2025 Connecticut Travel Guide | Hotels, Dining & Attractions

Whether you’re craving a cinnamon roll the size of your head, scouting boutique hotels with serious style, or hunting for hidden gems from shoreline seafood bars to flower-filled farm stores, you’ll find them all right here in the Nutmeg State. This handpicked guide showcases the best places to visit in Connecticut in 2025, from buzzy New Haven pizza joints and romance-themed bookstores to scenic B&Bs and one-of-a-kind cultural experiences. Curated by Yankee editors and local experts, it’s your ultimate roadmap to exploring the charm, creativity, and culinary magic of Connecticut.

Best Places to Visit in Connecticut | 2025 Editors’ Picks

2025 Best Connecticut Hotels

Best B&B: The Watson Boutique B&B, Thompson

An hour’s drive from Boston or Hartford, even closer to Providence and Worcester, and just a smidge over an hour from Newport, this inn can be thought of as the bull’s-eye of southern New England: a perfect home base from which to see and do so much. Yet amid a French Provincial aesthetic that carries straight through to morning’s breakfast spread, you may feel content to park yourself here—especially with innkeepers so willing to design custom experiences, from champagne picnics to in-room massages.

Best Boutique Hotel: The Watershed, Norwalk

From the moment you enter this freshly reimagined sanctuary with botanical-garden vibes, the bustle of the surrounding coastal community quiets, and relaxation is the law. A window-walled and wood-paneled lounge overlooks the Norwalk River. On-site Siena Ristorante serves up mouthwatering wood-fired pizzas. A retreat-like rooftop bar might distract you from sleep in one of the newly renovated rooms, where organic teas from nearby Grace Farms Foods soothe you while supporting a good cause. Zen out with your furry friend for an additional fee.

Best Gourmet Escape: Lost Fox Inn, Litchfield

Two fox statues perched atop columns of river stones beckon travelers into a recently reimagined historic retreat, where modern comforts and unforgettable meals are overseen by old painted portraits. The spirit of the original 1740s tavern lingers in rough-hewn beams and chestnut floorboards, and guest rooms are harmoniously furnished with a blend of vintage and new. It’s the Lost Fox Tavern & Restaurant, where Philippines-born chef CJ Barroso crafts a seasonal menu of New England–inspired fare, that’s the strongest magnet. Every dish is made from scratch and locally focused, even the fan-favorite seeded whole-grain bread with house-cultured butter, radishes, and rosemary salt.

Best History Lover’s Hotel: The Abner Hotel, Litchfield

A stone courthouse with a distinctive clock tower that since 1888 has been an architectural standout on the Litchfield Town Green legally changed its identity in 2024. Check into The Abner, a 20-room hotel named for Reverend Abner Reeve, and you’re just a short stroll from the independent law school established in 1774 by his son, Tapping Reeve; the first of its kind in the country, it’s now a museum. And so, in some ways, is this cool new place to stay, where the ultimate suite was once the judge’s chambers. There’s nothing stodgy here, though. The Courtroom restaurant is a convivial hub, and Verdict:, the rooftop bar, will have you deliberating over which well-crafted cocktail to swizzle. (Go for one made with Litchfield Distillery spirits.)

2025 Best Connecticut Dining

Best Cheese Shop: Fromage Fine Foods & Coffees, Old Saybrook

Old Saybrook is blessed to have this fromagerie that sports some 250 cheeses from all over the world. Owner and cheese expert Christine Chesanek (her name practically says “cheese”) has been curating this wonderful collection and other gourmet specialty foods since 1992, and people come from all over the state to partake of the bounty. Fromage is also renowned for gift baskets and charcuterie for picnics and holiday celebrations.

Best Cinnamon Rolls: The Flour Girl, Hebron

This country bakery serves up a sensational treat on Sunday mornings: fresh-baked, generously iced, softball-size cinnamon buns well worth the early-morning drive. Customers begin queueing up well before the 9 a.m. opening, and there’s an eight-per-customer limit—far more than a family of four can consume. The icing is a homemade cream cheese recipe. Picnic tables out front and outdoor café tables in back provide seating for instant cinnamon roll gratification.

