Best Northeast Kingdom hideout

You've read Under the Tuscan Sun and A Year in Provence, but you haven't won the lottery, so buying a home in Europe is out. Still, you're dying for an escape from the city, a trip that allows you rustic pleasure without giving up great food and comfort. Never fear: Montgomery Center is just waiting to be discovered. Five hours north, up Route 118 in the tippy top of Vermont, the village of 400 is ringed with ancient trees, studded with quaint farm homes, and split by a musical river that parallels the tiny main street. Nearby Jay Peak boasts the most snowfall of any ski area in Vermont every winter, while summer visitors revel in the pristine swimming hole (a clothing-optional gem in the woods) as well as biking and hiking. The idyllic virtues are easy to spot.

But a closer look reveals the pampering charms: multiple B&Bs, including Phineas Swann House (802-326-4306), a restored Victorian famed for its friendly proprietors and gourmet breakfasts; several excellent restaurants, including Zacks on the Rocks (820-326-4500), which features elegant food in a dramatic setting; and Kilgore's General Store (802-326-3058), an antiques store that also offers fresh-baked pastries. Montgomery Center is no metropolis, and its amenities are spread out -- Zack's, for instance, is perched on boulders in a field with nothing else in sight -- but this only adds to the feeling that you've been transported far away from the hustle and bustle of big-city life.