Vacation Spots in New Hampshire, What To Do and See
Manchester, Dover, Hampton Beach, Jefferson, Conway

Welcome to this section on the vacation spots in New Hampshire. This New England state was one of the original thirteen states. It borders Massacusetts, Vermont, Maine and Canada. The state motto, "Live Free or Die," expresses its spirit of independence and self-sufficiency. Since 1916, no President has been elected to the White House without first winning in New Hampshire. Thus comes the saying, "As New Hampshire goes, so goes the nation." Enjoy the beauty of New Hampshire in its old-growth forests, the beautiful White Mountains, its Atlantic coastline and lakeside resorts, whale watching, historical sites, and entertainment. With its fall foliage extravaganza, winter skiing, and summer activities, New Hampshire is a four-season vacation spot. Some noteworthy places to see are Manchester, Dover, Hampton Beach, Jefferson, Conway, Mount Washington, Lake Winnipesaukee, White Mountain National Forest, New Castle Island, Portsmouth, Lincoln, and Salem.

New Hampshire was home to Algonquian tribes and was settled by the English and French around 1623. More recently, some famous people have called New Hampshire home: Senator Daniel Webster, editor Horace Greeley, Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy, poet Robert Frost, astronaut Alan Shepard, author Dan Brown and the 14th president Franklin Pierce.

Popular Vacation Spots in New Hampshire

1. 
   Whale Watching in New Hampshire
   
   
   Watch the whales in the Atlantic Ocean. You can see whales from the New Hampshire coast, but a boat tour gives you a better view. Whales are known to come right up to the boat. You are likely to see humpback, minke and finback whales, including mother and calf. You can also see groups of dolphins and maybe even sharks.
   
   
2. Take a moose tour. The Mount Washington Valley Moose Bus Tours drive through Crawford Notch State Park for sightings of moose in the wild. It's an enjoyable ride, and you are almost guaranteed to see moose.
   
   
3. Drive to the top of Mount Washington,6,288 feet tall, the highest peak in the Northeast and the second-highest mountain east of the Mississippi River, via the Mount Washington Auto Road. a toll road near Gorham and Jackson, Drive yourself the 8-mile road or take a tour bus. Opened in 1861, the Mt. Washington Auto Road is America’s Oldest Manmade Tourist Attraction, and an unmatched driving experience your family will always remember.
   
   
4. Hike a stretch of the Appalachian trail through the White Mountain National Forest.

Vacation Spots for Scenery in New Hampshire

1. 
   Glen Ellis Waterfall
   New Hampshire
   
   
   Take a dinner cruise on a beautiful New Hampshire river or lake. The MV Mt. Sunapee sails from Sunapee Harbor and serves a delicious buffet style meal onboard every day. The Mount Washington Cruise Ship, which sails from Weirs Beach on Lake Winnipesaukee, offers dinner cruises and a Sunday champagne brunch cruise.
   
   
2. Visit the town of Hampton Beach, one of New England's most popular summer resorts, with a beautiful beach, boardwalk, arcades and eateries.
   
   
3. The Old Man of the Mountain, known as Great Stone Face, was a natural granite rock formation on Cannon Mountain that looked like the jagged profile of 40-foot-tall face. It is the state symbol, and appears on license plates, road signs, and the back of New Hampshire's Statehood Quarter. Despite structural repairs, the Old Man collapsed in 2003. People left flowers at the site as a memorial. The Old Man of the Mountain Museum is still open in Franconia.
   
   
4. The Flume Gorge is a natural granite gorge 800 feet deep near Mount Liberty, discovered in 1808. Located in Franconia Notch State Park near Lincoln, it has waterfalls, pools, and streams carved by an ancient glacier. There are walking trails, covered bridges, a boardwalk and visitors center. Nearby, the Aerial Tramway offers a 10 minute ride to the top of Cannon Mountain. Admission fees are charged for the Flume and Tram. In the same area are The Basin waterfall, Old Man of the Mountain Museum and Echo Lake Beach.
   
