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Burlington, Vermont

Just whatis it about Burlington? Is it the matchless location on Lake Champlain, sandwiched between the Adirondack and Green Mountains? The thriving downtown—a pedestrian-only carnival of smoothie parlors, found-art galleries, and frat-guy bars? Or is it the arms-open hilltop university, as welcoming to aspiring dairy farmers as it is to future doctors? More likely it's all of the above—plus, just past the city limits, countless rivers to paddle, trails to hike, and hills to sled.

LEAVING HOME JetBlue, United, and other airlines fly into Burlington International Airport, just east of downtown. From Boston, the city is a three-hour drive by way of New Hampshire.
CAMPUS TOUR Though the University of Vermont sprawls across town, its heart is the maple-studded University Green, where students in fleece jackets catch the waning rays of autumn. The Perkins Geology Museum (180 Colchester Ave.; 802/656-8694; www.uvm.edu/perkins) has a fossil collection that includes an ancient whale skeleton found in sediment nearby, and—junior rock hounds, take note—a free-for-the-taking pile of discarded specimens. On the south end of campus, the Paul Miller Research Complex (500 Spear St.), a.k.a. Spear Street Farm, is where ag students learn to manage cows, sheep, and pigs. Visitors are welcome during the daily milking, from 2 to 4 P.M.
FAMOUS ALUMS The jam band Phish got its start playing in UVM dorm lounges. Pulitzer Prize–winner E. Annie Proulx studied history here.
GO TEAM Buy a foam claw and roar for the Cats at the wildly popular UVM Catamounts men's basketball and hockey games. Tickets go on sale October 3; call UVM's box office (866/422-8849).
STUDY BREAK The Burlington Bike Path, which begins in Oakledge Park, at the end of Flynn St., runs for 7½ lakeside miles. Bike rentals and maps are available at Local Motion (1 Steele St., No. 103, on the path; 802/652-2453). Find out what's living in the water at ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain (1 College St.; 802/864-1848; www.echovermont.org), a very interactive science museum. Walk among the apple trees and do some snacking at the college's 97-acre Horticultural Research Center, known as Hort Farm (65 Green Mountain Dr., South Burlington; 802/658-9166). Or be sedentary: the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts (153 Main St.; 802/863-5966; www.flynncenter.org), in a restored vaudeville house, has a schedule of Broadway shows, children's theater, and rock concerts.
MEAL PLAN Get to the Penny Cluse Café (169 Cherry St.; 802/651-8834; breakfast for four $35) early to avoid crowds of late-rising students waiting for huevos rancheros, gingerbread pancakes, and freshly squeezed tangerine juice. For burgers with the works, hit Al's French Frys (1251 Williston Rd., South Burlington; 802/862-9203; lunch for four $17). Repent at Zabby & Elf's Stone Soup (211 College St.; 802/862-7616; dinner for four $32), with its mostly vegetarian buffet and big salad bar. No need to tell your kids that the amazing chocolate-chip cookies are vegan.
CUP OR CONE? Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop (36 Church St.; 802/ 862-9620) is just a few blocks from the former gas station where the ice cream empire got its humble start. The factory—which you can tour—is 30 minutes away in Waterbury (866/ 258-6877; www.benjerry.com).
FIELD TRIP Head south on Route 7 to Shelburne to see maple, ash, and sumac trees in their fall colors (call the foliage hotline for best viewing locations; 800/837-6668). Pick your own apples from century-old trees at Shelburne Orchards (216 Orchard Rd.; 802/ 985-2753). The Shelburne Museum (U.S. Rte. 7; 802/985-3346; www.shelburnemuseum.org) is an amazing collection of 39 historic structures, including a lighthouse, a jail, and the awe-inspiring 220-foot steamboat Ticonderoga.
OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING The 257-room ­Wyndham Burlington (60 Battery St.; 800/996-3426; www.wyndham.com; doubles from $139) has an indoor pool and overlooks the lake. About 10 miles from downtown, the 119-room Inn at Essex (70 Essex Way, Essex Junction; 800/727-4295; www.innatessex.com; doubles from $169) offers kitchenettes. But there's no need to cook—the outstanding New England Culinary Institute runs the inn's Tavern, known for its Yankee pot roast and turkey potpie.
REQUIRED READING The free weekly Seven Days (802/864-5684; www.sevendaysvt.com) runs the best events listings. Ogle farm photos and book lodgings at www.vermont.org.
—MARGARET ADAIR

REPORT CARD
A+Scenery, outdoor activities, people-watching, and unbridled joie de vivre.
C+ Traffic in and out of town.
B- Hotels. The city's family-oriented lodging options are limited.
A October. Come all ye leaf-peepers—the first two weeks of the month are the height of foliage season.

