Welcome to Fodors! You will be more likely to get answers to your questions if you post to the US forum instead of the "Travel Tips & Trip Ideas" forum. As a new poster you will be limited on the number of posts you can post in the first 24 hours. Do you plan to drive, fly or take the train from Richmond? How long do you expect to be gone? (tomorrow is Friday)

Moved to the United States forum

It will add about an hour to your drive to go north from Hartford CT up thru Springfield MA then I91 to VT, getting off in Brattleboro and heading to Keene NH then Rt 101 to Nashua. Western MA is a more pleasant drive thru farm country. Keene is a college town and Rt 101 takes you thru NH's quiet southwest corner.This might avoid some traffic headaches since the I95 route to I495 to Rt 3 can be very congested especially around commuting hours. The google maps suggested route might actually be slower if you hit traffic and there is always traffic on I495 and Rt 3. Rt 101 goes thru pretty NH towns of Dublin and Peterborough NH. Unfortunately for you, Nashua is big and busy. Heading north Manchester is big and busy. If you are interested in flowers, day lilies are beautiful right now and there are some daylily farms a short detour from Rt 101 in the Hancock area. Canterbury Shaker Village is just north of Concord NH is you are interested in historic areas and probably about the same 1 hour drive but to the east would be Portsmouth's Historic Strawbery Banke. Lowell Mills south of Nashua is fascinating and very close. You would want to learn something about the mills girls. You can tour one of the old mills, a boarding house, etc. I frequently recommend one of the boat trips out of Portsmouth which would give you a break from driving. You can walk to the dock from the parking garage and Portsmouth has a lot of great restaurants.
If you are interested in high end crafts, the League of NH Craftsmen is holding their annual fair in Sunapee Aug 3 - 11. It takes most of the day to tour the booths and watch demos. It's probably 2+ hour drive from Nashua. People from all over the country go to this fair. The furniture is incredible.
Really depends on your interests.