   
5. Another spectacular waterfall is Glen Ellis Falls, located near Gorham in the White Mountain National Forest. Only a short walk from the road, the powerful waterfall has a 64-foot drop, visitors center and observation area. Crystal Cascade is another waterfall less than a mile away.
   
   
6. Board the Mount Washington Cruise Ship for a ride around Lake Winnipesaukee, the largest lake in New Hampshire. The lake, fed by crystal clear water from nearby mountains, is a very popular spot for vacationers, who rent homes and cottages here for the season. Or stay on land and take the scenic circle drive, 63 miles around the lake. New Hampshire's lake region is home to many summer camps, especially around Lake Winnipesaukee, and is a popular tourist destination.
   
   
7. Explore the beach and 18 mile coastline along the Atlantic. Ocean Boulevard will show you some great views. Along the coast from Portsmouth Harbor to Hampton Beach, there are historic sites, beautiful hotels and restaurants, lighthouses, the Isles of Shoals and other attractions.
   
   
8. Hike Mount Monadnock in the southwest corner of New Hampshire, a very popular spot for hikers with 40 miles of trails and 5,000 acres. The landmark Mount Monadnock has given its name to all other monadnocks, a class of earth-forms consisting of an isolated resistant peak rising from a less resistant eroded plain.

Historical Vacation Spots in New Hampshire

1. 
   Autumn Foliage in New Hampshire
   
   
   The Littleton Grist Mill in Littleton operates a fascinating antique grist mill built here in 1798. The prime source of power is the Ammonoosuc River, which powers an overshot wheel, which turns mill stones and, grain elevators, and which powers the sifters. The mill is a working museum open to the public free of charge. The stone-ground whole-grain flour and a variety of local products are for sale on site.
   
   
2. Invade a fort. Fort Stark is one of seven forts built about 1873 to protect Portsmouth Harbor. The Fort Stark Historic Site is located on New Castle Island, on the Atlantic coast, overlooking the mouth of the Piscataqua River. Fort Stark was named in honor of John Stark, commander of New Hampshire forces at the Battle of Bennington in 1777.The other forts in New Hampshire are Fort Washington, Fort Constitution, and Fort Dearborn.
   
   
3. Take the ferry out to the Isles of Shoals, a group of 9 islands on the New Hampshire and Maine border about 10 miles offshore in the Atlantic ocean. The ferry leaves from the Market Street dock in Portsmouth for a narrated one-hour trip out to the Isles. The islands were settled in the early 1600s by fishermen. They were home to a 19th century art colony founded by poet Celia Thaxter. On Star Island is the Oceanic Hotel and a small free musuem with a nautical library, photos and the collected works of Thaxter. Rumor has it that the pirate Blackbeard buried treasures here.
   
   
4. Visit the Albacore Museum in Portsmouth. Take a self-guided audio tour of the USS Albacore, a navy submarine built near here and decommissioned in 1953. On the grounds there is also the Submarine Memorial Garden and a sculpture of a dolphin.
   
   
5. America’s Stonehenge is an archaeological site with man-made stone formations that could be used as an astronomical calendar of the skies. The stone structures are probably only 100 or 200 years old, but the charcoal pits at the site date from 2000 BC to 173 BC, the oldest man-made construction in the United States.
   
   
6. See the New Hampshire Telephone Museum in Warner. It has 130 years of telephone history and antique telephones.
   
   
7. Take a tour of old covered bridges. New Hampshire still has about 60 around the state. New Hampshire also has quite a few one-room schoolhouses remaining from past centuries that are open for visitors.
   
   
8. Attend a square dance with live Irish or Acadian folk music. Contra dancing and country square dancing are popular throughout New England.

Worthwhile Vacation Spots In New Hampshire

1. The Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn is a nature center on Lake Massabesic with live animal exhibits, walking trails and environmental programs.
   
