- The Church Street Marketplace is a four-block, car-free brick street in the heart of Burlington — you walk it end to end in about ten minutes, or all afternoon if you stop.
- A good calm day: coffee first, drift down the block past the buskers, then follow College or Main Street downhill to the Lake Champlain waterfront (roughly a 10-minute walk).
- Float On sits right on the Marketplace at 136½ Church Street — an easy stop between the coffee and the lake. See what's in today on the live menu.
- One rule that shapes the day: public consumption isn't permitted anywhere in Vermont. Cannabis is a sealed-for-home purchase, not something to use on the street or at the waterfront.
Some days downtown don't need a plan. Burlington's compact enough that you can point yourself at the top of Church Street with a coffee and let the afternoon unspool — a few blocks of brick, some music, then the pull of the lake at the bottom of the hill. This is a guide to exactly that kind of unhurried day: what's on the Marketplace, how to get down to the water, and where a stop at Float On fits into it. No agenda required.
What is the Church Street Marketplace, exactly?
It's a four-block pedestrian street — no cars, just brick underfoot — running through the center of downtown Burlington from the top of the hill down toward the lake. Shops, cafés, and restaurants line both sides, with benches, trees, and open space down the middle where the buskers set up and the seasonal market stalls appear. It's the kind of street built for lingering rather than getting somewhere, which is the whole point of a calm day here.
Float On is right on it, at 136½ Church Street, so the shop is less a destination you drive to and more a door you pass on the walk. If you want the lay of the land before you come, our downtown Burlington area guide covers the block in more detail.
Where should I start? (Coffee, obviously)
Begin at the top of the Marketplace with a coffee in hand — it sets the pace for everything after. Burlington takes its coffee seriously and independently; you'll find small roasters and long-running cafés both on Church Street itself and a half-block off it in any direction, from third-wave pour-over spots to unfussy neighborhood counters that have been pulling shots for decades. Grab a seat outside if the weather's cooperating and just watch the street wake up for a while before you move.
What's the deal with the buskers?
The street performers are a real part of the Marketplace, not an occasional novelty. Burlington runs a busker permit program, so on a decent-weather day you'll pass a rotating cast of them staked out along the block — a guitarist, a fiddler, a one-person band, sometimes a juggler or a chalk artist working the brick. It's worth slowing down for. Catch a song, drop something in the case if it moved you, and keep drifting. The music is a big part of what makes the street feel alive rather than just a row of storefronts.
How do I get down to the lake?
This is the part people miss: Lake Champlain is a short, downhill walk away. From the Marketplace, head west (downhill) on College Street or Main Street and you'll reach the waterfront in roughly ten minutes on foot. The grade does the work on the way down; give yourself a slightly longer, huffier walk back up.
At the bottom you'll find Waterfront Park, a long boardwalk, and one of the best sunset views in New England — the sun drops behind the Adirondacks across the water. The paved Island Line bike path runs right along the shore if you feel like walking farther, and the waterfront neighborhood guide has more on what's down there. It's a genuinely great place to end a slow day: sit on a bench, watch the ferries, and let the light go.
- Waterfront Park & the boardwalk — open lawn and lake views, a straight shot down from the Marketplace.
- The Island Line path — a flat, paved shoreline walk or bike ride heading north out of downtown.
- Sunset over the Adirondacks — the payoff view, looking west across the lake at the mountains on the far shore.
Where does Float On fit into the day?
Right in the middle of the walk. Because the shop is on the Marketplace itself, the natural move is to stop in between the coffee and the lake — browse the shelf, ask a budtender what Vermont growers came in this week, pick something up, and carry on down the hill. It's a licensed adult-use shop, so it works like any other errand on the street: 21+, valid government-issued photo ID at the door, no medical card needed.
If you'd rather not break stride, you can build your order ahead on the live menu and grab it under your name at the counter — in and out in a couple of minutes, back to the buskers. First time in a cannabis shop at all? Our guide on what to expect your first time walks through the whole visit.
Can I use cannabis while I'm out downtown?
No — and this is the one rule worth being clear about before you plan the day around it. Public consumption is not permitted anywhere in Vermont. That means not on Church Street, not on a bench, not at the waterfront, not in a parked car. Anything you buy leaves the shop sealed and is for private use at home. It also can't legally cross state lines, even into a neighboring state where cannabis is legal.
So think of the shop the way you'd think of picking up a special bottle from a wine store mid-stroll: a nice thing to carry home, not part of the walk itself. The day out is the coffee, the music, and the lake; the cannabis is for later, on your own couch.
A simple half-day loop
If you want a loose shape to hang the afternoon on:
- Start at the top of Church Street with a coffee and a bench.
- Drift down the Marketplace — window-shop, catch a busker or two, no rush.
- Stop in at Float On (136½ Church St) if you're picking something up.
- Cut downhill on College or Main Street to the waterfront (~10 min).
- Sit by the lake and stay for the sunset over the Adirondacks.
- Walk back up for dinner downtown — you've earned the uphill.
When's the best time to go?
Late spring through early fall is the Marketplace at full tilt — buskers out, patios open, the waterfront in easy reach. Summer weekends are lively and a little busier; a weekday morning is the quiet, coffee-and-empty-benches version. Vermont winters turn the street crisp and lantern-lit rather than shutting it down, so a cold-weather stroll has its own appeal if you bundle up. There's no wrong season for a slow day here — just different tempos.