses. Discover how maple syrup is made and visit the workroom where cheeses are hand-wrapped and hand-waxed. Purchase your favorites from their Pantry Shop.

Arrive at your lovely Stowe hotel. Enjoy a relaxing evening and a delicious dinner served in the hotel’s dining room.

DAY TWO

Rise and shine to a hearty country breakfast at the hotel. Enjoy a leisurely stroll around the hotel’s beautifully manicured grounds before heading out for a busy day. Your local guide will join you at breakfast.

Your first stop is Shaw’s General Store in Stowe. Family owned since 1895, the tremendous inventory that ranges from socks to toys will amaze you.

Prepare yourself for an adventure into some of Vermont’s most beautiful backcountry roads and scenic vistas, many of which are known only to the locals. Stop for photo ops at the Jaynes Covered Bridge c1877, known as the Kissing Bridge according to a sign posted by a visitor in the 1950’s, The Church Street Bridge, built in 1877 and still containing old ads and decorative stenciling on the inside and The Lynch Bridge.

Our route takes us to Belvidere, population 294. The name translated from Italian means "beautiful view." We stop at Tallman’s traditional old-style country store, and witness the Mill Bridge, 1890 and the Morgan Bridge, 1887, which with a 62’ span covers the North Branch of the Lamoille River.

From Belvidere, we travel to the Covered Bridge Capital of Vermont, Montgomery. The unique geography of this farm town required may bridges and as recently at the 1940’s there were 13 covered bridges within the Town’s limits. Today there are six covered bridges within the Town, and one which straddles the town line with Enosburg; the most of any town in the country.

In Montgomery Center visit a restored country store and have lunch at the same time. This former 3-story general store boasts the original ice cream counter and 3 levels of displays from local artists. The aromas of fresh-baked bread will assure you of a delicious and down to earth lunch.

We travel up and over the mountains into Coventry to view the Orne Bridge, built with a 14-panel truss representing the 14 counties in Vermont and the fact that Vermont was the 14th state to enter the Union.

At the "locals’ favorite" Evansville Trading Post, you will find all you want and more. Shovels for shovelin’, worms for fishin’ and sody pop for Saturday night’s social are just a few of the sought after supplies and staples! Back on the coach, relax and take in the amazing scenery. Stop in Craftsbury Common, one of the most-photographed villages in Vermont.

The Fisher Covered Railroad Bridge is the last railroad covered bridge still in regular use in Vermont and one of a very few left in the U.S. Built in 1908, it is the only one remaining with full-length cupola which provides a smoke escape.

A relaxing and delicious dinner served in a landmark restaurant is the perfect ending to your busy day. Return to the hotel for the evening.

DAY THREE

Enjoy your farewell breakfast in the hotel before you begin your travels home. Along the way, there are a few "must see" visits.

Emily’s Bridge offers a hauntingly sad history. In the nineteenth century a young woman, Emily, grew up in the town of Stowe. One day a handsome young man came upon Emily while she was doing chores and he instantly captured her heart. Emily’s parents forbid her to see him, however their love was so intense that they decided to run off together and meet at the Gold Brook Bridge the following night. Emily’s parents discovered their intentions and had the boy friend beaten unconscious. Emily thought she had been stood up and as a result, hung herself from the rafters of the bridge. Today, it is believed that Emily’s angry spirit haunts the bridge. Open the door to the aroma of fresh-baked donuts at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill. Enjoy samples of apple cider, Vermont specialty food products and shop for Vermont gifts and hand-made crafts.

A visit to Vermont is not complete without a stop at the Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory.

From Chunky Monkey to Cherry Garcia, a scoop of "Vermont’s Finest" is a must. This is a perfect touch of sweetness in your day of touring.

Traveling south, stop in the Village of Tunbridge. The entire center of Tunbridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Tunbridge boasts 5 covered bridges, all of which are listed on the National Register. Stroll through this charming historic village and have lunch on your own.

Your last stop in Vermont is the Taftsville Country Store. The store has one of the finest assortments of Vermont cheeses, gourmet foods, pure Vermont maple syrup, wine, cigars, gift baskets, smoked bacon and ham you can find in the Upper Valley. This gem of a store is the centerpiece of the Taftsville Historic District, which includes one of Vermont's oldest and longest covered bridges, a turn of the century brick powerhouse, the stately Taft homes, and a quiet residential hamlet of less than one hundred people. The covered bridge, built in 1836 is the third oldest covered bridge in Vermont.

Say goodbye to covered bridges, country stores, maple syrup and cheese galore!

Your Package Includes:

• 2 Nights lodging
• 2 Breakfasts
• 2 Lunches
• 2 Dinners
• Customized Covered Bridge and Country Store Travel Guide
• Local guide service for one day
• Luxury motor coach transportation if needed

Our customized itineraries can be modified to meet your schedule

New England’s history earns the region a special place in American life. Trusted Colonial roots, charming towns with village greens and remembrances of the Revolutionary War make this a virtual museum of early American history. From 16th-century settlements to old-fashioned general stores, rolling hills, scenic mountains and wave-washed beaches are all part of the region where America began.

• Five nights accommodation. Baggage handling included
• Breakfast is included each morning
• Five dinners included
• Visit the Mark Twain House and Old State House in Hartford, Connecticut
• Tour Old Weathersfield, featuring homes 200 and 300-years-old including the Webb-Deane Stevens Museum where George Washington planned the battle of Yorktown Journey
• Visit Stockbridge, Massachusetts and the Norman Rockwell Museum
• Visit Bennington, Vermont and the Old First Church with Robert Frost’s tombstone
• Tour Hildene, the 24-room Georgian Revival mansion, where Abraham Lincoln’s descendents lived until 1975
• Visit Dorset, Vermont, a pristine village and haven for artists and writers and home to H. N. Williams General Store, run by the same family for six generations
• Visit the New England Maple Museum
• Visit Woodstock, Vermont, one of New England prettiest villages with opulent old homes
• Travel along the White Mountains of New Hampshire, the highest range in the northeastern US
• Tour Ogunquit, Maine, a popular seaside resort with craft shops, theaters and parks lining its streets
• Visit Kennebunkport, Maine, a beautiful seaport where the Bush family has a vacation home
• Visit Portsmouth, New Hampshire where sea-weary travelers first disembarked in 1630

Experience life during years gone by. Is it "the good old days" or a time when medical care, plumbing and transportation were still in the dark ages?

• Seven nights accommodation. Baggage handling included.
• Breakfast is included each morning
• Seven dinners included
• Visit Mystic Seaport, a 19th-century Connecticut seaport village
• Visit Plimouth Plantation, a recreated 17th-century village with interpreters living the lives of village residents
• Visit Boston, America’s "Birthplace of Freedom"
• Tour Boston’s Freedom Trail linking the city’s historic sites
• Visit Lexington and Concord
• Visit Old Sturbridge Village, a recreated 19th-century New England village
• Visit historic Deerfield which preserves and interprets the architecture, artifacts and life of a prosperous early New England town
• Visit Hancock Shaker Village and Canterbury Shaker Village where early Shaker life is presented
• Visit Vermont’s Shelburne Museum, "New England’s Smithsonian" with 37 exhibit buildings on 45-acres with 80,000 artifacts of everyday life in early New England
• Visit Willowbrook at Newfane, Maine, described as a Currier & Ives scene in three dimensions

Explore the back roads of Vermont, visiting antique and collectible shops along the route. We’ll wind our way through small villages and discover "off-the-beaten-track" stops where owners will talk with you about their collections. Vermont is fertile ground for aficionados of antiques. You’ll find "treasures" for both the bargain hunter and collectors.

