jjmo

Planning an early October visit to Maine and New Hampshire, flying in and out of Boston. Current itinerary is:
Portland -3 nights
Bar Harbor -3 nights
North Conway -3 nights
Portsmouth -1 night

Rethinking North Conway/Portsmouth portion as we will be in NC on Columbus Day weekend. Also would like to avoid lengthy drives so now considering 1 night in Lewiston and 3 nights in Meredith or Wolfeboro. (Airbnb for those 3 nights). We like easy hikes, walkable towns, great food and beautiful scenery. I’d really appreciate your thoughts.

dfrostnh

Both Portsmouth and Portland are great choices for good food. Chowhound seems to havw some active Portland restaurant reviews. We've enjoyed narrated boat trips out of both but Portsmouth inland rivers is my favorite. Wagon Hill Farm is nearby for easy hike/walk.

Our son was very disappointed by the number of tourists in Bar Harbor esp up on Cadillac. It's definitely a long drive from Portland so you might consider Camden and Mt Battie instead.

You could make North Conway a stop on your way to Meredith or Wolfboro. Meredith puts you on the other side of the state but convenient to White Mountain attractions. You could also do a day trip loop to North Conway starting early in the morning and then south on rt 16 to Tamworth, Center Sandwich and back to Meredith. With only a brief look around North Conway it was only a half day trip for us but it was summer and no traffic problems. Late day west bound traffic into Meredith might be very slow if a weekend. There's traafic lights and lots of pedestrians in town. If you like wine, Hermit Winery is a fun tasting, if you like stronger alcohol, Tamworth Distillery is fun. From Meredith, the Flume is a popular toursit attraction and beautiful hike. If you want to read about hiking fatalities in the White Mountains, check out author Ty Gagne.

Although Portsmouth would make a last night close to Boston choice, so are Concord and Manchester. Concord has a nice walkable downtown and hiking trails. Manchester has more restaurant choices but not a great downtown area. Both are on I93 south of Meredith by about an hour. West of Concord is town of Warner and little Mt. Kearsarge or you can continue north to the Wilton side with state park and nice vews. From Concord start out by heading west on Pleasant Street which goes thru nice towns. You can also stop at Gould Hill for apples and hard cider. They have more varieties than Carter Hill but Carter Hill has a viewing platform for hawk migration which might be around th time of your visit.

During the pandemic NH popular hiking trails were too popular. It might still be a good idea to choose the lesser known trails on weekends.

tomfuller

Check the schedule of the Amtrak Downeaster early train out of Boston North Station. The Amtrak station in Freeport ME is within walking distance of the flagship store of L.L. Bean. You may find it easier to rent a car in Maine than in Boston.

jjmo

Thanks for the great ideas. We will likely stay in NH for the last part of the trip near Lake Winnipesaukee. Any favorite spots? We hope to include a Squam Lake boat tour (one of their last of the season).
I love the idea of the train but we will be renting at Logan this trip. My husband has a quirky love of visiting Costco’s in vacation areas so that will be our final day, maybe both NH and Mass. we did a similar driving trip in western parts of New England a few years ago and it was like returning to life as we know it. And we actually got a decent rate on the car.

dfrostnh

Squam Lake does not have any public beaches and tends to have old family cottages. The Squam Lake Science.in Holderness has NH wikd amimals in natural,habitat. My family recently visited and said the buildings aren't open yet. There is a bery old bird collection in one of them. Another is where they have lectures. The one we saw several years ago included a not quite tame Eastern coyote. On Lake Winnipesaukee, Meredith and Wolfboro are upscale areas. Weirs Beach has arcades and is the popular central location for motorcycle week. Towns along the southern side are quieter. There's a huge amount of boat traffic entering the lake at Weirs Beach. If you get a DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteee, it has detailed maps of the state with locations of covered bridges and waterfalls. There's a small waterfall near the Sandwich Notch road but you wouldn't know it was there without the map. The paperbound atlases are frequently available at gas stations. There's one for each state. We like the Corner House Tavern in Center Sandwich. NH has a free weekly newspaper, the Hippo Press, that may help you with local events although the free weekly Weirs Times might be better for the Lake W area.

J62

Yes, the Amtrak station is within waling distance of LL Bean Freeport... Then what? The nearest car rental is 20miles away. I do believe it'll be easier to rent a car at Logan..

clarkgriswold

Anywhere but Lewiston

jjmo

Any suggestions? The goal is one night to break up the drive from Bar Harbor to Meredith. I was thinking of a chain hotel with laundry facilities but always enjoy an nice area to walk around and have a great meal. Current reservation is Hilton Garden Inn in Auburn. Freeport? Bath? Augusta?

dfrostnh

Bath has an interesting walkable downtown which includes a Renys iconic Maine department store. You might have more choices of both lodging and restaurants in Brunswick next door.it's a college town. Borh have a beautiful large common/park, too. Brunswick choice go from our favorite family seafood place (can't remember the name but it's on rt 1 north of town and looks like a former drive in with car hops) to upscale Asian. Or you can go to a lobster place in the Harpswell area. Gurnet trading is close to Brunswick. Cundy Harbor is on the water.

clarkgriswold

Freeport instead of Lewiston for sure. A few nice pubs, some good restaurants, and LL Bean is open all night .If you get there in the afternoon you can take a look at Wolfe's Neck State Park.