   
2. Newfound Audubon Center is a nature center on the shore of Newfound Lake in Hebron. It has three wildlife sanctuaries, a nature center, canoes and kayaks to rent, and a cottage for events. The trails are open year round for birdwatching, hiking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
   
   
3. The Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth features several gardens, walking trails, tree identification trail, salt marsh wetland, wildflowers, birds and wild animals. The tree identification trail will get you familiar with the varieties of evergreen and deciduous trees. The Center is open every day all year.
   
   
4. Go to a u-pick farm site and harvest your own fruit. It could be strawberries, raspberries, blueberries or apples depending on the month. Barrett Hill Farm in Mason is open to visitors for farm tours, picnics and fruit picking.
   
   
5. Visit our famous schools. Dartmouth College in Hanover was founded in 1769 to educate both the English settlers and the American Indians. Phillips Exeter Academy, established in 1781, has many renowned graduates. Exeter introduced the Harkness Method of learning without lectures.

Vacation Spots for Sports in New Hampshire

1. Go deep sea fishing. Charter a boat, or join a fishing party, at any port on the Atlantic.
   
   
2. Take in a game, sports fans. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats play class AA baseball. The Manchester Monarchs are the state hockey team and play in the American Hockey League. The New Hampshire Phantoms are a soccer team in the USL Premier Development League. And the Manchester Freedom play in the Independent Women's Football League. New Hampshire also has two amateur roller derby leagues
   
   
3. New Hampshire is famous for winter sports. Ski areas and snowmobile trails are in many areas. After the lakes freeze over, you'll see ice houses, known locally as bobhouses, erected for ice fishing.
   
   
4. Rent a kayak, a canoe or a sunfish sailboat for an afternoon on the water. The boat rental service can also provide guides for a longer trip. For example, Kayak Country Paddlesports Inc. operates on Lake Sunapee, and Blackwater River near New London.
   
   
5. Watch the dog races and bet on your favorite. You can try the Seabrook Greyhound Park in Seabrook, the Hinsdale Greyhound Park in Hinsdale and the Lakes Region Greyhound Park in Belmont.
   
   
6. Attend a horse race at Rockingham Park in Salem.
   
   
7. Visit the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, home of the Loudon Classic, the longest-running motorcycle race in the United States. Motorcycle Week in Weirs Beach near Laconia is a June rally that attracts thousands of motorcyclists to New Hampshire. NASCAR and IndyCar professional races also are held here each year. Buy a camping pass and spend the weekend at the speedway.

Seasonal Vacation Spots in New Hampshire

1. Take in the autumn foliage in mid-October. Many bus tours come through just to marvel at the brilliant colors of the trees. The Kancamagus Highway, a 34 mile road through the White Mountain National Forest is an ideal viewing location.
   
   
2. Go to the Hopkinton State Fair, in Contoocook, and the county fairs around New Hampshire.
   
   
3. Attend the New Hampshire Highland Games in Lincoln. It's a grand Scottish festival held for three days in September, with Scottish clans, parades, bands, sheepdog trials, celtic music concert, Scottish Fiddle Championship, Highland Dance Championships, Piping & Drumming championship, Scottish Harp competition, and athletic events. Everyone wears kilts. Even the local police wear their official tartan plaid kilts for the Games.
   
   
4. March is maple sugaring season. Maple syrup is made by boiling down the sap collected from the sugar maple trees, a process called sugaring-off. Many sugar shacks and sap houses hold open house so you can watch them make pure maple syrup.

The Influence of New Hampshire in the Arts

New Hampshire has inspired novels, plays and comic strips.

• John Irving is famous for his novels with local settings, The Hotel New Hampshire and The World According to Garp.
  
  
• The movie, On Golden Pond, with Katharine Hepburn and Henry Fonda, set and filmed here in New Hampshire.
  
  
• Thornton Wilder based his play Our Town on real-life Peterborough, New Hampshire.
  
  
• Peyton Place is a novel about Gilmanton, New Hampshire.
  