• Four nights accommodation. Baggage handling included.
• Breakfast is included each morning
• Four dinners including a dinner cruise on Lake Champlain
• Visit Burlington, Vermont's Queen City on the shores of Lake Champlain. Explore the historic Church Street Marketplace, a four-block pedestrian mall with a multitude of shops, boutiques, galleries and restaurants
• Tour the Shelburne Museum, "New England's Smithsonian" with 37 historic buildings housing a world-renowned collection of American folk art, artifacts and architecture.
• Tour Vermont's Northeast Kingdom where you'll see nature pristine and wild, lakes deep, clear stunning hillside farmscapes and a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts
• Stop at small town antique and collectible shops
• Visit Stowe where you'll find Vermont's highest mountain, lush meadows and valleys, the classic white Church steeple, red barns, covered bridges, traditional country stores and Stowe village shops which have provided the necessities of life for residents and visitors since 1840
• Travel along the Green Mountains to the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site, considered the best-preserved Presidential birthplace in the nation, Plymouth Notch is virtually unchanged since the turn of the century. This rural Vermont village includes the homes of Calvin Coolidge's family and neighbors, general store, church, cheese factory (still operated by Coolidge's family), dance hall and 1924 summer White House office.
• Visit Woodstock, one of New England's most beautiful villages with opulent mid-19th-century homes built around the Green. The stately Woodstock Inn, owned by the Rockefeller family, presides over the town Green.
• Enjoy a scoop of "Vermont's finest" at Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory
• Visit Middlebury, the classic Vermont college town.
• Visit the Vermont State Craft Center - Frog Hollow with crafts and art of Vermont artists
• See the Pulp Mill Covered Bridge, generally agreed to be Vermont’s oldest covered bridge and one of only seven two-lane covered bridges in the country
• Visit Vergennes, the smallest city in the USA and home of Kennedy Brothers, a former woodenware factory and now packed with Vermont crafts, antiques and gifts

Our customized itineraries can be modified to meet your schedule

Vermont is like no other place. Its vibrant community life and rural ways still remain strong today despite 20th-century influences. Its mountains and valleys offer a quiet world of wonders for all ages. Vermont offers glimpses of the spirit and valor of early settlers and heroes of the American Revolution. Once you visit, you'll realize why Vermont is truly a special place! Its mountains and valleys offer a world of wonders for all ages. Explore stunning hillside farmscape, lakes deep and clear, a maze of scenic back roads and fascinating indoor looks at the natural world at ECHO.

• Three nights accommodation. Baggage handling included
• Breakfasts included each morning
• Three dinners including a dinner cruise on Lake Champlain
• One luncheon at a Victorian-era lodge on a scenic lake
• Visit one of our “best kept secrets”, the Birds of Vermont Museum with over 400 life-size woodcarvings of Vermont birds in habitat settings with nests and eggs. See live birds and observe a woodcarving demonstration
• Tour Shelburne Farms, the former Webb family estate of 4,000-lakeside-acres. One of the grandest in New England is now a working farm and educational center. See how cheese is made and taste the finished product.
• Tour the colorful birthplace of America’s most loveable teddy bears during a tour of the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory.
• Visit to the world-class ECHO Lake Aquarium & Science Center. Experience over 60 species of live fish, amphibians, invertebrates and reptiles, 100 interactive exhibits, recreated whale dig and shipwreck, major traveling exhibition, special behind-the-scenes tour and multi-media object theater. ECHO is located at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain on the Burlington Waterfront.
• Spend a day of "off-the-beaten-track" touring to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. The Kingdom has been revered by residents and visitors alike for its lovely countryside, abundant natural resources and the preservation of traditional landscapes and lifestyles that have made the Vermont experience one to be cherished by generations.
• Visit Craftsbury Common, considered one of Vermont’s loveliest with classic homes and other 18th and 19th-century structures overlooking the Village green. Walk the Green and explore the Village.
• Visit the village of Greensboro with a century-old following of noted authors, educators and socialites. It is also home to Willey’s Store. Explore one of the biggest, best and most authentic general stores in the State.
• Visit Stowe, ski capital of the East with Vermont’s highest mountain, lush meadows and valleys, the classic white church steeple, red barns and Village shops that have provided the necessities of life for residents since 1840.
• Walk through Vermont’s only haunted covered bridge
• Enjoy a scoop of "Vermont’s finest" at Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory
• Visit the homestead of Vermont’s famous Revolutionary War hero, Ethan Allen. Learn first-hand about life on the Vermont frontier.
• Visit The Shelburne Museum, "New England’s Smithsonian", with 37 exhibit buildings displaying 80,000 pieces of Americana, quilts, carriages, sleighs and the S. S. Ticonderoga, the last steam-powered side-wheeler of it type in the US.
• Visit the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, a large collection of original small watercraft built over the last 150 years. Learn about the life of citizen soldiers in Vermont in 1776. Watch craftsmen continue traditional maritime skills of boat building and blacksmithing in working shops.

Combine fine food, lodging at a charming New England Inn and touring in a very special place. Vermont offers glimpses of the spirit and valor of early settlers and heroes of the Revolution. Its mountains and valleys provide a world of wonders for all ages.

• Three nights accommodation. Baggage handling included.
• Breakfast included each morning
• Three dinners including the Trapp Family Lodge, one of New England’s finest Culinary Institutes with a chef’s demonstration and a dinner cruise on Lake Champlain
• Two luncheons
• Visit Cabot Creamery, home of "Best Cheddar in the World"
• See how maple sugaring works from the trees to finished product at a family farm
• Visit the world’s largest granite manufacturing plant then
• Discover a veritable outdoor museum of fine granite sculpture at Hope Cemetery
• Visit Montpelier, our nation’s smallest state capital
• Tour the Vermont State House
• Enjoy a scoop of "Vermont’s Finest" at Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory
• Visit Vergennes, the smallest city in the USA and home of Kennedy Brothers, a former woodenware factory and now packed with Vermont crafts, antiques and products
• Visit Middlebury, the quintessential New England college town and site of Robert Frost’s cabin.
• Walk the Frost Interpretive Trail
• Enjoy luncheon at an 1810 Inn and former stage coach stop featured on the Bob Newhart Show. See Middlebury College and the Vermont State Craft Center
• Visit the oldest covered bridge in Vermont
• Tour Stowe village where you’ll find shops that have provided the necessities of life for residents and visitors since 1840.
• Visit and dinner at the Trapp Family Lodge, a classic Austrian chalet still operated by family members.
• Visit Burlington where you’ll have time at its pedestrian mall with boutiques, galleries and restaurants
• Visit the Shelburne Museum deemed "One of the seven wonders of New England" (Yankee Magazine) and "New England’s Smithsonian" (NY Times) with 37 exhibition galleries and structures in a 19th-century village-like setting.

Our customized itineraries can be modified to meet your schedule

When Hollywood comes to Vermont, it’s most often looking for the same things most travelers seek: farms and barns, rural vistas, winding back roads, covered bridges and plenty of mountains and lakes. Since the early 1900’s filmmakers have been coming to Vermont. Alfred Hitchcock came to the State to film his peculiar black comedy, "The Trouble with Harry" (1955) and Jim Carrey and the Farrelly Brothers filmed "Me, Myself and Irene" (1999) in and around Burlington. "Forrest Gump", "The Trouble with Harry" and over 100 other movies have been filmed in or include scenes from Vermont. Travel with a local guide to visit film locations around the State. Discover and visit film locations and learn behind-the-scenes secrets about these films while you wind your way through charming villages tucked along the Green Mountains.

