Best in 3 to 8 Days

Best in 3 to 8 Days

Drive along Route 1A to see the coast or take a boat tour of the Isles of Shoals before exploring Portsmouth. The next day visit Wolfeboro, on the eastern edge of Lake Winnipesaukee, good for an overnight stop. The following morning drive across the scenic Kancamagus Highway (Route 112) from Conway to Lincoln to see the granite ledges and sparkling streams of the White Mountains.

If You Have 5 Days

After visiting Portsmouth and Wolfeboro, explore Squam and Ossipee lakes and the charming towns near them: Holderness, Center Sandwich, and Tamworth. Spend your third night in the White Mountains town of Jackson. After crossing the Kancamagus Highway (Route 112) to Lincoln, tour the western part of the White Mountain National Forest via Route 112 to Route 118. Take Route 25A and then Route 10 south through the upper Connecticut River valley to Hanover, home of Dartmouth College, for an overnight. Follow Interstate 89 back by way of Newbury and the Lake Sunapee region.

If You Have 8 Days

Spend your first two nights in Portsmouth, allowing a chance to visit Strawbery Banke Museum and soak up the city's history as well as explore the short, scenic shoreline. Then follow the five-day itinerary above as far as Hanover. From here, visit the Shaker Community at Enfield, then take either Route 12A along the Connecticut River or Route 10 south to Keene. Route 119 leads east to Rhododendron State Park in Fitzwilliam.