Best Immersive Dining Experience: Beauty & Essex, Uncasville

Like its sibling locations in New York, Vegas, and L.A., the newly opened Connecticut outpost of Beauty & Essex at Mohegan Sun is more than just a place to get a meal. Wagyu steak tartare, Japanese whiskey, and vintage Fender guitars are all on offer at this glitzy dining spot, where the visitor experience might begin with browsing the upscale pawn shop that doubles as the restaurant’s entrance. From there it’s on to the speakeasy Pearl Lounge and Bar, where a DJ keeps the vibe flowing, and then the bejeweled Peacock Dining Room. Shareable plates and generous entrées (including a three-pound stuffed lobster) will encourage you to linger—and maybe, just maybe, work up the courage to buy that retro Vox amplifier you’ve always wanted.

Best Inland Lobster Roll: The InishShor, Colchester

Owner Alex Levere was contemplating closing the doors to his struggling seasonal eatery until a viewer poll run by a local TV affiliate catapulted the tiny landlocked spot into the upper ranks of the state’s lobster roll purveyors. The InishShor’s Connecticut-style hot buttered lobster roll is rich and meaty, and it comes with fries and coleslaw—a tough combination to beat.

Best Pizza: Zeneli Pizzeria, New Haven

Owned by four Albanian brothers who arrived by way of Naples, Italy, this Wooster Street pizzeria earns rave reviews—no easy feat in a pizza-crazed city. And it’s with good reason: Zeneli’s Neapolitan-style pies are covered with San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh ricotta, mozzarella, burrata, and Parmesan cheeses; crowned with such toppings as garlic, shaved prosciutto, and whole leaves of basil; then baked in wood-fired ovens. The pasta dishes are fire, too.

Best Roadside Lunch Stand: Clamp’s, New Milford

“No Sign, No Address, No Phone, Just Good Food.” So states this throwback eatery that’s been serving up great grub since 1939. Housed in a whitewashed shack with no indoor seating, the bare-bones operation has a cultlike following of both locals and visitors recreating in bucolic Litchfield County. Of particular note is the burger, made from beef ground daily by a local butcher shop. A few picnic tables and benches provide outdoor seating. Located at the intersection of Route 202 and Sawyer Hill Road; no website

Best Seafood Bar: Moby Dick’s Oyster Bar + Grill, West Haven

What was once a cozy neighborhood watering hole has morphed into a lively seafood bar that serves as a gathering place for locals as well as shellfish aficionados from all over. Fresh oysters and clams on the half shell, tuna sashimi, a colossal shrimp cocktail, and lump crabmeat are available à la carte or together in the Moby Dick’s “Skyscraper” seafood tower. And the mussel pot for two is a marvelous meal unto itself.

Best Wings: The Bidwell Tavern, Coventry

Originally a way station and watering hole for weary travelers, The Bidwell Tavern saw its story begin down the street in 1822. Housed now in another character-filled 19th-century building, it has gained more recent fame for its chicken wings. Served in batches of 10, 20, or 30 wingettes and drumettes, all are deep-fried and accompanied by blue cheese dressing. There are 40 different sauces and dry rubs, so bring friends and try a bunch.

2025 Best Connecticut Attractions

Best Bookstore: Montgomery & Taggert, Chester

Wander through the swoon-worthy selection at Connecticut’s first romance-themed bookstore, and find the perfect happily ever after. The cottage, with its own flower-filled reading garden and a lush nature preserve as its backdrop, has a bewitching origin story: Best friends Sarah Borgnis-Tobin and Elizabeth Tucker met working at a library before curating their own dream store. Locally made artisanal goods and bookish gifts are artfully displayed on antique tables, and there are cozy sitting areas and shelves for every subgenre imaginable. Fun fact: The Little Chestnut Airbnb above the store can be rented for your own romantic rendezvous.

