The sister cities of Burlington, Vermont, and Honfleur, France, are proud to share over a decade of intercultural connections, conversations, and collaborations. Born of important historic ties, our international friendship is founded on the shared desire to foster understanding and mutually productive engagement between officials and citizens of our two vibrant communities.

The contemporary ties between Burlington and Honfleur began in 2009, inspired by the quadricentennial of Samuel de Champlain’s arrival in 1609 at the lake that now bears his name. On his dozen trips to New France, the French navigator, cartographer, and explorer frequently embarked from the port city of Honfleur, located in northeastern France near the English Channel, on the southern bank of the Seine estuary. The city of Burlington in northern Vermont sits on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, just below the Canadian province of Quebec, whose eponymous capital city Samuel de Champlain founded in his effort to establish the first permanent French colony in North America.

Beyond this shared history, today Burlington, Vermont, and Honfleur, France, are both dynamic centers of artistic and cultural activity; popular regional, national, and international tourist destinations; and hosts to a diverse range of local businesses, as well as larger commercial enterprises. We have much in common, while also having much to gain from each learning more about our friends and partners on the other side of the Atlantic. We have jointly organized multiple visits and exchanges involving elected officials, students, artists, and other residents of both regions. In 2019, Burlington and Honfleur signed a formal Sister City Charter.