when it’s open for business (Mon–Fri 8:30am–5pm; closed holidays). The Mount Snow Valley Chamber of Commerce (www.visitvermont.com; 877/887-6884 or 802/464-8092) maintains a visitor center at 21 West Main St. Open daily year-round from 10am to 5pm, the chamber offers a room-booking service, which is helpful for booking smaller inns and B&Bs. (To investigative or book on-the-mountain accommodations, however, it’s best to check directly with Mount Snow’s lodging bureau at 800/451-4211.)
Exploring Brattleboro
Here’s a useful two-phase strategy for exploring Brattleboro: Park. Walk. The commercially vibrant downtown is blessedly compact, and strolling it is the best way to appreciate its human scale and handsome commercial architecture. It invites casual browsing without an itinerary.
Parodying the annual Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, Brattleboro’s “Strolling of the Heifers” has become an early June tradition that includes live entertainment, food vendors, a cycling tour, a “Famous Farmers Breakfast,” and of course a Main Street parade led by docile young Holstein-Friesian cows who aren’t about to run amok (sorry, Hemingway fans). For information, contact Strolling of the Heifers, a local not-for-profit that promotes healthy food and area artists (www.strollingoftheheifers.com; 802/246-0982).
Brattleboro has a trio of museums devoted to local history, manufactures, and the arts. The Brattleboro Historical Society’s History Center and Museum (196 Main St.; www.brattleborohistoricalsociety.org; 802/258-4957) exhibits artifacts and photos highlighting the history of the city and the Connecticut River Valley, and offers walking tours concentrating on history and architecture; open Thursday 2 to 4pm and Saturday 10am to noon. A donation is requested. The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (10 Vernon St.; www.brattleboromuseum.org; 802/257-0124) is housed inside the city’s 1916 train station. The focus is on changing exhibits of both classic and contemporary sculpture and art from local and regional artists. The museum is open daily except Tuesday, 11am to 5pm. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, $4 for students, and free for kids 5 and under. The Estey Organ Museum (108 Bridge St.; www.esteyorganmuseum.org) is devoted to what was once Brattleboro’s most famous export. From 1846 to 1860, the town’s Estey Organ Company not only built church organs, but also the parlor models that graced many a middle-class home before radio and its electronic descendants took over. The Museum’s collections range from reed and pipe organs, to the electronic models produced during the firm’s final years. Many are working organs, and visitors are invited to bring their own sheet music and play. Open 2 to 4pm weekends, mid-May through mid-October. A $5 donation is requested.
Exploring Wilmington/Mount Snow
Wilmington, 20 miles east of Brattleboro along Route 9, has a nice selection of antiques shops, boutiques, and pizza joints. Except on busy holiday weekends, when it’s inundated by visitors driving oversized SUVs, it feels like a gracious mountain village untroubled by the times. From Wilmington, the ski resort of Mount Snow (see below) is easily accessible to the north via busy Route 100, which is close to impassable on sunny weekends in early October. Heading north, you’ll first pass through West Dover, an attractive classic New England town with a prominent steeple and acres of white clapboard.
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The Marlboro Music Festival
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The renowned Marlboro Music Festival (www.marlboromusic.org; 215/569-4690) is a series of summertime classical concerts, performed by accomplished masters as well as by highly talented younger musicians, on weekends from mid-July through mid-August in the agreeable village of Marlboro, east of Wilmington on Route 9. The musical retreat was founded by Rudolf Serkin in 1951 and has hosted countless noted musicians such as Pablo Casals, Van Cliburn, Emanuel Ax, and Joshua Bell. Concerts take place in the 700-seat auditorium at Marlboro College, and advance ticket purchases are strongly recommended. Ticket prices usually range from about $15 to $40 per concert.
Skiing
Mount Snow Mount Snow is noted for its widely cut runs on the front face of the mountain (disparaged by some skiers as “vertical golf courses”), yet it still remains an excellent destination for intermediates and advanced intermediates. More advanced skiers migrate to the North Face, another world of bumps and open glades. This is also a great spot for snowboarding. Because it’s the closest Vermont ski area to Boston and New York (about a 4-hour drive from Manhattan), the mountain can get more crowded than other Vermont hills on weekends. But Mount Snow’s village is attractively arrayed along the base of the mountain; the most imposing structure is a balconied hotel overlooking a small pond, but the overall character here is still shaped mostly by unobtrusive smaller lodges and homes. Once famed for a groovy singles scene, the hill’s post-skiing activities have mellowed somewhat and embraced the baby-boomer and family markets, though 20-somethings can still find a good selection of après-ski activities.
39 Mount Snow Rd., West Dover. www.mountsnow.com. 800/245-7669 or 802/464-3333. Day lift tickets $75 adults, half-day $63; discounts for youths and seniors.
Outdoor Activities
The Vermont Canoe Touring Center (www.vermontcanoetouringcenter.com; 802/257-5008), open seasonally, is at 451 Putney Road, just north of Brattleboro. This is a great spot to rent a canoe or kayak to poke around for a couple of hours, half a day, or a full day. Explore locally, or arrange for a shuttle upriver or down. The owners are helpful about providing information and maps to keep you on track. Among the best spots, especially for birders, are the marshy areas along the lower West River and a detour off the Connecticut River, known locally (and with some slight exaggeration) as “the Everglades.” Get a gourmet sandwich to go at the Brattleboro Food Co-op (see p. 499) and make a day of it.
Bike rentals and advice on day-trip destinations are available at the Brattleboro Bicycle Shop, 165 Main St. (www.bratbike.com; 802/254-8644). Hybrid bikes, ideal for exploring area back roads, can be rented by the day or week. It’s open daily from spring through summer, closed Sundays in fall, and closed Sundays and Mondays in winter.
Where to Stay in the Southern Green Mountains
Budget-priced chain motels flank Route 5 north of Brattleboro, especially around the Route 5/9
