Shelburne Museum

Electra Havemeyer Webb collected American folk art when almost nobody treated it as art, and from 1947 she assembled this: thirty-nine buildings, most of them moved here from elsewhere in New England, holding quilts, weathervanes, decoys, carriages, circus figures and a great deal else. The most improbable object is the Ticonderoga, a 67-metre side-wheel steamboat that worked Lake Champlain until 1953, hauled two miles overland on specially laid rail track in the winter of 1955 and now sitting on dry land as an exhibit. There is also a lighthouse, a covered bridge, a round barn and a jail. A gallery holds her family's Impressionist paintings, which sit oddly and deliberately alongside the folk art.

What you actually see

• Thirty-nine buildings - most moved onto the site.
• The steamboat Ticonderoga - hauled two miles overland in 1955.
• Folk art in quantity - quilts, weathervanes, decoys, carriages.
• Impressionist paintings - the family collection, shown alongside.

When to go

May to October for the full site; a smaller winter programme runs. A full day.

Honest expectations

Most buildings close outside the season. The site is large and involves a lot of walking. Some buildings open on rotation, not all at once. It is expensive for a family.

Nearby

Burlington and Lake Champlain are north; the Adirondacks are across the water.