TRAVEL QUICK GUIDES

Lots to do in New Hampshire, and keeping track of it all is no easy task. While there are hundreds of NH web sites with event calendars, there are very few with great state-wide listings. Here are the ones we know, collected by SeacoastEvents.com for visitors who enjoy roaming NH's seven tourist regions -- from the Seacaost to the Lakes and White Mountains. Bookmark this handy web page for fast access to links.

SEACOAST BY BIKE

Will the skyrocketing price of gasoline tilt more short run commuters toward their dependable bikes? The Great Balkini thinks not. But he has some words of advice for those brave souls who, whether driven by poverty or morality, have traded four wheels for two. The hardest part, he says, is all in the head.

SCENIC SEACOAST WALKS

How many times did we drive by this extensive park on the main drag between Portsmouth and Exeter without dinging the trail? Everyone knows about the Stratham Fair, but year round there is also a side trail up to the fire tower and a woodsy exercise route. You just have to know where the trailhead cuts up the hill. Click to see and learn about Lincoln’s son too.

SCENIC SEACOAST WALKS

Tucked up against the fast flowing Piscataqua is a little known public park and boat access opposite the Portsmouth "miracle mile". Perhaps Eliot residents want their secret kept, so we offer only photos taken on a cloudy fall afternoon as the sun was setting. Dog-walkers, here’s another for you.

Winter Harbor, Maine
Est 1856. Discontinued 1933

Once a favorite guide to this safe harbor in Maine, Winter Harbor Light is now privately owned. Visitors can see it from shore or from passing tour boats. A former lighthouse keeper spoke of "unreal callers" who would knock on the door, but where not visible to the eye.

Jeremy’s Lighthouse Guide #50

SCENIC SEACOAST WALKS
Stratham, NH

Exercise, enjoy the scenery and learn about salt marshes. It’s all possible here at the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The walk is shorter than the name – just a half mile, but it’s among the best maintained and most interesting half miles in the Seacoast. Not for runners, but for walkers in the heart of the estuary that makes this region unique.

SCENIC LOCAL WALKS
Dover, NH

Second only to Mount Agamenticus, the tower atop Garrison Hill is the best place to take in the entire seacoast region. Thanks to hard working volunteers, this popular Dover attraction has been fully restored. Scarcely visible from the road, this tower is Dover’s secret jewel. Visitors must know where to turn to climb the hill get a natural high, seek out this Dover landmark. (Click above for photo tour)

SEACOAST BY BIKE

Fall is the best of all times for regular Seacoast biking. There are those leaves, the pounding surf, the cool sea air and the diminished army of tourists. If that isn’t enough, here are a dozen Balkin bits for the serious cyclist – or not-so-serious types. Included are the two most important words for biker relief -- bag balm.

South Addison, ME
36 feet tall; light is 51 feet above water.

It’s far from the beaten path and will never be a tourist attraction. But this old Maine lighthouse and a resident flock of sheep give Nash Island kind of a quaint, old-world feel.