Bucket list adventures in Vermont

Bucket ListWe’ve been blogging about all the great summer adventure you’ll find when visiting the 12 Distinctive Inns of New England (DINE).  Our series started with adventures in Massachusetts, then moved to soft and not-so-soft activities and fun in New Hampshire and Maine. Today we’re going to explore all the fun to be found when visiting DINE inns in the Green Mountain State of Vermont.  Whether its hiking through beautiful forests and trails or skydiving, learning to surf or other active adventures, you’ll find plenty of options to complete your travel bucket list at DINE’s twelve inns.  Return after a full day of adventure for a romantic dinner, time in the spa or a soak in the whirlpool tub, and then the most comfortable bed you’ve ever experienced. Adventure is what’s in store in DINE country.

We’ll start with an action packed getaway to Rabbit Hill Inn in Lower Waterford, VT.  Poised close to the New Hampshire border, and on the edge of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, you’ll find plenty of options for everything from wild and wooly extreme adventure to more quiet and tranquil exploration.  For those who wish to take bonding to a whole new level, try Team O’Neil Rally Driving School in Dalton, NH.  Always dRabbit Hill Inn - summer at its bestreamed of off-roading or becoming a rally driver? Here’s the place to fulfill that bucket list wish.  This school offers a variety of wild and challenging driving adventures & have the largest custom-built car control training facility in the world. Car fans will love it!

Or how about taking your romance to new heights in a hot air balloon? Balloon Meister, Brian Boland, is available to offer Vermont hot air balloon rides offering a bird’s eye view of Vermont’s green landscape.  If you’d rather go high and fast, try ziplining at Alpine Adventures, just 25 minutes from the Rabbit Hill Inn.  Here the Skyrider Zipline course offers up to five ziplines ranging from 800′ to 1600′ long, five suspension bridges, dual racing ziplines, up to 200′ above the forest floor, and the infamous “White Knuckle Drop” reaching speeds up to 50 mph!  Oh yeah, baby – that’ll get your heart racing!

For something a little on the softer adventure side there are free chairlift rides offered up the mountain at Bretton Woods in the summer months, and of course you can always enjoy some great historic adventure on the Mount Washington Cog Railway or the Mt Washington Auto Road – both within an hour of the Rabbit Hill Inn.

Swimming at Grafton Ponds near Grafton Inn.Head over to Grafton, and the Grafton Inn for more bucket list adventures.  No visit to Grafton is complete without a visit to the inn’s sister company, The Grafton Cheese Co.  While it’s not necessarily extreme action, it’s definitely a bucket-list foodie adventure. View this renowned cheese being made right in the nearby production facility.  While in Grafton, pay a visit to the Grafton Nature Museum and the Grafton History Museum, all with an easy stroll of the inn.  Nearby, Grafton Ponds offers up 2000 acres of gorgeous scenery and trails.  In the spring and summer, visit Grafton Ponds for mountain biking, trail running, a bike terrain park, hiking, canoeing, fly-fishing instruction, and swimming. For the past 20+ years, Grafton Ponds has been home to the Vermont Symphony Orchestra concert under the stars every July 3. In the winter, experience 15 k of tiller-groomed Nordic skiing (with 5 k of snowmaking), another 15 k of backcountry skiing, 10k of snowshoeing, a biathlon course, and a 600-foot snow tubing hill, along with a myriad of special events and programs, including the popular Wine & Cheese snowshoe tours – another definite foodie adventure.

And speaking of foodie adventures, the headquarters and ground zero for the best ice cream in the world – Ben & Jerry’s – is within an easy drive of both Rabbit Hill Inn and Grafton Inn.  In fact, for extreme foodie adventure, be sure to follow the food-lovers itinerary that the Rabbit Hill Inn has developed for a taste of Vermont’s finest.

Next week we’ll finish our Bucket List Adventure series with a story about finding fun in Connecticut and Rhode Island.  Visit each of the Distinctive Inns of New England by clicking below on links that will take you directly to each of their websites.  Better yet, visit them in person and take advantage of their value-added packages.

In Maine:  Captain Jefferds Inn in Kennebunkport & Camden Maine Stay Inn in Camden

In New Hampshire:  Manor on Golden Pond in Holderness & Chesterfield Inn in West Chesterfield

In Massachusetts:  Harbor Light Inn in Marblehead, Gateways Inn & Restaurant in Lenox, Deerfield Inn in Historic Deerfield and Captain’s House Inn in Chatham on Cape Cod.

In Rhode Island: Cliffside Inn in Newport

In Connecticut: Inn at Harbor Hill Marina in Niantic.

In Vermont:  Rabbit Hill Inn in Lower Waterford & Grafton Inn in Grafton