Eight Great Vermont Ice Cream Shops

Updated on February 15th, 2021

There is a reason Ben and Jerry had such great success making ice cream in Vermont.  Vermont ice cream has something special going for it: Vermont dairy cows.  The state of Vermont has the highest number of dairy cows per person in the US and a whopping 15% of the state is covered by dairy farms.  Rolling green pastures are everywhere and they are full of happy cows.

Recently, we brought the boat to Vergennes.  We found the best ice cream we could remember tasting in a tiny city most people have never heard of.  It got me thinking about what other great Vermont ice cream might be hiding out there!  The great Vermont Ice Cream Roadtrip of 2018 was born.  Twelve stops over the course of two weekends left us with slight belly aches but we now have a great list of the best Vermont ice cream stops!  There is no rhyme or reason to the order of this list, they are all tasty and I couldn’t rank them in order if you asked!

LuLu Ice Cream

Flavors Tried:  Earl Grey, Curried Peanut Butter, Orange Cardamom, Whiskey Lullaby

LuLu Ice Cream is located in Vergennes right in the middle of Maine Street.  LuLu was the inspiration behind our Vermont ice cream road trip. LuLu Ice Cream is insanely rich and they have an ever-rotating list of flavors that push the limits of flavor.  Of the four flavors we have tried, the curried peanut butter has been the favorite.  I’m sure, with their creative list, we will find a new favorite in the future.

Lake Champlain Chocolates

Flavors tried:  Belgium Chocolate

I’ve been to the Lake Champlain Chocolate factory store in Pine Street in Burlington on three prior occasions. and yet, learning they serve ice cream was a surprise!  This was hands down the best chocolate ice cream I have ever tasted. So chocolatey, not too sweet, and not too bitter. It was a perfect balance! The only downside to our visit was having to drag Andy away from the giant window overlooking the factory machinery.  Engineers will be engineers.

Ben and Jerry’s

Flavors tried:  Strawberry Cheesecake and Americone Dream (along with about 50 others we’ve had over the years)

When most people think about Vermont ice cream, they think of Ben and Jerry’s. As far as brands you see in the grocery store they are probably the best.  It may surprise you to know that, on this list, they wouldn’t make it into my top five. Don’t get me wrong. It’s good ice cream, and they are a great company!  I’m just saying there might be better ice cream in Vermont.

However, if you have never made a trip to the factory in Waterbury, go. The factory tour is informative and ends with free ice cream. You can visit the flavor graveyard and see all the “dead” flavors.  They also host a lot of fun events!

Canteen Creemee Company

Flavors tried:  Bad Larry (Maple Creemee rolled in maple cookie and maple crystals topped with a hat of maple cotton candy drizzled with maple syrup)

Canteen Creeme Company is located in Waitsfield.  When the tiny teenager behind the counter handed me my “Bad Larry”, I nearly fainted.  It was about 8 inches tall and one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.  First, as an ol’ ice cream slinger myself back in the day, I was super impressed with how tall and straight they had managed to get the creemee. Creemee is the northern New England slang for soft-serve ice cream. Not only was this the tallest ice cream stack I had ever seen but it was then topped with cotton candy.  What?!?!  This cone has some serious maple flavor packed in.  The creemee itself is delicious and some of the best I’ve had. A ton of maple but not sickly sweet.

Chill Gelato

Tried:  Beetiful and Salted Caramel

Chill Gelato is located in downtown Montpellier and has an ever-changing list of flavors that are creative and delicious!  We tried the beetiful which tasted like candied beets and salted caramel which was fantastic. Montpellier is an eccentric little city even by Vermont standards and the interesting flavors offered are perfectly in line with the city’s vibe.

Blueberry Haus

Flavors tried:  Blueberry Cheesecake and Blueberry

Blueberry Haus has two locations one in Guilford and the one we visited in downtown Brattleboro.  I had heard about their blueberry ice cream from a co-worker and even though we were a little late for the blueberry season I had to try their signature flavor.  It was packed with blueberry flavor, and super creamy. The blueberry cheesecake might have been even better, and the addition of cheesecake bits and graham cracker crust certainly didn’t hurt things.  The Brattleboro location is situated in a super cute shop with lots of fun knick-knacks.  

Creemee Stand

Flavors tried:  Maple Creemee

The Creemee Stand is located in Wilmington.  This is the best maple creemee in Vermont.  It is closer to custard than ice cream.  Super thick, rich and packed with maple flavor.  It was the perfect amount of sweet.  The woman serving was really nice.   She even made us a second dish after a fly landed in our first round while we paid.  I didn’t even ask, she just did it! Pro tip: they are cash only!  Don’t be like us and stuck sharing because you didn’t have enough cash for two!!

Island Homemade Ice Cream

Flavors tried:  Cookie dough, Cookies and cream, and Vermont maple bacon

We stopped at A&B Beverage on Grand Isle for our Island Homemade Ice Cream.  This is the perfect hot day ice cream.  It’s not overly heavy without losing its creaminess.  I’m not sure how they do it, probably some miracle of Champlain Island cows.  All three flavors were packed with the “good bits”, so much so that the cookie and cream ice cream was practically black.  The cookie dough chunks were huge!  This ice cream was definitely worth the drive to the islands, and happily, it is also available in pints at a ton of north Champlain valley grocery and convenience stores.

Did we miss a great ice cream shop in Vermont?  Leave us a comment with your favorite and we’ll be sure to stop there next!