Austin, Texas

KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD is the city's unofficial slogan. Fortunately for visitors, locals conscientiously comply. This is the land of unhurried and unpretentious cool, a reincarnated hippiedom in which art and music of all sorts are celebrated. Blended in with the enduring flower power is just enough Texas iconography—cowboys, cacti, barbecue—to create a college metropolis like no other.

LEAVING HOME Austin is in the heart of the Lone Star State, a two- to three-hour drive from either Houston or Dallas. Flights to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport leave from most major hubs.
CAMPUS TOUR The University of  Texas style is Spanish Renaissance, a fancy name for red-tiled roofs and white limestone structures. The main gathering spot is the Texas Union (24th and Guadalupe Sts.; 512/475-6636), which has a game room where you can go "glow bowling." Students also congregate below the UT Tower, the school's Big Ben. The Harry Ransom Center (21st and Guadalupe Sts.; 512/471-8944; www.hrc.utexas.edu) is a mini Smithsonian, showcasing a Gutenberg Bible and the first photograph ever taken.
FAMOUS ALUMS Janis Joplin studied art here for a year; Farrah Fawcett was voted one of the 10 most beautiful students in 1965–66; and Renée Zellweger worked her way through UT as a waitress at a topless club called Sugar's Uptown Cabaret.
GO TEAM If you're in town during a UT football game, join the herds of Longhorns fans by dressing in burnt orange and flashing the raised-pointer-and-pinky Hook 'em Horns salute. Get tickets from www.ticketcity.com.
STUDY BREAK At Zilker Park (2100 Barton Springs Rd.; 512/974-6700) you'll find a sprawling playground, a mini train, canoe rentals, and Austin's crown jewel, Barton Springs Pool. Beware: It's unheated. Rent wheels from the Bicycle Sports Shop (517 S. Lamar; 512/477-3472), and look for local hero Lance Armstrong as you tour the city's 50 miles of trails.
HERE A TWANG, THERE A TWANG In this self-proclaimed Live Music Capital of the World, you'll take in tunes at restaurants, stores, even the airport. The big daddy of events is the Austin City Limits Music Festival (www.austincitylimits.com), this year September 23–25, with eight stages and 130 bands.
MEAL PLAN Locals eat burgers at Shady Grove (1624 Barton Springs Rd.; 512/474-9991; lunch or dinner for four $20), a joint with a fifties-Western look, and live music every Thursday—cowboy, rock, or swing. For a Hill Country field trip, head south on Camp Ben McCulloch Road 25 minutes to the Salt Lick (18300 Camp Ben McCulloch Rd.; 512/858-4959; lunch for four $40) for barbecue.
CUP OR CONE? The staff at Amy's Ice Cream (3500 Guadalupe St.; 512/458-6895) perform acts of derring-do, tossing scoops in the air and catching them in cups behind their backs.
BLOW YOUR ALLOWANCE The Drag, a stretch of Guadalupe Street that abuts the university, is where Austinites-in-training are fed and outfitted in proper style. At Edge (2354 Guadalupe St.; 512/320-0666), a vintage-clothing store, tailors will alter a cowboy shirt in 30 minutes or fashion a skirt out of bandannas. The goods at Toy Joy (2900 Guadalupe St.; 512/320-0090) can be cheeky (looking for a JESUS SAVES bank?).
FUN FOR FREE Climb the 99 steps built into Mount Bonnell (3800 Mount Bonnell Rd.) to peer out at the city and the Dellionaire (Dell Computer exec) mansions mushrooming along Lake Austin. The Austin Nature & Science Center (301 Nature Center Dr.; 512/327-8181; www.ci.austin.tx.us/ansc), in Zilker Park, is home to coyotes and bobcats, among other critters, plus the city's largest sandbox, stocked with mock T. rex fossils.
OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING The Four Seasons Hotel (98 San Jacinto Blvd.; 800/819-5053; www.fourseasons.com/austin; doubles from $290) is a cushy landing pad on the edge of  Town Lake, near the Congress Avenue Bridge, where most evenings from March through October you can watch the famous swarm of 1½ million Mexican free-tailed bats reduce the city's insect population. The Hotel San José (1316 S. Congress; 800/574-8897; www.sanjosehotel.com; doubles from $175), in the bohemian SoCo neighborhood, is a stylishly updated 1930's motor court.
REQUIRED READING The Austin Chronicle (www.austinchronicle.com) runs the most discerning listings. Visit www.keepaustinweird.com for left-of-center attractions.
—JEANNIE RALSTON

REPORT CARD
A+ Food, shopping, family fun. Austin is centered around the outdoors—all the better to run down kids' batteries.
C Architecture. Most downtown buildings, disappointingly, look like those in any middle-sized American city.
B Winter. No chills here—think of it as Endless Autumn.
A- Music gigs. They happen late or are held in smoky venues, making Austin's legendary scene hard to fully experience with kids in tow. Still, there's music in the air.

