Discover Northern New England’s College Towns

Why not combine family travels with campus visits for your prospective student? College towns in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont offer experiences for the whole family to enjoy while the prospective student visits campus. Fans of art, poetry, performing arts, history, science, hiking or antiques shopping will have no trouble finding things to do on their tours to these lively New England college towns.

You can visit the campus of Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, by train from New York; the station is conveniently located near the busy town center. A car is handy, though, to reach Robert Frost Interpretive Trail, commemorating the U.S. poet laureate and featuring Frost’s poetry throughout. More hiking and walking trails surround Middlebury, and one easy route begins right on campus.

Horse lovers should take the tour at UVM Morgan Horse Farm in Weybridge, stopping to admire Pulp Mill Covered Bridge. Vermont’s oldest covered bridge, it’s one of only seven two-lane covered bridges in the country.

Town and gown blend seamlessly in Hanover, New Hampshire, where Dartmouth College campus faces on to the main street. Within a few steps of either is the outstanding Hopkins Center for the Arts, featuring name performers and a steady schedule of student music and performance groups; in the same complex is Hood Museum of Art.

Paddle along the Connecticut River in a kayak rented from Dartmouth Boat House, or cross the bridge to Montshire Museum of Science. Fun and educational for kids, innovative and interactive exhibits are just as much fun for adults. Upscale Hanover Inn Dartmouth overlooks Dartmouth Green and college campus; Hanover’s shops and restaurants are a few steps away.

Bowdoin College is in Brunswick, Maine, and also home to Bowdoin College Museum of Art and Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum. The latter features the early Arctic expeditions and life in Arctic regions, both historic and in the face of global warming. Collections include beautiful Inuit art. Around the campus, streets are lined by fine 18^th-century homes with gardens and stately trees.

Cabot Mill Antiques is one of Maine’s largest antiques centers, set in a restored textile mill on the Androscoggin River. An easy walk from campus, Cabot Mill, and the lively Maine St. (not a misprint) is The Federal, a new hotel merging a restored 19^th-century home with an adjacent modern building, giving guests the choice of chic contemporary rooms or more traditional rooms with fireplaces.  Large comfortable public areas and the hotel’s 555 North restaurant are good places for families to relax and compare notes on town and campus experiences.