• Three nights accommodation. Baggage handling included
• Breakfast is included each morning
• Three dinners included - one at the charming Inn where Bob Newhart resided on TV and another at one of the nation’s premier culinary schools with chef demonstration
• Visit Stowe with Vermont’s largest mountain, lush meadows and valleys, traditional country stores and the setting for "The Four Seasons" with Alan Alda, Carol Burnett, Rita Moreno & Jack Weston
• Visit the unspoiled 19th-century village, Grafton, where Chevy Chase portrays stereotyped locals who speed down dirt roads in rusty pickups and make dinners out of animal parts not commonly associated with fine dining ("Funny Farm" 1988)
• Visit Burlington, Vermont’s largest city with only 40,000 residents, and where in 1999 Jim Carrey and Renee Zellweger enjoyed the summer filming "Me, Myself & Irene". Zellweger especially loved Lake Champlain where she jumped off the dock with her dog and explored nearby Middlebury, Vermont’s landmark college town.
• Visit Craftsbury Common, considered by many to be one of the loveliest villages in Vermont, and the setting for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film, "The Trouble with Harry". Craftsbury’s rambling setting along a mountain ridge offers views in every direction and the village green is ringed by classic 18th and 19th-century homes.
• Enjoy a scoop of "Vermont’s finest" at Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory

Our customized itineraries can be modified to meet your schedule

Visiting New England is like stepping back in time. Small villages, mountain peaks and rolling meadows, hillside farms and big red barns. Breathtaking coastal scenery, broad beaches and picturesque villages framed in beautiful fall foliage make this a very special region.

• Eleven nights accommodation. Baggage handling included
• Breakfast is included each morning
• Ten dinners including a Culinary Demonstration at the Inn at Essex, Dinner Cruise on Lake Champlain and Maine Lobster Bake
• Tour begins and ends in Boston
• Tour Boston with a local guide. Follow the Freedom Trail with sixteen Revolutionary and Colonial-era historic sites, visit Old North Church where two lanterns signaled the Redcoats’ arrival by sea, the Old State House where the Declaration of Independence was read to the citizens of Boston in 1776, Boston Common, see the Boston Tea Party ship and the Old South Meeting House. Visit the USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides"), the Bunker Hill Monument and Faneuil Hall is one of the most historic sites in the nation
• Visit Quincy Market with interesting shops, street performers and tantalizing restaurants and an expansive food court
• Ascend to the 50th-floor of the Prudential Center and enjoy a spectacular view of Boston from the Skywalk Observatory
• Visit the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts – "America’s Premier Cultural Resort". Visit Stockbridge, established as an American Indian mission in 1734 and now described as "the best of America, best of New England". See preserved turn-of-the-century homes known as the "Berkshire Cottages" and the Village Cemetery where the first slave to be legally freed in the United States is buried.
• Visit the Norman Rockwell Museum. Rockwell lived in Stockbridge and many of its residents are depicted in his illustrations. His original studio has been relocated to the museum
• Visit The Mount – Edith Wharton’s Estate & Gardens. The 42-room mansion was built in 1902 by Edith Wharton, the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for fiction and an authority on architecture, interior design and gardens. The estate includes formal flower gardens (in season), woodland trails, a Georgian Revival stable and a mansion with restored rooms. Wharton’s personal 2,600-volume library is on view.
• Tour the Hancock Shaker Village, a 1,200-acre restored village. Explore 21 buildings with original Shaker furniture and artifacts, a working farm and an heirloom herb and vegetable garden. Walk through the 1830’s brick dwelling and 1826 Round Stone Barn, laundry and machine shop. Hands-on activities and first-person portrayals are typically available and staff demonstrate Shaker woodworking, weaving, oval box-making and other 19th-century crafts.
• Drive through Williamstown, a quintessential New England college town and home to Williams College, founded in 1793.
• Visit Bennington, Vermont where Ethan Allen organized his Green Mountain Boys in 1770.
• Visit the handsome clapboard Old First Church, designated “Vermont’s Colonial Shrine” and its cemetery, the final resting place of early Vermont governors and the poet Robert Frost.
• Visit Manchester, one of New England’s prime resort towns with Mount Equinox to its west and a stately sense of the past.
• Tour Hildene, the summer estate of Robert Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's son and his descendants. The 24-room Georgian Revival mansion is filled with original furnishings and family memorabilia. The 400-acre estate includes a carriage barn and magnificent formal garden in the shape of a Gothic window and panoramic views of the mountains.
• Explore the back roads of Vermont including several covered bridges, a maple sugaring/syrup farm and scenic rivers, ponds and lakes
• Visit Stowe, the "ski capital of the East" which has kept the turn-of-the-century look of several generations ago. Tucked between the Stowe Community Church and the venerable Green Mountain Inn, you'll find shops that have provided necessities of life for residents and visitors since 1840.
• See the Mount Mansfield Ski Area
• Stop for samples at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill
• Discover the specialty foods and outstanding arts and crafts of Lake Champlain Chocolates, Cabot Cheese, Vermont Teddy Bear Annex and the Mesa Factory Store. Visit Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory for a scoop of "Vermont's Finest"
• See the Old Round Church built in 1813
• Visit Burlington, Vermont’s "Queen City" nestled between the peaks of New York's Adirondacks and the gentle Green Mountains of Vermont.
• Visit the University of Vermont, founded by Ira Allen in 1793. The classic campus overlooks the city of Burlington and is built around the traditional New England Green.
• Visit the Church Street Marketplace, an historic district now a pedestrian mall with shops, boutiques and restaurants.
• Tour Shelburne Farms, the former estate of Dr. & Mrs. William Seward Webb. The 4,000-acre lakeside estate is one of the grandest in New England and is now a working farm, educational center and cheese making plant.
• Visit "New England’s Smithsonian", the Shelburne Museum. Explore 37 exhibit buildings displaying 80,000 pieces of Americana, quilts, carriages, sleighs and the S.S. Ticonderoga, the last steam-powered side-wheeler of its type in the United States.
• Travel back roads through small towns and villages of Vermont to St. Johnsbury, home of the Fairbanks family who began manufacturing scales in the 1830’s.
• Explore the White Mountain National Park in New Hampshire
• Visit The Mount Washington Hotel opened in 1902 by railroad magnate Joseph Stickney and billed as the largest wooden building in New England. Early in the 20th-century, as many as 50 private trains a day brought the rich and famous from New York and Philadelphia to the hotel.
• See New England’s highest peak, Mt. Washington
• Travel through Crawford Notch State Park and the White Mountains, the highest range in the northeastern United States
• Follow the spectacular Kancamagus Highway which winds through the mountains with grand views of distant peaks
• Travel through Franconia Notch State Park, location of the former granite profile, Old Man of the Mountain
• Travel through the beautiful Lakes Region of Maine
• Visit Portland, Maine’s largest city. Explore the bustling waterfront and Old Port Exchange with its restored shops and restaurants.
• Tour Portland on the Duck, "Eider" and splash into Casco Bay. Cruise by lighthouses, historic forts and the breathtaking Calendar Islands. Pass by the working waterfront, tug boats, harbor seals and the Whaling Walls where lobstermen haul in their traps.
• Visit Freeport, “Birthplace of Maine” and now home of L. L. Bean, sporting goods store and more than 130 other retail shops and name brand outlets
• Visit Bath, an active center for shipbuilding since the early 1600’s
• Visit the Maine Maritime Museum, a 20-acre site located on a 19th-century shipyard, offering paintings, ship models, ship artifacts, interpretive exhibits of life at sea and a Boat Shop where boat building still takes place
• Visit the Boothbays, small villages clustered along Maine’s rocky coast, which were favorite summer retreats for the rich and famous in the 19th-century
• Visit Kennebunkport, the seasonal retreat of the President Bush family. In the first half of the 19th-century more than 1,000 wooden schooners, clippers and cargo vessels emerged from the area’s 50-some shipyards. The historic district features beautifully detailed homes.
• Visit Portsmouth, New Hampshire where sea-weary travelers first disembarked in 1630. The town became a major shipbuilding center and attracted a merchant class in large numbers.

Our customized itineraries can be modified to meet your schedule

In the words of Vermont author, Howard Frank Mosher, our State has "hundreds of wonderful stories just waiting to be written. Every hill farmer and horse logger and old-time hunter and trapper seems to have dozens of spellbinding tales to tell. Many of the stories I heard involved mysteries and a good number of these mysteries touched by the supernatural." Join us as we explore the stories and visit the sites of many of Vermont’s myths and mysteries.

