North America : United States of America : New England : New Hampshire

New Hampshire

New Hampshire [1] is a state in New England in the north east of the United States of America. Noted for its terse and independent inhabitants and cold winters, New Hampshire has much natural beauty.

Regions

Cities

Some of the major cities are:

Other destinations

White Mountain National Forest home of many peaks in the Presidential Range
Mount Washington State Park

Understand

Residents of the state are proud of the nature around them, so careless actions that damage the local environment are not appreciated. If hiking in the White Mountains, make certain that your travel plans are sound, as volunteer rescue teams do not appreciate being called in the middle of the night to find lost tourists. However, as tourism is the main industry in New Hampshire, tourists are certainly greatly appreciated.

Talk

Not a big surprise, but the main language is English. Because of the immigration of French Canadians, some French speakers can be found in the northern part of the state, especially in the Berlin area. The southern regions have a growing Spanish speaking population, especially Manchester and Nashua, but it is a small percentage when compared to larger US cities

Get in

By air

Manchester - Boston Regional Airport, Brown Av. Route 101 exit 2, Manchester, Phone: +1 603 624-6556, [2]. A convenient way to get to the city and much of southern New Hampshire. Sometimes used as a low-cost, low hassle alternative to Logan International Airport in Boston.

By Bus

Vermont Transit, Toll free: +1 800-552-8737, [3]. Service from Montréal, Vermont, and Maine.
Concord Trailways, Toll free: +1 800-639-3317, [4]. Service from Boston.

By Train

There is only one Amtrak line in New Hampshire, the Downeaster. It only serves the seacoast region, passing through from Boston North Station to Portland, Maine. Note that if coming from south of Boston on the NE Corridor, trains terminate at Boston South Station, and you must connect via the T or taxi to North Station. Alternatively, buses (see above) leave directly from South Station.

Get around

Concord Trailways and Dartmouth Coach offer service to much of the state, however the easiest way to get around is by car. Most areas are underserved by bus (and train) so there may be no other option.

See

Manchester is a revitalized historical mill town.
The White Mountains is a beautiful region with good hiking and skiing.
Dartmouth College is an Ivy League school in Hanover with a beautiful campus.
Visit a small town outside of the "Golden Triangle" (Area from Salem to Nashua to Manchester) and check out the atmosphere.
Mount Washington (6,288 feet) is the largest mountain in the Northeast, and the site of the highest recorded windspeed in the world (231 miles per hour). Mount Washington provides an excellent experience for a hiker, contains Tuckerman's Ravine, a popular and difficult skiing destination reached only on foot.

Do

Downtown Warner, Route 103, [5]. Beautiful small town in the Dartmouth/Sunapee region. Hike Mt. Kearsarge, visit downtown (fantastic local bookstore/gallery, many artists are local, Foothills Restaurant for breakfast, unique shops, telephone museum, wonderful public library), come for the Farmer's Market or the Fall Foliage Festival or anytime at all.

Skiing

Not as popular as neighboring Vermont, but still plenty of good skiing.

Attitash, Barlett, +1 603 374-2368, [6].
The Balsams, Dixville Notch, +1 800-255-0600, E-mail: thebalsams@aol.com, [7].
Black Mountain, in Jackson.
Bretton Woods Mountain Resort, in Bretton Woods is New Hampshire's largest.
Cannon Mountain, Franconia.
Dartmouth Skiway, Lyme, +1 603 795-2143, [8].
Gunstock, in Gilford.
King Pine, East Madison, +1 603 367-8896, E-mail: info@kingpine.com, [9].
Loon Mountain, in Lincoln.
Cranmore Mountain, in North Conway.
Mount Sunapee, Mount Sunapee, +1 603 763-2356, E-mail: info@mtsunapee.com, [10].
Pats Peak, Henniker, +1 603 428-3245, E-mail: info@patspeak.com, [11].
Ragged Mountain, Danbury, +1 603 768-3600, E-mail: ragged@ragged-mt.com, [12].
Tenney Mountain, Plymouth, +1 603 536-4125, E-mail: info@tenneymtn.com, [13].
Waterville Valley, Campton, +1 603 236-8311, [14].
Whaleback, Lebanon, +1 603 448-1489, E-mail: whaleback@tpk.net, [15].
Wildcat, in Jackson.

Hiking

The White Mountains are a common destination for hiking, located in the middle part of the state.

Appalachian Trail

Eat

Drink

While the state is not known for its nightlife, there are some clubs to check out in Manchester.

There are several breweries and brewpubs worth a visit in New Hampshire.

Smuttynose Brewing Company, Portsmouth.
Redhook Brewery, Portsmouth.
The Portsmouth Brewery in, you guess it, Portsmouth.
Seven Barrel Brewery, Lebanon.
Tuckerman Brewing, Conway.
Flying Goose Brewpub, New London. 603-526-6899
Elm City Brewpub, Keene.
Budweiser, Merrimack. Yes, there is a Budweiser brewery in Merrimack which you can tour. 603-595-1202.

Stay safe

New Hampshire is an extremely safe part of the country. Crime is typically not a problem, but make sure to be careful while driving—especially if you're unfamiliar with winter driving. Moose often wander onto the roads in the White Mountains region and Northward and are a serious hazard. When hiking, bear encounters are possible and the weather can change rapidly at higher elevations, especially in the Presidential Range.

Respect

New Hampshire's LGBT community is relatively obscure when compared with the other New England states, although the census reports it has among the highest concentrations of gay and lesbian residents of any U.S. state. Gay venues do exist in the urbanized far south, the heavily forested and backwoods north still retain some remarkably homophobic attitudes. The situation is less friendly than its neighbors.

Get out

This page was last edited at 02:28, on 8 February 2009 by Eric Hansen. Based on work by David, Ryan Holliday, Beenish, Mike Sharp and Evan Prodromou, Wikitravel user(s) Edmontonenthusiast, (Bala Cynwydd), Episteme, Ypsilon and DorganBot, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others.