Driving from Ontario to Vermont

Our family loves road trips. We love packing our bags, loading into our Nissan Pathfinder, setting the GPS and hitting the open road. I believe road trips are a wonderful family vacation. No airport lines, no baggage restrictions, few time restrictions and a great time to talk, laugh and be together.

Last week our family travelled from Eastern Ontario to Burlington, Vermont. A beautiful drive through the Adirondacks, ending with a ferry across Lake Champlain. There are two routes you can take – drive the 401 straight to Montreal and then head South. Burlington is about 1 hour and 45 mins south of Montreal. Or, take the scenic route crossing at Gananoque and travelling through the mountains. We took the scenic route.

Since are boys are still young (3 years old) we have a driving rule of no more than 5 hours of drive time per day. Any more than that and we get melt downs and overtired kids. We stayed the first night in Watertown, NY and then headed out after breakfast to Vermont.

The drive took us through beautiful mountains, small towns, picturesque lakes and even through Lake Placid, NY (home to the 1980 and 1932 Winter Olympics). I would have loved to have stayed there but that will have to wait for another trip!

Our drive through New York State ended at Port Kent, NY where we boarded the ferry to Burlington, Vermont. I must admit I thought I was lost numerous times trying to get to the ferry, but my CAASCO TripTik led us right to the ferry dock. Unlike other ferries I’ve taken, this one was small and uncrowded. Perfect for our boys to explore. The ferry ride took about an hour through the calm waters of Lake Champlain. There were lots of great photo opportunities and a beautiful skyline of Burlington as we arrived.

Upon exiting the ferry we were right in the heart of Burlington.

Overall, it was a wonderful road trip full of new sights and experiences. We’ve bookmarked a number of places in our minds to return to. A beautiful drive to a beautiful destination.

Where does your favorite road trip take you?

Kerrie blogs at Family Food and Travel.  She is a mom of twin boys (born March 2010) who she often refers to as the ‘twinado’.  Kerrie loves, writing, travel, photography, and fabulous food.  Prior to kids, Kerrie was an avid reader and scrapbooker and hopes to one day return to those activities.  Kerrie once considered herself successful, that was until she attempted toilet training twins.