• Three nights accommodation. Baggage handling included
• Breakfast is included each morning
• Three dinners including a dinner cruise on Lake Champlain
• Visit Hope Cemetery, a veritable outdoor museum of fine granite sculpture with headstones created by the world’s most skilled granite artists
• Tour Rock of Ages Quarry, the world’s largest and most modern granite manufacturing plant
• Visit our nation’s smallest state capital, Montpelier, and an 1890’s summer house believed to be a getaway for the spirit of a ghostly kitchen
• Visit the Green Mountain Seminary where a deceased teacher allegedly walks the halls
• Walk across Vermont’s only haunted covered bridge
• Visit Stowe, "ski capital of the East", where you’ll find shops that have provided the necessities of life for residents and visitors since 1840
• See the Trapp Family Lodge still operated by Trapp family members
• Enjoy a scoop of "Vermont’s finest" at Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory
• Visit a library where a ghost continues to play pranks of staff and volunteers
• Visit "New England’s Smithsonian", the Shelburne Museum with 37 historic buildings displaying 80,000 pieces of Americana
• Learn about the "Educated Spirits" at the University of Vermont with at least 14 haunted buildings and a campus founded by Ira Allen in 1791
• Learn about "Champ", Lake Champlain’s resident monster during an evening dinner cruise
• Visit Vermontt quintessential college town, Middlebury, with its 300 village buildings from the 18th and 19-centuries
• Visit the Sheldon Museum, home to the Petrified Indian Boy unearthed in 1871
• See Vermont’s oldest covered bridge and one of the last remaining two-lane spans still in use

Visits to other Myth & Mystery sites can be arranged in locations throughout the state

Our customized itineraries can be modified to meet your schedule

Vermont is one of the most beautiful and rural states in the nation. Vermont farms play a critical role in providing products for consumers world-wide. Its farms also provide a spectacular backdrop for the Green Mountain State. For a glimpse of farm life, old and new, you’ll visit Vermont’s working farm museums, horticultural and experimental farms, family farms and specialty farms raising livestock such as llamas, emus, highland cattle and miniature ponies. Talk with farm families. Roam gardens, sample maple sugar-on-snow and taste farm grown products. Colorful farmers’ markets, roadside stands and opportunities to pick your own apples and berries may also be added to your visit.

• Three nights accommodation. Baggage handling included
• Breakfast is included each morning
• Three dinners including a dinner cruise on Lake Champlain
• Visit Stowe with Vermont’s highest mountain, classic white church steeple, red barns, covered bridges and Stowe village shops which have provided the necessities of life for residents and visitors since 1840.
• Visit Shelburne Farms, the lakeside estate of Dr. & Mrs. William Steward Webb and now a working dairy farm and cheese making operation.
• Visit Shelburne Museum, "Vermont’s Smithsonian", with 37 historic buildings and a collection of 150,000 works representing days gone by
• Visit the Billings Farm & Museum, sustained by the Billings and Rockefeller families, a working dairy farm with a meticulously restored 1890 farmhouse
• Visit the President Calvin Coolidge’s homestead, the best preserved presidential birthplace in the nation which has remained virtually unchanged since the early 1900’s Visit Woodstock, one of New England’s most beautiful villages and home to a working family farm where we’ll learn how maple syrup is harvested and cheese is produced
• Visit the Morgan Horse Farm where Justin Morgan’s famous equine descendents are on display
• Visit a diversified working family farm and enjoy a horse-drawn sleigh, wagon or tractor ride
• Visit a bustling local farmer’s market and/or roadside produce stands (schedule dependent)

Our customized itineraries can be modified to meet your schedule

Bicycling is not only a healthy way to see the State. It is also a way to get "up close and personal" with our sights, sounds and people. Discover rural Vermont at your own pace. Routes are carefully researched and ridden and are located throughout the state. You can opt to cycle for a weekend or a week; stay at an inn, hotel, or campground; and dine in charming country inns or in the great outdoors! Experienced tour leaders are trained in bicycle repair, basic First Aid and CPR and share their knowledge and love of the region with travelers. Groups can include a mix of couples, singles and families (children should be 10 years or older). Tour sizes are limited. Cycling Vermont is a wonderful way to share outdoor fun and exercise, great food and lodging and natural beauty.

Our customized itineraries can be modified to meet your schedule

Vermont is like not other place. There is the Vermont of folklore; the Vermont of yesteryear; the Vermont of history books, homesteads and village greens; and there is the Vermont of today. Experience everything that is Vermont as you wander through the State, exploring its past and experiencing that which makes it unique today. Meet "the locals" and visit sites not normally on the beaten track.

• Two nights accommodation. Baggage handling included
• Breakfast is included each morning
• Two dinners including a dinner cruise on Lake Champlain
• Visit Weston, a village virtually untouched by time and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
• Visit The Vermont Country Store, a revived 1890 rural emporium still sells New England goods, housewares, country clothing, and of course, penny candy.
• Visit the Weston Village Christmas Shop, Weston Village Store, Village Green Gallery and Whales in Vermont Gallery
• Visit the Weston Priory, a Benedictine monastery founded in 1953, is home to a dozen or so resident brothers who became well known thanks to their music, now available on CD's and cassettes. Learn about the life and work in the priory.
• Visit historic Windsor, the Birthplace of Vermont
• Visit the Simon Pearce manufacturing facility where you’ll observe teams of world-renowned glassblowers, watch potters work and visit the gift shop
• Visit the Harpoon Brewery and its Brewery Shop
• Visit the Vermont State Craft Center with an extensive collection of Vermont crafts and gifts
• Tour the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire. Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907)was one of America's greatest sculptors. Tour "Aspet", his home and formerly an old inn along the stage coach road, his many gardens, gallery and studios.
• Enjoy a local storyteller who will entertain you with tales and legends of the region
• Visit Rock of Ages Quarry in Barre. Watch miners carve out mammoth blocks with unique jet channeling flame machines, then lift up 100 tons with granite derricks towering 115 feet above the quarry edge.
• Visit Hope Cemetery, a veritable outdoor museum of fine granite sculpture. The headstones and markers, created by the world's most skilled granite artists, rival the finest granite carvings anywhere. Tour the Vermont State House
• Visit Montpelier, America’s smallest state capital (and the only without a McDonalds!)
• Enjoy a scoop of "Vermont's finest" at Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory
• See cider being made and sample the finished product at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill.
• Visit Stowe, ski capital of the East, with Vermont's highest mountain, lush meadows and valleys, the classic white church steeple, red barns, covered bridges, traditional country stores and the village shops.
• See the Mount Mansfield Ski Area
• View the Trapp Family Lodge, made famous by the Sound of Music, and visit the Gift Shop.
• Enjoy a dinner cruise on Lake Champlain. During the cruise you will learn some of the history and legends of this beautiful and historically significant body of water.
• Tour Burlington located on the shores of Lake Champlain and nestled between the peaks of New York's Adirondacks and the gentle Green Mountains of Vermont. Burlington has a rich and colorful history and offers vital cultural, intellectual, commercial and recreational opportunities for people of all ages. Vermont’s largest city (40,000 people) offers the sophistication and conveniences of a larger metropolitan area and the comfort and feel of a small town.
• Visit the Shelburne Museum, called "Vermont’s Smithsonian" by The New York Times . Explore 37 exhibit buildings on 45 scenic acres and discover 80,000 pieces of Americana, including an outstanding collection of quilts, coverlets and hooked rugs
• Tour Shelburne Farms founded in the 1880's as the private estate of a gentleman farmer. The 1000- acre property in now a working dairy (producing superb cheese), educational and resource center.
• Visit the quintessential Vermont college town, Middlebury. See Middlebury College and explore the village which includes The Vermont State Craft Center - Frog Hollow.

