Vermonter here (00:55) and I have to respectfully disagree; I think 22A or Route 7 are more scenic than the NY State Thruway (though that's also nice once you're above Glens Falls, but it's interstate).
If you do go up the NY side, though, there's a ferry from Plattsburgh to Burlington, so that's another way you can go.

I head up to northern VT every summer and I always go the upstate NY route. It is so much more attractive than the more eastern route.

OP here. Thank you very much!

Of course, with two teenage boys, they may be into the water park ....

Going from Burlington up through the Champlain islands is a great idea. Nice way to see the Lake.

+1 for Fort Ticonderoga. After Fort Ti, there is a small ferry across the lake to Orwell, VT, and you can take VT 22A straight north through Vergennes and Shelburne to Burlington.

South of Shelburne, Shelburne Farms is gorgeous--a 19th century exhibition farm built by the Vanderbilts and laid out by one of the Olmsteds, I believe the one who also laid out Central Park. Beautiful lake vistas; gigantic barns; animals for the kids (they can milk a cow, feed chickens, pet bunnies and goats, etc. -- great for 11 and under, teens might not dig it as much unless they've never been around farm animals).

Just south of that, Shelburne Museum is also very nice and could take a whole day if you had it. A very large outdoor museum with tons of Americana exhibits, including a refurbished steamboat that cruised Lake Champlain in the 19th century.

Unfortunately you could spend a whole day at each of these places, so you'll have to do some choosing.

One warning: in the Lake George/Glens Falls area, the nice people at Six Flags/Great Lodge have built a gigantic indoor water park that attracts families from miles around. If that's your kind of thing, great, but if not, it can create big weekend traffic jams in what used to be a charming area of small towns and small local highways. It may mean that that stroll through Saratoga Springs puts you into that mess afterward. Perhaps better to bypass it. You could head past it on the NY Thruway, but sadly sometimes even the Thruway gets jammed. A more scenic way around it is to head east from Albany/Troy to Bennington, VT, and then head north on Route 7. Lots of scenery, little traffic. If you still want to go to Fort Ti, and/or get the scenic lake views driving up 22A instead of 7, just pop back over on Route 4 west from Rutland. You can either turn north on 22A from Fair Haven (and take the Orwell ferry to Fort Ti if you're so inclined), or you can cross back into NY state at Whitehall and head up to Fort Ti that way. It's a little doubletracking, but a nice drive and avoids the whole Great Lodge mess.

Anonymous wrote:Did something similar recently and stopped in Sarasota springs NY. Was a great pit stop.

Avoid New Haven. Portland ME is crazy but Boston will also take you further east than you need to be.

Five Colleges/valley area is a good pit stop home in Western Ma IMO. But NY state route def. has less traffic.

Thanks PP. What did you do in Saratoga Springs? I was looking at that but couldn't figure out what we would do with our kids there.