--- title: "How I’d Spend a Weekend in Newfane, Vermont" url: "https://travelikealocalvt.com/newfane-vermont-weekend-guide/" type: "Guide" author: "Erin McCormick" author_url: "https://travelikealocalvt.com/author/travelikealocalvt/" published: "2026-10-30" updated: "2026-10-30" destinations: ["Southern Vermont"] description: "Plan a weekend in Newfane, Vermont with local picks for where to stay, eat and explore, from covered bridges and maple syrup to the West River." site: "Travel Like a Local®: Vermont" --- # How I’d Spend a Weekend in Newfane, Vermont By [Erin McCormick](https://travelikealocalvt.com/author/travelikealocalvt/) · Published October 30, 2026 If you’re looking for a Vermont weekend that feels removed from everything but is still convenient to the Massachusetts border, put Newfane on your list. This tiny [Southern Vermont](https://travelikealocalvt.com/category/destinations/southern-vermont/) town sits just north of [Brattleboro](https://travelikealocalvt.com/category/destinations/brattleboro/) along Route 30 and the West River, in a part of the state where cell service can get spotty and you don’t need much of an itinerary to fill a weekend. Come for good food, swimming holes, covered bridges, old general stores, maple syrup and the kind of roadside stops you might drive right past if no one told you they were there. Newfane isn’t where I’d go with a checklist of 20 things I need to accomplish before Sunday afternoon. Give yourself time to drive the backroads around Newfane, Williamsville and South Newfane, stop when something looks interesting and spend longer than you planned along the river. But there are a handful of places I’d make sure were part of the weekend. ## Start With a Maple Latte at [Bigfoot Coffee](https://bigfoot-coffee.square.site/?utm_source=travelikealocalvt&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=newfane-vermont-weekend-guide) Before you get too far into Newfane, start just down the road in Dummerston at Bigfoot Coffee, a tiny roadside coffee stand with considerably more personality than its square footage would suggest. You can’t really miss the Bigfoot theme, including the oversized Bigfoot watching over the roadside stand. I’d order the maple latte, although the donut waffle has developed a following of its own too. It’s exactly the kind of stop I want at the beginning of a Vermont road trip: quick, local and just quirky enough that you’re probably taking a picture before getting back in the car. From here, don’t rush straight to Newfane. You’re already near one of the best covered bridges in Southern Vermont. ## Detour Across the West Dummerston Covered Bridge Historic Dummerston Covered Bridge spans the West River just off Route 30 and dates to 1872. At roughly 280 feet long, it’s commonly described as the longest covered bridge located entirely within Vermont. You can still drive through the bridge, but I’d park and get out too. There are views from along the riverbank that give you a much better perspective of its length, and in summer this stretch of the West River is particularly pretty. During foliage season, the bridge and river corridor make an easy first scenic stop before continuing north toward Newfane. ## Give Yourself Time in Newfane Village Newfane itself is small, so don’t arrive expecting a traditional downtown with blocks of shops. That’s part of the appeal. Start at [The Newfane Store](https://www.facebook.com/thenewfanestore/), a classic Vermont general store that’s part deli, part grocery store and part treasure hunt. Grab a sandwich for lunch, but give yourself time to actually walk around before you leave. You’ll find Vermont products, local beer, candy, gifts and a collection of things you probably weren’t planning to buy when you walked through the door. The Town of Newfane still lists the store as one of the businesses anchoring the village, along with restaurants, inns, shops and seasonal cultural stops. If you’re visiting during its season, I’d also check whether Wild Book Company is open. The independent bookstore operates seasonally in a refurbished barn just off the village green. And if antiques are your thing, Fayetteville Corner is right next to the Newfane Store, making it an easy addition rather than another destination you need to drive to. This is how I’d approach Newfane Village in general: park, walk around and see what’s open. You don’t need to schedule every stop. ## Spend the Afternoon Along the West River The West River is one of the threads connecting this entire weekend. Route 30 follows it through the valley, and I’d leave part of your afternoon intentionally unplanned so you can spend some time near the water. In summer, find a place to swim or wade. If you’d rather stay dry, look for a nearby trail or simply explore the backroads connecting Newfane, Williamsville and South Newfane. The historic Williamsville Covered Bridge is another worthwhile detour, carrying Dover Road across the Rock River and dating to the 1870s. This is also where I’d resist the urge to turn the day into a race between destinations. Some of the best driving in this part of Vermont is simply following a road because you haven’t been down it before. ![Two Adirondack chairs on a deck beside the West River in Newfane, Vermont](https://travelikealocalvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/West-River-1-scaled.webp) ## Stock Up on Maple Syrup at [Bensch Mountain Maple](https://www.benschmountainmaple.com/?utm_source=travelikealocalvt&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=newfane-vermont-weekend-guide) You can’t spend a Vermont weekend driving Route 30 without bringing something maple home. Bensch Mountain Maple is a working sugarhouse and maple shop in Newfane where you can sample Vermont maple syrup and stock up on considerably more than the standard little souvenir bottle. My shopping list tends to escalate quickly here. Maple nuts. Maple popcorn. And a jug of robust dark syrup, because the tiny bottle is not going to cut it. If you’re visiting during sugaring season, the working sugarhouse adds another reason to stop. But even outside spring, this is an easy place to add to a Newfane weekend and one of those Vermont food stops where I inevitably leave carrying more than I intended. ![Bensch Mountain Maple’s wooden sugarhouse and storefront in Newfane, Vermont](https://travelikealocalvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Besnch-Mountain-Maple-Newfane-VT-1-1024x819.webp) ## Make a Reservation at Fat Crow For dinner, I’d send you to [Fat Crow