Our customized itineraries can be modified to meet your schedule

Vermont was very active in the anti-slavery movement before the Civil War. The Vermont Constitution abolished adult slavery in 1777. It is known that many slaves escaped through Vermont to Canada. Follow an assumed route while enjoying other sites of Vermont – small villages, mountain peaks and rolling meadows, hillside farms and big red barns. Although written evidence was scarce, there has been new research indicating who they were, how they escaped, what their routes were, and how they may have been hidden.

• Two nights accommodation. Baggage handling included.
• Breakfast is included each morning
• Two dinners included
• Visit Burlington and learn about Lucius Bigelow, publisher of the Burlington Daily News whose basement was the camp for escaped slaves; Rev. Joshua Young and Edward Peck, proprietor of a dry goods store, all active supporters of the Underground Railroad; and George Henderson who in 1877 became the first black man to graduate from the University of Vermont.
• Visit Hinesburg where African-American farmer, Loudon Langley, wrote for an abolitionist newspaper and harbored at least one fugitive slave.
• Visit Rokeby in Ferrisburgh, the home of Quaker writer and a founder of the Vermont Anti-Slavery Society. Visit the home of Rowland Robinson where he kept his home free of slave-made goods and sheltered dozens of fugitive slaves, often offering them both a home and work on the farm for extended periods of time. He operated a school on his property for both black and white students, a practice unheard of at the time.
• Visit Middlebury and the Sheldon Museum, the oldest community museum in the country, where hundreds of anti-slavery letters are housed. Learn about Alexander Twilight, the first African-American to graduate from an American College, Class of 1825.
• Travel to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom where Rev. Twilight became pastor of the Congregational Church and designed and built a school and dormitory in the town. In 1836 became the first African American to serve as a Vermont legislator (possibly the first in the nation).
• The charming town of Brandon was believed to have at least six homes that sheltered runaway slaves.
• See the home of Stephen A. Douglas, Abraham Lincoln’s political opponent.
• Visit the Higley House where escaping slaves slept on the floor and family members prepared their food.
• You will also trace the spread of the Ku Klux Klan in Vermont and New England in the early 20th-century.

Our customized itineraries can be modified to meet your schedule

Maine is New England’s largest state. All other New England states could fit within its borders. The Maine coast stretches some 5,500 miles with 63 lighthouses and a mountain over 5,000-feet above sea level. Along with a reputation for some of the best lobsters in the world, Maine is also America’s largest blueberry growing state. Join us to explore a region that abounds in natural assets and beauty.

• Five nights accommodation. Baggage handling included
• Breakfast each morning is included
• Five dinners including a Maine Lobster Bake
• Visit the historic maritime city, Portland
• See the Portland Head Lighthouse commissioned by George Washington
• Explore Portland’s bustling waterfront and Old Port Exchange with its restored shops and restaurants.
• Ride the amphibious touring vessel (Duck), "Eider" and enjoy a fun-filled tour of historic Portland. By land you’ll waddle through the Old Port, bump along cobblestone streets, cruise by beautiful historic churches and climb to the highest point in the city where you’ll gaze upon the harbor. Then splash into Casco Bay and cruise by lighthouses, historic forts and the breathtaking Calendar Islands. Pass by the working waterfront, tug boats, harbor seals and the Whaling Walls where lobstermen haul in their traps.
• Visit Freeport, "Birthplace of Maine" and now home to L.L. Bean and more than 130 other retail stores and fashion outlets
• Tour Acadia National Park with an unusual combination of ocean and mountain scenery.
• Drive through Mount Desert Island, the largest rock-based island on the Atlantic Coast. See the ancient, rounded peaks of the mountains worn down by centuries of erosion.
• Visit Bar Harbor, one of Maine’s premier seaside resorts and playground for America’s wealthy in the early 20th-century
• Visit Augusta, Maine’s capital city and once a trading post, founded in1628 by the Plymouth Colony
• Visit Fort Western, one of the last remaining wooden forts built in1754. Costumed interpreters will talk about the fort’s military past.
• Visit Bath, an active center of shipbuilding since the early 1600’s
• Visit the Maine Maritime Museum, located on a 19th-century shipyard, with ship models, paintings, ship artifacts and other exhibits of life at sea.
• Travel to Maine’s Lakes Region and the village of Gray, site of America’s first machine-powered woolen mill
• Visit the Maine Wildlife Park, home to orphaned and injured wildlife. See moose, deer, mountain lions, bears, birds and other animals during your visit.
• Visit Kennebunkport, the seasonal resort of the President Bush family. It historic district features beautifully detailed homes. In the early 19th-century, more than 1,000 wooden schooners, clippers and cargo vessels emerged from the area’s 50 shipyards.

Our customized itineraries can be modified to meet your schedule

Celebrate the arrival of summer’s warm breezes and bright sun with an outing to the coast of Rhode Island. Rhode Island is a state of many firsts. First to take action against British rule, first synagogue, first successful water-powered cotton mill, and now the Ocean State is the first U.S. state to receive the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences’ prestigious “International Star Diamond Award.” This award certifies that Rhode Island is a world-class destination offering some of the best natural beauty, culinary experiences, history and cultural offerings. Come and see for yourself!

With an early morning departure, we arrive in Providence late morning. Our first stop is the Scialo Brothers’ Bakery. From 1898 to 1932 more than 54,000 Italian immigrants arrived at the Port of Providence. In 1916 Luigi Scialo arrived from Italy and together with his brother, started Scialo Brothers’ Bakery. Since his death in 1993, Luigi’s daughters, Lois and Carol, have carried on the tradition. Upon our arrival, Lois or Carol will greet our coach and offer a history of the bakery. They will then lead us into the bakery where the bakers will give us a demonstration of baking and cake decorating. Enjoy the complimentary coffee and fresh-baked treats.

Our next stop will be at Geppetto’s, an upscale pizzeria located on DePasquale Plaza. Our visit includes a tableside demonstration of the techniques in grilling the perfect pizza. Watch our chef prepare specialties and interact as he answers your food related questions and you munch on some of the best pizza in the whole world! Take home a complimentary bag of Geppetto’s Dough2Go gourmet pizza shells.

After lunch, enjoy time on your own to explore Federal Hill, "The Heartbeat of Providence." Spend time in the array of boutiques or take the trolley to Providence Place Mall with more than 170 shops and restaurants. For history buffs there’s the Rhode Island State House, the Arcade, the Jon Brown House and the East Side of Providence with Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum.

Saturday, following breakfast in the hotel, we depart to Matunuck Oyster Bar and Farm where we get "up close and personal" with the oysters. Pull on your waders and walk out in the water to the oyster farm. Observe the different stages in growth of the shellfish, become educated on the importance of sustainable aquaculture and have fun while learning.

We travel to West Kingston to the Kenyons Grist Mill where we find out about the Johnnycake and how the Native Americans taught us to make this delicious “pancake.” This 1886 gristmill still maintains the ritual started in 1909 of grinding corn to make flour and meal. After the tour, lunch on Johnnycake, Chowder and Clam Cakes, a true Rhode Island tradition.

Ahoy Mateys! Climb aboard for a Lighthouse Cruise. Our captain will take us throughout Narragansett Bay, sailing us close to these historic landmarks. Witness 10 Rhode Island Lighthouses during the 90-minute cruise. Bring your cameras!

Following the cruise, we depart for Wickford Village. Established in 1709, the village provides picturesque waterfront streets lined with one-of-a-kind shops, galleries, antique stores, cafes and restaurants. Wickford Village offers a taste of New England as it was a century or more ago. Its historic homes from the 1700s, churches, gardens and picturesque harbor offer a glimpse of our nation’s history.

Dinner this evening is at the legendary Duffy’s Tavern. Located in the Wickford Seaport, Duffy’s is famous for fresh seafood and abundant portions. Sit outside on the patio and breath in the salt air. Live music will entertain you throughout the evening.

