Why don't you tell us what you are considering. There are so many places to stay and all would meet your desires or be close.

I think you would be pretty happy in the Waterbury - Waitsfield - Warren area. Lots of great hiking around Sugarbush (Mt. Ellen and Lincoln Peak), a Camel's Hump trailhead just down the road, as well as an easy drive over to Stowe for hiking Mansfield and in the Smuggler's Notch area. Don't forget to stop by the Alchemist to try their Heady Topper. http://www.alchemistbeer.com/find-us/ If you make it into Burlington for a day, you can rent kayaks at North Beach. http://www.enjoyburlington.com/northbeach.cfm

Thanks!

Neslaw: I had been looking at Woodstock as one of the choices, but then realizes that maybe we should move south from there a bit for one of the legs.

So...after reading the response from Adamtravler and AdamandLiz I am thinking that our northern stay will be in the Warren or Waterbury area but still open to suggestions south!

We live in the Chicago suburbs so New England is completely foreign to us so I am sure driving from point A to point B will be very enjoyable!

Personally, I'd choose Stowe over Waterbury hands-down. Not familiar with Warren - it's tiny though (pop: ~1700), so lodging and food choices might be a bit limited. Beautiful area though (unlike Waterbury IMHO, which is more of a way point on Rt. 2.)

Just my 2 cents. No wrong answers - most any town will have plusses.

:)

Manchester larger and more commercial but many lodging choices. Any other town in area well be more quaint but fewer choices. Check out Grafton or dorset just for kicks but there are no wrong answers. If first trip choose woodstock and visit Stowe.

My issue with Stowe is that it is very busy in the summer, and often it seems like you are in a bumper to bumper line of cars to get anywhere. Also, most of the accommodations I know of, are somewhat inflated pricewise just by virtue of the Stowe address. It wasn't always like this, but the last 10 years or so it has changed, in my view, to cater to the high-end folks. The Mad River Valley is close by, but much quieter, with a lot of little hidden gems. Waterbury, in my opinion, is actually a good centrally located "base" with a few really good restaurants and shops for your basic amenities. Here's one option right in the village: http://www.oldstagecoach.com/

Then, if you want to get outside of the village a bit, this place is beautiful: http://www.theroundbarn.com/ My good friend got married there 2 years ago and it was a wonderful location.

True, though, no wrong answers at all.

My only comment about Woodstock VT is that it is easy to get to everywhere in the State from it, within about 2 hours.....It is a great location and has the best village centre in the State...and yup I am biased!

After considering the above responses, and taking a closer look at a map I think we are going to spend 2 nights in the woodstock area and then 2 in the mad river valley area. Even though woodstock is not considered the southern part of the state, the things we are interested in doing/exploring aren't more than an hour drive and it seems a shame to miss out staying in such a cute town.

Thanks for all the help (and quick replies!).

On second thought, and after lurking for the past 2 weeks on the travel forum we are now wondering if Mad River Valley might not be far enought away from our first leg in Woodstock; might not be as far north as we want to base ourselves. So...might spend a day in that area as we travel from Woodstock to our second base a bit further north.....more in the Mt. Mansfield area......any thoughts suggestions regarding Jeffersonville or around that area. We will want to do something near Lake Champlain, but not stay in Burlington as that is a bit more crowded than what we had in mind.

Thanks!