This 611-mile train ride through nine states is all snow and no driving

Vermont’s winter unfolds from your seat

You board at Union Station in Washington, D. C., and 13 hours later, you step off in St. Albans, Vermont.

Every mile happens in daylight. The Amtrak Vermonter covers roughly 611 miles through nine states, and in February, the whole route turns into a rolling winter scene of frozen rivers, snow-heavy mountains, and small towns you’d miss from any highway.

The train does the work. You just watch.

How an overnight train became a daytime one

Before the Vermonter, there was the Montrealer. Five railroads started that overnight run between Washington, DC., and Montreal back in 1924.

Amtrak picked it up in 1972, but budget cuts killed the service in 1995.

Vermont stepped in with funding for a daytime replacement, and the Vermonter launched on April 1 of that year. Today, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont all help pay for operations north of New Haven.

The route survived because the states wanted it to.

Where the engine swap changes everything

South of New Haven, you ride Amtrak’s electrified Northeast Corridor, the busiest rail line in North America. The train stops in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City before reaching Connecticut.

At New Haven, the crew swaps the electric locomotive for a diesel, and the ride north feels different right away. You follow the Hartford Line through Connecticut, stop in Springfield, Mass, and from there, the Connecticut River stays with you for miles.

The frozen river valley north of Springfield

Past Springfield, the train tracks the Connecticut River through western Massachusetts, stopping in Holyoke, Northampton, and Greenfield along the way.

In February, snow covers the valley floor, and bare trees line the frozen banks. You pass rolling hills, open farmland, and church steeples poking above small towns.

The Connecticut River runs 410 miles from the Canadian border to Long Island Sound, and this stretch gives you a long, quiet look at New England’s longest river from a warm seat.

Nine hours in, and Vermont finally appears

Brattleboro is your first Vermont stop, about nine and a half hours north of D. C.

The town sits where the Connecticut and West Rivers meet, with wooded hills rising on all sides. From here, the train continues to Bellows Falls and then Windsor.

At Windsor, you pass near the Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge, which crosses the Connecticut River into New Hampshire. It holds the title of the longest wooden covered bridge in the country.

This part of the ride delivers some of the best window views on the whole route.

Deep snow on the Green Mountains

The Green Mountains run the full length of Vermont and gave the state its name, from the French words for “green mountain. ”

As the train pushes north, those peaks rise along the western horizon.

In February, deep snow buries the ridgelines and fills the valleys between them.

You look out at dense woods, rivers cutting through the terrain, and small farms tucked between forested slopes. Vermont’s landscape is rugged even in summer.

Under a blanket of snow, it looks like a different place entirely.

Why Vermont’s bridges have roofs

Vermont has more than 100 covered bridges, more per square mile than any other state. Most went up between 1825 and 1875, built from local timber using hand-crafted truss designs.

The roofs kept snow and rain off the wooden trusses, which stretched their lifespans by decades. At one point, the state had as many as 700 of them.

Floods and road upgrades took most away. Ninety of the ones still standing sit on the National Register of Historic Places.

Bring your skis on the train

Vermont has about 20 ski resorts, and several sit close to Vermonter stops. Stowe is a short drive from the Waterbury-Stowe station.

Killington and Sugarbush connect to other stops by car. Mount Snow is near Brattleboro, and Smugglers’ Notch is close to Essex Junction.

February usually brings the deepest snowpack and some of the best conditions of the season. The Vermonter lets you bring skis on board as part of your carry-on baggage, so you can skip the roof rack entirely.

Maple sap starts flowing in late February

Vermont makes more maple syrup than any other state, over 3 million gallons in 2025.

That accounts for roughly 53 percent of all the maple syrup produced in the country, and Vermont has led the nation in maple taps every year since 1916.

The 2024 crop hit $95 million in value.

By late February, some sugar houses start opening for tours and tastings as sap begins to move. If your timing lines up, you can watch the whole process from tree to bottle.

Snow sports that don’t need a ski lift

Skiing gets the attention, but February in Vermont goes well beyond the resorts. You can try snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, ice fishing, or dog sledding.

Fat-tire biking on groomed trails has picked up across the state in recent years. Several farms and resorts run horse-drawn sleigh rides through snow-covered fields.

When the sun goes down, Vermont’s dark winter skies open up some of the best stargazing in the eastern U.S.

Winter festivals with bonfires, fireworks, and snow-building contests pop up statewide through January and February.

What your seat looks like for 13 hours

Coach class gives you standard two-by-two seating, and business class upgrades to wider two-by-one leather seats. A cafe car sells snacks, meals, and drinks for the ride.

Wi-Fi works on board, but expect it to drop in and out once you hit Vermont’s rural stretches. If you want quiet, there’s a dedicated quiet car.

One tip: if you ride southbound from Vermont, you catch the best daylight on the Green Mountain scenery during the winter months.

Small towns worth a stop along the line

Montpelier, reachable from the Montpelier-Berlin station, is Vermont’s capital and one of the smallest state capitals in the country.

Waterbury puts you near the Ben and Jerry’s factory and serves as a gateway to Stowe.

Essex Junction is the closest stop to Burlington, Vermont’s largest city. At the northern end of the line, St. Albans has a train station built in 1851 that sits on the National Register of Historic Places.

Brattleboro gives you a walkable downtown with local shops and river views.

Ride the Amtrak Vermonter through Vermont

You can book the Vermonter through the Amtrak app, the official website, or by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL. Vermont’s discounted Saver Fare caps in-state trips at $18 one way between Vermont stations.

Full-route fares range from as low as $6 to around $379, depending on your departure city and how far in advance you book.

The train runs once daily in each direction, leaving D.C. in the morning.

Coach and business class seats are both available, with business class giving you seat selection and extra legroom.

February counts as off-peak, so booking a week or two ahead usually gets you a lower fare.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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