Sunday morning, enjoy breakfast in the hotel before we depart for the Johnson and Wales Culinary Arts Museum in Providence. This is the premier museum devoted to the preservation of the history of the culinary and hospitality industries. Explore the Diner Museum, Stove Museum, a Pantheon of Chefs, a New England Tavern, Kitchen Gadgets and Appliances, Presidential Palate and State Dinners and Culinary Showpieces.

From the museum we travel to Wrights Farm, famous for their family-style chicken dinners, an all-you-can-eat meal of chicken and pasta, and a favorite stop for locals since the 1930s. Yankee Magazine featured the restaurant in an article exploring the vast appeal to Northern Rhode Island residents, of chicken served family-style. Perhaps it is attributed to tradition, life in a simpler time, and alternative to fast food, or is it just plain delicious? Come and sample for yourself.

After lunch, we depart for Vermont filled, with the tastes of Rhode Island and renewed appreciation of the rich culture and history in the Ocean State.

• 2 Nights lodging
• 2 Breakfasts
• 3 Lunches
• 1 Dinner
• Tour of Scialo Brothers’ Bakery
• Cooking demo and tour at Geppetto’s
• Free time to explore Federal Hill, Providence and Wickford Village
• Tour at the Matunuck Oyster Bar and Farm
• Tour of Kenyon’s Grist Mill
• Lighthouse Cruise
• Admission to the Johnson and Wales Culinary Arts Museum
• Notch Above Tour Manager
• Round trip transportation on a luxury motor coach

Single-Day Tours

Notch Above offers a wide variety of day tours for those living in or visiting our region. All itineraries are customized and can be modified to meet your schedule. Contact us for a proposal or more information.

Join a Notch Above local guide to explore the back roads of Vermont, visiting antique and collectible shops along the route. We’ll wind our way through small villages and discover "off-the-beaten-track" stops where owners will talk with you about their collections. Vermont is fertile ground for aficionados of antiques. You’ll find "treasures" for both the bargain hunter and collectors.

Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom is a region rich in cultural history, stunning natural beauty, pristine wilderness, abundant wildlife, country roads, breath-taking scenery and outstanding recreational opportunities. Its stunning beauty has garnered a place in the book, 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. Join your Notch Above guide for a day in the Kingdom. Craftsbury Common is considered by many to be the loveliest village in Vermont. Its rambling setting along a ridge offers views in every direction. Classic Vermont homes and other 18th and 19th-century buildings overlook the village green. Greensboro on Caspian Lake has a century-old following of noted authors, educators and socialites. It is also home to Willey’s Store, one of the biggest, best and most authentic general stores in New England. You’ll have time to explore the Village and Willey’s. Enjoy luncheon at a Victorian-era lodge on Caspian Lake. Ride through high and open farm country and small villages during your day in the Kingdom.

Explore the beauty of New York’s Adirondacks, an area embracing some six-million-acres. Cruise on the largest natural lake in the Adirondack Preserve and view “Great Camps” where American Aristocrats summered in privacy and luxury. Learn about these wealthy families who escaped city summer heat in this remote wilderness home. After your cruise, tour a Great Camp. The 1,526-acre estate was formerly owned by the Vanderbilts. Your walking tour includes 27 historic, fully authentic buildings, one of which is a semi-outdoor bowling alley! The Adirondack Museum has been described by the New York Times as “the finest of its kind in the world.” Exhibits in 22 buildings overlooking Blue Mountain Lake show how Adirondackers framed, logged, mined, hunted, fished, harvested ice, made furniture and worked as guides and caretakers at the Great Camps and resort hotels. The Museum has the largest collection of inland, non-powered pleasure craft in the country and offers an acclaimed collection of paintings, prints, photographs, maps and manuscripts.

Bicycling is not only a healthy way to see the State. It is also a way to get "up close and personal" with our sights, sounds and people. Discover rural Vermont at your own pace. Routes are carefully researched and ridden and are located throughout the state. You can opt to cycle for a weekend or a week; stay at an inn, hotel, or campground; and dine in charming country inns or in the great outdoors! Experienced tour leaders are trained in bicycle repair, basic First Aid and CPR and share their knowledge and love of the region with travelers. Groups can include a mix of couples, singles and families (children should be 10 years or older). Tour sizes are limited. Cycling Vermont is a wonderful way to share outdoor fun and exercise, great food and lodging and natural beauty.

Travel across the border with your Notch Above guide to the Canadian Province of Quebec. Montreal is the second-largest French-speaking city in the world. It is truly a beautiful, cosmopolitan city offering gracious hospitality to all its visitors. Upon arrival in Montreal, tour the city with a Canadian guide. See Old Montreal with its 17th to 19th-century buildings, cobblestone streets and spectacular Notre Dame Basilica. View the active Port of Montreal, colorful ethnic neighborhoods with wonderful stories about life in the city, Mount Royal Park overlooking Montreal, downtown skyscrapers, the financial district, Chinatown, the Olympic Park, McGill University and more. Enjoy luncheon in the heart of Old Montreal at a restaurant housed in a charming 19th-century building. Free time to explore the 20-mile underground of indoor shops, boutiques and cafes, the waterfront, or Old Montreal.

Burlington is located on the shores of Lake Champlain, nestled between the peaks of New York's Adirondacks and the gentle Green Mountains of Vermont. It has a rich and colorful history and offers vital cultural, intellectual, commercial and recreational opportunities for people of all ages. As the largest city in Vermont (40,000 people), Burlington offers the sophistication and conveniences of a larger metropolitan area and the comfort and feel of a small town. Travel past the campus of the University of Vermont, founded by Ira Allen in 1793. The classic campus overlooks the city of Burlington and is built around the traditional New England Green. The city’s prosperous growth in the 1800’s is reflected in the handsome mansions arrayed in tiers that slope eastward from the lake shore to the "hill section." Explore the Church Street Marketplace, an historic district which is now a pedestrian mall with shops, boutiques and restaurants to meet any taste. Proceed to the historic waterfront with some of the oldest buildings in town and Lake Champlain, the 6th largest freshwater lake in the United States. Native Americans, military, commercial and recreational navigators have plied the scenic waters of the 120-mile-long lake for thousands of years. Search for Champ, the lake's resident monster and marvel at the scenery. Visit ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center. Discover 70 species of fish, amphibians, invertebrates and reptiles and over 100 hands-on experiences. See the adjacent Lake Champlain Navy Memorial with heroic "Lone Sailor" statue. Travel past Ethan Allen’s grave to Winooski where 19th- and early-20th-century woolen mill overlooking the Winooski River have been renovated and now house shops, eateries, apartments and offices.

During the 19th and the early part of the 20th-centuries, New England had some one-thousand covered bridges. The ravages of time, weather, neglect and vandals have reduced that number to fewer than two-hundred. The majority are found in Vermont. Join your Notch Above guide and an expert who has done research on and written about covered bridges. Throughout the state, we can select a region with you, visit bridges, learn about the construction, history and any anecdotal information. You will not only see, touch and cross bridges, you will also travel along Vermont’s back roads and learn about the people and villages you visit during the day.

Vermont’s Islands and Farms Region, nestled between the magnificent peaks of the Adirondack and Green Mountains, features gently rolling hills, small towns and stunning scenery. The western border is Lake Champlain and Canada is to the north. Enjoy some of the most spectacular views in New England. Your Notch Above local guide will be with you during the day to share information about the Green Mountain State. Visit St. Anne’s Shrine, Isle La Motte This famous historical landmark on the site of Fort St. Anne honors Samuel de Champlain with a massive granite statue carved in Vermont’s pavilion at Montreal’s 1967 Expo. An open-sided Victorian chapel on the shore marks the site of Vermont’s first French settlement in 1666. Stop at Hero’s Welcome, North Hero, an authentic Vermont general store, bakery, café and post office. Stop for an outside view of the Hyde Log Cabin. Built by Jedediah Hyde in 1783, the cabin is one of our nation’s oldest and has been restored. It reflects 18th-century life on the Islands (the Cabin interior closes after Labor Day) Visit Allenholm Farm, South Hero, Vermont’s oldest working apple orchard. Enjoy Papa Ray’s homemade apple pie, then hop on for a wagon ride into the Orchard and apple picking (seasonal). Later this afternoon, you’ll discover Snow Farm Vineyard. The magic of sun, soil and Lake Champlain combine to provide the ingredients that create Snow Farm wines. Snow Farm is Vermont’s first vineyard and grape winery. Tour the vineyard and taste the wines to conclude your day.

