When to Go

Summer and fall are the best, but also the most popular and expensive, times to visit most of New Hampshire. Winter is a great time to travel to the White Mountains, but most other tourist sights in the state, including museums in Portsmouth and many attractions in the Lakes Region, close from late fall until May or June. In summer people flock to beaches, mountain trails, and lakeside boat launches; in the cities, festivals showcase food and beer, music, theater, and crafts. Fall brings leaf peepers, especially to the White Mountains and the Monadnocks. Skiers and snowboarders take to the slopes in winter, when Christmas lights and carnivals brighten the long, dark nights. Spring's unpredictable weather—along with April's mud and late May's black flies—tends to deter visitors. Still, the season has its joys, not the least of which is the appearance, mid-May–early June, of the state flower, the purple lilac, soon followed by the blooming of colorful rhododendrons and fields of lupine.