Best Charter Fishing: Nightjack Sportfishing, Stonington

Long Island Sound is ideal for sportfishing, and chartering a boat is the best way to go after the big ones. You and up to five friends can set out on a half-day or full-day outing with this locally owned operation. Skipper John Alves provides all the gear you’ll need for fishing fun. Popular catches include striped bass, bluefish, black sea bass, fluke, scup, and tuna.

Best Family Entertainment: Hartford Yard Goats Baseball at Dunkin’ Park, Hartford

Play all! At downtown Hartford’s Dunkin’ Park, there are plenty of things for the whole family to do in addition to watching the city’s Double-A baseball team compete. Fans can enjoy a wide variety of tasty food and beverages (Bear’s Smokehouse always hits it out of the park), visit the live goats penned in the outfield bleachers, participate in fun promotions between innings, let the kids run the bases, and be dazzled by postgame fireworks on Saturday nights.

Best Farm Store: Tonn’s Marketplace, Burlington

Third-generation farmer Jordan Tonn and his wife, Aubri, bring 21st-century biz savvy to their burgeoning operation, which has grown by leaps since his grandfather launched a hobby farm and roadside stand. Their photo-perfect market, with a seasonally decorated antique farm truck and cute alpacas and Nigerian dwarf goats outside, is stocked with fruits and vegetables harvested from their orchards and fields that very day. The balance of the retail lineup is like a whirlwind tour of the best gourmet foods and gifts produced by Connecticut family businesses. Last summer, the Stage @ Tonn’s Marketplace made its debut, and when there’s live music, you can bet there’ll be local food trucks. (Happily, Tonn’s own Farmstead Ice Cream truck takes up weekend residence from April through fall.)

Best Flower Farm: White Flower Farm, Morris

Celebrating its 75th anniversary, this family-owned farm ships plants, bouquets, and gardening accoutrements far and wide. But White Flower Farm is a place, not a catalog: one where you’ll be inspired by sweeping display gardens and impossibly lavish containers … by the sheer variety of combinations of nature’s materials … and even by the simplicity of the all-white Moon Garden, a perennial border that still blooms where it was first planted and that gave this nurturing nursery its name.

Best Summer Theater: Elm Shakespeare Company, New Haven

For 17 days at the end of August, Edgerton Park comes alive with nightly performances of a Shakespeare play presented on a sustainably built playhouse stage inspired by Elizabethan theater tradition. Bring a picnic and blankets or chairs to spread out in front of this impressive construction. The company celebrates its 30th year of performances with the production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Admission is free; donations are happily accepted.

Best Tearoom and Cocktail Lounge: Fable, Southington

There’s a mystical world in the heart of Connecticut where “romantasy” exists outside the book covers. By day, Fable’s allure is its menu of more than 60 teas, served hot or iced, with or without elixirs such as lion’s mane and rose. All around you are enticing gifts, from herbs and beauty potions to antiques and sparkly things. And there are book clubs, workshops, and classes: Make a fairy garden, perhaps, or learn to grow native plants. Then … the weekend approaches, and night descends. Purple light beckons you to enter Underworld through a back door. Tea? No, no, no. It’s time for a beautifully crafted cocktail, even if you’re here for a Sip + Read. Expect some nights to be much more high-key, with live music, movie screenings, and themed parties.

Best Tour: Railroad Museum of New England, Thomaston

It’s quite the pairing: The Railroad Museum of New England and Fascia’s Chocolates will celebrate their 100th Chocolate Decadence train tour when the 2025 season kicks off on May 10. Book a departure from Thomaston featuring a rotating choice of beverages—wine, beer, spirits—and you’ll sip as you learn to taste a variety of chocolates. All trains stop at Fascia’s for a make-your-own experience: The treats you design can be devoured when you get back home—if you can wait that long.

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