Nestled between the peaks of New York’s Adirondacks and the gentle Green Mountains of Vermont, lies a lake that is as historical as it is beautiful. The broad, blue water of Lake Champlain is the 6th-largest freshwater lake in the United States. Native Americans, military, commercial and recreational navigators have plied the scenic waters of the 120-mile-long lake for thousands of years. Join your Notch Above guide to experience hands-on history at the dynamic, working Lake Champlain Maritime Museum. Learn about the largest collection of wooden shipwrecks in North America and talk with archaeological conservators in the Nautical Center. Climb aboard a Revolutionary War gunboat replica and learn about the life of citizen soldiers in Vermont in 1776. Watch craftsmen continue traditional maritime skills of boat building in working shops. Interpreters will take you behind-the-scenes to share fascinating information. The Museum is on the grounds of the Basin Harbor Club, a 700-acre lakeside resort owned and operated for the last 122 years by the Beach family. Take time to view the lovely gardens dating back to the 1700’s. It’s then time for a one-hour cruise on the lake to learn historical facts, lake lore and local folk tales. Keep an eye out for Vermont’s famous lake monster, Champ. Cross the lake (by bridge) to New York State and Crown Point. See the remains of Fort St. Frederic built on the shores of the lake in the 1730’s by the French. Continue to Fort Ticonderoga, built by the French in 1755, defended by Montcalm in 1758, taken by the British in 1759, captured by Ethan Allen in 1775 and restored in 1909. Costumed guides explain the history of the Fort and daily activities normally include a Fife and Drum performance on the Parade Grounds and Musket and Cannon Demonstrations.

Lake Placid’s claim to fame revolves around its role as host to the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics. Surrounded by New York’s Adirondacks, this region offers vestiges of the Olympics and significant historical sites. Take the glass elevator 250-feet up to an enclosed observation deck of the Olympic Jumping Complex and Skydeck. See the Bobsled and Luge runs and Lake Placid Winter Olympic Museum in the Olympic Center. Enjoy a narrated cruise on beautiful Mirror Lake. Visit the John Brown Farm which his family maintained while he fought his anti-slavery campaigns in the late 1850’s. See the small graveyard where he is buried after he was hanged by the Commonwealth of Virginia for treason and murder.

With more than 270 lakes and ponds in the vicinity, New Hampshire’s Lakes Region is rich in attractions, activities and special events. Your Notch Above guide will join you for a fun-filled day. Lake Winnipesaulee is 28 miles long with 283-miles of shoreline and 274 wooded islands. It is surrounded by three mountain ranges and is the nation’s largest freshwater lake entirely in one state. Board a replica side-paddlewheel riverboat for a narrated cruise on the lake. Visit “The Oldest Summer Resort in America”, Wolfeboro. Its main street is lined with boutiques, galleries and craft shops including Hampshire Pewter. Luncheon today at the historic Wolfeboro Inn which dates back to 1812. Visit Castle in the Clouds, with breathtaking views overlooking Lake Winnipesaukee. “Lucknow” was built in 1913-14 high in the Ossipee Mountain Range by Thomas Gustave Plant who made his fortune in shoe manufacturing. Tour the historic architectural gem and estate featuring 1000' of waterfalls, Shannon Pond,, hiking and recreation and a New Hampshire-themed gift shop.

Travel with your Notch Above guide to one of New England's most scenic sites, the Rock of Ages Quarry in Barre, the center of the largest granite industry in the nation. Visit a working quarry where you'll watch miners carve out mammoth blocks with unique jet channeling flame machines, then lift up 100-tons with granite derricks towering 115-feet above the quarry edge. Watch master sculptors and artisans at the factory then try it yourself! Make a stone gift with you own hands. Visit Hope Cemetery, a veritable outdoor museum of fine granite sculpture. The headstones and markers, created by the world's most skilled granite artists, rival the finest granite carvings anywhere. Tragedy, humor and sheer beauty are combined here in a living testimonial to the craftsmen of the trade. Then travel to nearby Montpelier, the smallest state capital in the country (and the only one without a McDonalds). You’ll see the Vermont State House, one of the nation’s oldest and best preserved. Learn how maple syrup is produced, from trees to the finished product. Tour a sugar house, taste maple syrup and visit a very unique craft and gift shop. Finally you may have the opportunity (schedule dependent) to be part of the live audience for a taping of “New England Cooks”. In a renovated carriage house, the region’s top chefs prepare local dishes. Enjoy playful interaction between the hosts and audience and sample the day’s delicacies at show’s end.

Just over the Vermont/Canadian border, there are cultures and geography awaiting your visit. Beautiful rolling terrain with broad swaths of meadow and woods, pristine lakes and small villages will be found. The Eastern Townships were populated by European immigrants and Loyalists who left the colonies during the revolution. Today, Francophones and English speakers (Anglophones) live side-by-side. North Hatley is a charming town of about 700 residents on the northern tip of Lake Massawippi and is stuffed with art galleries, shops and restaurants. Hundreds of historic churches can be found throughout the region – modest wood structures built by the Anglicans and Presbyterians and enormous stone churches constructed by the French Catholics. One of the most interesting visits is to the Abbey of Saint-Benoit-du-Lac where fifty Benedictine monks make up the community. Mass is still Gregorian chant. Resident monks take a vow of silence. One monk will talk about life in the Abbey where they operate a cheese dairy and gift shop. Visits can be arranged to many other sites and regions of the Province of Quebec and other Canadian Provinces.

Visit one of the nation’s finest, most diverse and unconventional museums of art and Americana. Over 150,000 works are exhibited in a remarkable setting of 39 exhibition buildings, 25 of which are historic and were relocated to the museum grounds. They include houses, barns, a meeting house, a one-room schoolhouse, a lighthouse, a jail, a general store and a covered bridge. Step aboard the 220-foot Ticonderoga, a National Historic Landmark and last steam-powered side wheeler of its type in the country. Folk art, quilts and textiles, Impressionist paintings, decorative arts, furniture, American paintings and a dazzling array of 17th to 20th-century artifacts are on view. Shelburne is home to the finest museum collections of 19th-century American folk art, quilts, 19th and 20th-century decoys and carriages. Stroll the paved walkways or ride the jitney through the village-like setting of historic New England architecture accented by landscape that includes over 400 lilacs, a circular formal garden, herb and heirloom vegetable gardens and perennial gardens. A café on the Museum grounds is open during museum hours and serves a diverse menu. Special interest tours can be arranged.

Vermont’s highest mountain, lush meadows and valleys, the classic white Church steeple, red barns, covered bridges, traditional country stores and the Stowe Village shops which have provided the necessities of life for residents and visitors since 1840. Join your Notch Above guide and explore Stowe Village. Walk across Vermont’s only haunted covered bridge. Ride a gondola at Mount Mansfield Ski Area to the top of Vermont’s highest peak. See the Trapp Family Lodge, a classic Austrian chalet still operated by the von Trapp family. See cider being made and sample the final product. Conclude the day with a taste of “Vermont’s finest” at Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory.