  
• A Separate Peace by John Knowles is based on the Phillips Exeter Academy here.
  
  
• Archie, the comic strip by Bob Montana, was inspired by life in Manchester Central High School.
  
  
• In the comic strip Li'l Abner by Al Capp, Dogpatch is based on Seabrook, New Hampshire. Animal House is based on Dartmouth College.

Vacation Spots for Children in New Hampshire

1. The Kaleidoscope Children's Museum in Manchester is the vacation spot for toddlers. There is a schoolhouse, pretend firehouse, pirate ship, puppet theater, dress-up hats, and little critters. a soft play area and a mini climbing wall.
   
   
2. The Children's Museum in Dover has interactive hands-on exhibits for children, educational activities like the do-it-yourself airplanes, dinosaur fossil dig, construction, mindball, storybook dressup and the yellow submarine. No one will want to leave.
   
   
3. Six Gun City in Jefferson is a fun activity center for children for all ages. There are pony rides, water slides, and pedal boats. Six Gun City has Laser Tag, a go-kart racetrack, and a water park with slides, log boats and bumper boats.
   
   
4. Banana Village in Conway, New Hampshire, is a miniature golf course with waterslides and over 30 arcade games.

Vacation Spots, Theme Parks and Shops in New Hampshire

1. Visit Clark's Trading Post in Lincoln, where Clark’s trained bears perform on stage. Here you can also ride the White Mountain Central Railroad, a wood-burning, steam-powered open railroad. Clark's has circus acts, Merlin’s Mystical Mansion, water-blaster boats on the Old Mill Pond. and a guided Segway Safari ride
   
   
2. Water Country in Portsmouth is a water park with New England's largest wave pool. Water Country has 14 rides and slides, like Dragon’s Den, an inner tube ride through waterfalls, fountains and caves. For the younger kids water play there is a pirate ship, Ollie Octopus and Tahiti Tree House.
   
   
3. Santa’s Village is a Santa Claus theme park in Jefferson. There are about 18 rides, all suitable for young children. You can ride a reindeer on the Christmas carousel Ferris Wheel, or ride through Scrooge's old house, or ride Santa's Express Train. Take a log flume water ride. Catch a show at the Polar Theater. Go Christmas shopping. Look for all Santa's elves and talk to to the big guy himself.
   
   
4. Canobie Lake Park is giant theme park in Salem with thrilling adult rides, fun rides for childlren, water rides, games, two stages for live entertainment and 6 restaurants.
   
   
5. Go antiquing along New Hampshire's Antique Alley, along Route 4 through the four towns of Northwood, Lee, Epsom and Chichester.
   
   
6. Go shopping at the two major outlets malls in NH, in Tilton and in North Conway. New Hampshire has no sales tax, so the shoppers save even more.

Vacation Spots for Entertainment in New Hampshire

1. Attend a concert. Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom is a concert venue for all the big-name performers on tour. Despite its name, Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom does not have gambling.
   
   
2. Two other larger venues are the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, and the Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion, on the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee in Gilford, which is an outdoor theater.
   
   
3. Catch a play. The Barnstormers Summer Theatre is located in Tamworth and the Peterborough Players are in the town of Peterborough. The Peterborough Players have performed every summer since 1933.
   
   
4. For summer musical theater, get a ticket to a professional Broadway-style production by The Mount Washington Valley Theatre Company. The theater is the historic Eastern Slope Inn Playhouse in North Conway.
   
   
5. Catch a movie at a drive-in theater. There are still two drive-in movie theaters in New Hampshire: Milford Twin in Milford and Weirs in Weirs Beach.
   
   
6. Prescott Park Arts Festival presents outdoor performances music, art, theater and dance on the banks of the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth. Well-known national performers put on a show. A voluntary contribution is suggested.

I hope you have an exciting trip.
I wish you a very happy day.

Travel Guide Jeff, Travel Welcome

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Vacation Spots in New Hampshire