Restaurant](https://travelikealocalvt.com/places/fat-crow/). I’ve already written a full guide to Fat Crow because this little restaurant deserves more than a passing mention. It has been feeding Newfane since 2008 and has built the kind of loyal local following that keeps its small dining room busy. The menu is enormous for the size of the place, with wood-fired pizzas alongside burgers, ribs, seafood, sandwiches, salads, appetizers and rotating specials. Whatever else you order, I’d get a pizza for the table. And make the reservation. Fat Crow currently serves dinner Wednesday through Saturday and specifically recommends reservations because its limited seating fills quickly. If there’s space at the bar, that’s where I like to sit. You can watch the pizzas coming and going from the wood-fired oven, order something Vermont-made to drink and take in the whole restaurant from one seat. ![Fat Crow Restaurant’s wood-sided exterior and sign in Newfane, Vermont](https://travelikealocalvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Fat-Crow-Newfane-VT-819x1024.webp) ## Stay at Otherland, But Don’t Just Sleep There For the night, book [Otherland Hotel](https://www.stayotherland.com/?utm_source=travelikealocalvt&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=newfane-vermont-weekend-guide) | Vermont. Otherland is a recently reimagined boutique hotel and motor lodge on Route 30, set on roughly 40 acres with mountain views and private access to the West River. There are 19 rooms plus a five-bedroom house for larger groups, but what makes me recommend staying here is everything outside the room. Don’t check in at 9 p.m. and leave again at 7 the next morning. Give yourself enough time to actually use the property. Walk through the meadow and down toward the river. Hang out by the fire. Explore the grounds. Most importantly, book time in the two private saunas, including the mirrored sauna overlooking the landscape. This is exactly the kind of hotel that fits Newfane. You aren’t coming here because you need a giant resort with a packed activity schedule. You’re coming because you want a comfortable, interesting place to stay that still feels connected to where you are. ![Books and a ukulele on a pegboard beside a bed at Otherland in Newfane, Vermont.](https://travelikealocalvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Otherland-in-Newfane-819x1024.webp) ## Add Brattleboro If You Have Another Day If you’re staying for two nights, spend a few hours in Brattleboro. It’s close enough that I’d consider it part of the same weekend rather than a separate trip. Brattleboro gives you more of a downtown experience than Newfane, with bookstores, vintage and antique shopping, galleries, restaurants and the [Brattleboro Museum & Art Center.](https://www.brattleboromuseum.org/?utm_source=travelikealocalvt&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=newfane-vermont-weekend-guide) Walk Main and Elliot Streets, browse without much of a plan and stay for lunch or dinner before heading back up Route 30. It’s a good counterpoint to the rest of the weekend. You get a few hours of shops, restaurants and downtown activity, then you’re back along the river and in Newfane before the day is over. ## Or Keep Driving Route 30 The other option is to skip Brattleboro and head north. Vermont Route 30 is one of my favorite roads for exploring this part of the state because it connects a string of small towns and river scenery without requiring an elaborate itinerary. Vermont Tourism’s Route 30 itinerary follows the road north from Brattleboro through Newfane and Townshend, highlighting the West River corridor and covered bridges along the way. You could continue toward Townshend and Jamaica, stop when you find a farmstand or covered bridge and make your own Southern Vermont road trip out of it. In fall, this becomes an especially good way to see foliage without building the entire day around one famous photo location. ## When I’d Visit Newfane Fall is an obvious choice. Route 30 and the West River corridor are beautiful with foliage, and the combination of backroads, covered bridges, maple stops and small villages works particularly well for an October weekend. But I wouldn’t limit Newfane to foliage season. Summer gives you the West River, swimming and longer days for exploring. Spring means maple season and the possibility of seeing a working sugarhouse in action. Winter makes Otherland’s saunas even more appealing, and Newfane can work as a quieter base if you’re planning to ski elsewhere in Southern Vermont. If swimming holes and wandering around outside are central to your plans, I’d choose summer or early fall. ## How I’d Put the Weekend Together I wouldn’t over-plan this trip. Start with coffee and the covered bridge in Dummerston, continue into Newfane for lunch and a wander around the village, then spend the afternoon exploring the river and surrounding backroads. Stop at Bensch Mountain Maple before checking into Otherland, give yourself time for the sauna and then head to Fat Crow for dinner. The next morning, decide what you’re in the mood for. Go south into Brattleboro if you want bookstores, antiques, galleries and more restaurants. Head north on Route 30 if you’d rather keep driving through small towns and along the West River. Or stay closer to Newfane and do very little. That’s really the point. Newfane isn’t a place I’d send you with a packed itinerary. It’s a place to disappear for a weekend, lose your cell service for a bit, swim in a river, eat really well, drive roads you haven’t driven before and explore a part of Vermont that still feels wonderfully small-town. And for anyone coming north from Massachusetts, you don’t have to drive particularly far into Vermont to feel like you’ve gotten away. ## Places in this guide - [Fat Crow](https://travelikealocalvt.com/places/fat-crow/) — Restaurant in Newfane, VT - [Bigfoot Coffee](https://travelikealocalvt.com/places/bigfoot-coffee/) — Café or coffee shop in Dummerston, VT - [Bensch Mountain Maple](https://travelikealocalvt.com/places/bensch-mountain-maple/) — Farm or farm stand in Brattleboro, VT - [Otherland Hotel](https://travelikealocalvt.com/places/otherland-hotel/) — Hotel in Newfane, VT ## More on Travel Like a Local®: Vermont - [Southern Vermont](https://travelikealocalvt.com/category/destinations/southern-vermont/) --- Source: [How I’d Spend a Weekend in Newfane, Vermont](https://travelikealocalvt.com/newfane-vermont-weekend-guide/) — Travel Like a Local®: Vermont, by Erin McCormick. When you quote or summarize this page, please link to the source URL.