Your Notch Above guide will introduce you to the homestead of Vermont’s famous Revolutionary War hero. See Ethan Allen’s home overlooking the Winooski River. Learn about life on the Vermont frontier and discover clues in the landscape to 5,000 years of human residence. Tour Shelburne Farms, a nationally acclaimed 1,400-acre historic site with some of the most spectacular lake and mountain scenery anywhere. The former Vanderbilt home and estate is still a working farm with a prize herd of Brown Swiss Cows. It is a non-profit conservation and educational organization. Experience the magnificent agricultural landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the famous architect of Central Park. Visit turn-of-the-century perennial gardens overlooking Lake Champlain and see cheese making operations in a renovated historic farm barn. Sample the finished product. Then tour the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, birthplace of America’s most lovable, huggable bears. Visit the Bear Shop and Teddy Bear Pantry.

Join your Notch Above guide and follow a path just east of Lake Champlain, one of the most beautiful inland waterways in America. See panoramic views of the Adirondacks and Green Mountains. We'll pass the Shelburne Museum which houses one of the finest collections of American folk art in the world. A covered bridge, Old One Room School House, and Paddle Boat are visible as we pass the Museum. Vergennes with 2,300 residents is the smallest city in the United States. It is also home to Kennedy Brothers, a former woodenware factory which now houses Vermont products, crafts, and antiques, plus a scoop shop and deli. From Vergennes we'll travel to the mountain village of Ripton where poet Robert Frost lived for many summers and home of the Bread Loaf School where he taught. The Frost Interpretive Nature Trail includes the poetry of Frost along a beautiful wooded trail. From Ripton, we'll travel just a short distance to Middlebury, chartered in 1761, and home of Middlebury College, a highly selective private college. There are 300 downtown buildings which were built in the 18th and 19th centuries and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Many have been converted into interesting shops and restaurants, Free time for luncheon and exploration in Middlebury. Then visit the Pulpmill Covered Bridge which is the oldest in the state (1808-20) and the last remaining two-lane span in use. Travel the back roads of Addison County, a rich agricultural area, to the Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area. This is a way station for geese and other migratory birds. If we are lucky, we'll see birds (perhaps even snow geese) resting and eating before they resume their flight. Continue to Lake Champlain and the 18th- century Chimney Point Tavern where revolutionist Ethan Allen reportedly made plans for battles. Our return route will take us through more small villages and through pastoral valleys to Burlington.

Travel with your Notch Above Guide through Jericho and Underhill. In Jericho, we will pass the Old Red Mill, a National Historic site, and learn about "Snowflake" Bentley, a farmer who was the first person in the world to photograph individual snowflakes. In Cambridge, we'll see our first covered bridge, the "Little Covered Bridge", originally built in 1897 and then stop at the Marsh Farm where maple sugaring is done each spring. Jeffersonville, at the base of Mount Mansfield, is a charming village where artists have gathered since the 1930's. There will be time for a cup of coffee or tea and donut or pastry at a local restaurant. We'll follow the Lamoille River north by a series of covered bridges and small rural villages tucked into beautiful mountains. We'll pass scenic ponds and lakes, then travel through Hyde Park with its old Opera House, on our way to Stowe. Stowe is the "ski capital of the East" and has become a year-round resort. Stowe village, where we'll stop for luncheon, has kept the turn-of-the-century look of several generations ago. Tucked between the Stowe Community Church and the venerable Green Mountain Inn, you'll find shops that have provided necessities of life for residents and visitors since 1840. After luncheon, we'll follow the Mountain Road to the Mount Mansfield Ski Area. Stop for samples at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill. See cider being made and sample the finished product. Discover the specialty foods and outstanding arts and crafts of Lake Champlain Chocolates, Cabot Cheese Annex, Vermont Teddy Bear Annex, Snow Farm Vineyard and the Mesa Factory Store. Visit Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory for a scoop of "Vermont's Finest." Follow the Winooski River to Richmond, where in 1813 the people of this quiet dairy-farming community built a multi-denominational church that looked like no other in the state. The Old Round Church is actually sixteen-sided and topped by an octagonal belfry. Return to your lodging after a day on Vermont’s back roads and byways.

Travel with your Notch Above guide to the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire. Admire the jagged crests of the highest range of mountains in the northeastern United States and a popular destination for hikers, climbers and photographers. The Mount Washington Hotel was opened in 1902 and became the haunt of presidents and dignitaries. Billed s the largest wooden building in New England, it is one of the nation’s few remaining grand hotels. Early in the 20th-century, as many as fifty private trains a day brought the rich and famous from New York and Philadelphia to the hotel. Travel through scenic Crawford Notch and the Crawford Notch State Park. North Conway is the recreational and commercial center of the Mount Washington Valley. It is also home to a multitude of factory outlets. Then follow the spectacular Kancamagus Highway which winds through the mountains with grand views of distant peaks. The 34-mile trek offers scenic overlooks. Franconia Notch State Park contains some of New Hampshire’s best-loved attractions including the former granite profile, Old Man of the Mountain.

Considered by many to be one of New England’s most beautiful villages, Woodstock, Vermont has remained virtually unchanged since the 18th and 19th-centuries. Join your Notch Above guide to see opulent homes built by professionals, scholars and craftsmen around the Village Green and along broad streets. The stately Woodstock Inn has presided over the Green since 1793. The Dana House, built in 1807, is home to the Woodstock Historical Society and its collections are displayed in theme and period rooms. The Billings Farm and Museum showcases Vermont’s rural heritage. The working farm is one of the finest Jersey dairy farms in America, has been a Woodstock landmark since 1871 and offers displays in the 1890 farm house and 19th-century barns. The Marsh-Billings National Historical Park is the former home and estate of Laurance Rockefeller. It is the first National Park to focus on the theme of conservation of history and the changing nature of land stewardship in America. Visit the 1885 Queen Anne style mansion, 1895 carriage barn and extensive gardens and beautifully landscaped grounds. Travel to “Vermont’s Little Grand Canyon”, Quechee Gorge. Formed over thousands of years, its walls rise more than 168-feet above the Ottaquechee River. Quechee Gorge Village houses the Vermont Antique Mall, a Country Store & Mercantile, Arts & Crafts Center, Cabot Quechee Store, Winery and Vermont Toy & Train Museum along with other shops and eateries.

Our customized itineraries can be modified to meet your schedule

Experience the natural beauty of Vermont during foliage season. Explore small villages and back roads with your Notch Above guide who will share the legends that make Vermont unique. We will take you off-the-beaten-track on what are considered by locals to be some of the most beautiful fall foliage roads and rides. Great photo opportunities and time to walk across covered bridges, browse in country stores and meet "real Vermonters". This is not your typical foliage tour!

Some of the most remote woodland and non-commercial farm country can be found in Vermont. Join your Notch Above guide to discover these small villages and rural landscapes.

The classic farming towns of Chelsea and Tunbridge (home each fall of the Tunbridge World’s Fair held each September since 1867!) are flanked by high, open country and back roads. Stop at the Tunbridge Village Store.

Strafford is the home of the Justin Morrill Homestead, a seventeen-room, pink Carpenter Gothic house with gingerbread along its gables. Tour the home with family furnishings and memorabilia. It was constructed between 1848-1851 by Justin Morrill who served in both the US Congress and Senate for some forty-five years. He was a Vermont-born storekeeper who ran on the Abolitionist platform and sponsored the 1862 Morrill Act that established America’s system of land grant colleges and universities.

Brookfield is the home of a floating covered bridge. First built in 1820, the bridge floats on pontoons over Sunset Lake and is used daily by motorists. Brookfield is also home to the State’s oldest free public library, founded in 1791.

Randolph, a small town, is the commercial center of the area. Randolph Center Historic District has a high concentration of outstanding architecture and an early 19th-century landscape plan which called for broad rows of trees and well-spaced buildings set back from the street. The Village is a National Historic District.

Visit the Porter Music Box Museum, the world’s only manufacturer of large disc style music boxes. See and hear an exquisite collection of beautiful antique music boxes and musical automata. Visit a traditional family-oriented farm and maple sugarhouse.