Madison, Wisconsin

It's been ranked as one of the brainiest cities in America—and one of the greenest, most literate, and most athletic. It also serves the best bratwursts this side of Bavaria. Rising out of the cornfields and cow pastures, Madison—a.k.a. Madtown—leavens the highbrow with the down-home. What else would you expect from the capital of a state whose residents call themselves Cheeseheads?
LEAVING HOME Dane County Regional Airport, five miles from downtown, is served by the major carriers. Chicago is a 2½-hour drive down Interstate 90.
CAMPUS TOUR The University of Wisconsin overlooks Lake Mendota, with miles and miles of biking, hiking, and cross-country ski trails, plus sailing and, in deep winter, ice skating. Bascom Hill is the place to practice hacky sack or read the Badger Herald under the elms. Locals and students alike hang out at the Memorial Union (800 Langdon St.; 608/265-3000; www.union.wisc.edu), a 1920's Italianate palace with a terrace that has prime lake views and, often, live music playing.
CRASH COURSE Bone up on your Wisconsin humor at a Saturday morning taping of Michael Feldman's public radio program Whad'ya Know? (locations vary; 608/262-2201; www.notmuch.com).
FAMOUS ALUMS Eudora Welty and chef Charlie Trotter. Dropouts include Frank Lloyd Wright (nine of his buildings are here in town!), John Muir, Charles Lindbergh, and Dick Cheney—who liberal Madisonians say left a Ph.D. program in British literature just after he passed the draft age for the Vietnam War.
GO TEAM Follow the marching band as it plays "On, Wisconsin" into Camp Randall Stadium (1440 Monroe St.; 608/ 262-1866) for a Saturday football game against Big Ten rivals like the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Warning: Badgers fans order tickets months in advance (800/ 462-2343; tickets@athletics.wisc.edu).
STUDY BREAK On Saturdays, stroll pedestrian-only State Street on your way to the Dane County Farmers' Market (Capitol Square; 608/455-1999; www.madfarmmkt.org; open late April–early November), the largest farmers' market in the nation. Essential eating: cheese curds (fresh cheddar lumps), of Little Miss Muffet fame. Down the street is the spectacular new Cesar Pelli–designed Overture Center (201 State St.; 608/ 258-4177; www.overturecenter.com), with performance spaces showcasing Russian ballet, Chinese circus performers, and Tony Award–winning musicals.
MEAL PLAN Marigold Kitchen (118 S. Pinckney St.; 608/661-5559; closed Sundays; breakfast for four $18) makes duck-confit hash and pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. State Street Brats (603 State St.; 608/ 255-5544; lunch for four $25) specializes in the famed local wurst. For a stunning variety of foreign restaurants, browse State Street—the Nepalese Chautara (334 State St.; 608/251-3626; dinner for four $40) makes its curry from Wisconsin farm-raised goat.
CUP OR CONE? Babcock Hall Dairy Store (1605 Linden Dr.; 608/ 262-3045) dishes up funky flavors concocted by the university's Department of Food Science. Blue Moon is turquoise and tastes like Froot Loops.
BLOW YOUR ALLOWANCE At Ragstock (329 State St.; 608/251-3419), act like a local and browse the Japanese baseball jerseys and micro kilts before settling on yet another flannel shirt. Stop for cherry balls and root-beer barrels at Twee & Luliloo (218 State St.; 608/251-4075).
FUN FOR FREE Scout for tree frogs and woodchucks in native prairie grasses at the 1,260-acre University of Wisconsin Arboretum (1207 Seminole Hwy.; 608/263-7888; www.uwarboretum.org).
OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING The Hilton Madison Monona Terrace (9 E. Wilson St.; 800/445-8667; www.hiltonmadison.com; doubles from $139) has a pool and views of Lake Monona—not to be confused with Lake Mendota, just across the isthmus. Mansion Hill Inn (424 N. Pinckney; 800/798-9070; www.mansionhillinn.com; suite for four $295), the nicest place to stay, has steep interior steps—hence its children-over-13 policy.
REQUIRED READING The Isthmus (www.thedailypage.com), Madison's free alternative weekly, runs the most complete event listings. Get your children to plan your trip at www.visitmadison.com's Kid's Corner.
—ELIZABETH LARSEN

REPORT CARD
A+ Cultural offerings, outdoor attractions, spectator sports, and the intelligently goofy vibe.
C Kiddie diversions. There's not much tailored to the under-five set, though the Children's Museum on State Street is a rainy-day standby.
A Food. Madison's pickings are diverse and farm fresh.