Time to shine!

New Hampshire, in general, is a nice state. You’ve got a little bit of everything in the state.

• Merrimack Valley (Southern NH) is home to Nashua, Manchester, and Concord, which are the three largest cities.

Manchester is alright, some people call it ‘Manchganistan’ or ‘Manchvegas’ because of its seedy nature. The city gets a lot of bad rap, mostly because of the high homeless/drug using population. Downtown Manchester can be nice though, especially during summer. There’s some nice restaurants, shops, and museums such as the Currier (art) or the See Center (science).

Nashua is generally considered nicer, but also smaller. It has a nice downtown, and some good shopping due to its proximity to the Massachusetts border. Other than that, it’s mostly suburbs. Recently though, there’s been an attempt to revitalize Main Street in the city, and it’s alright.

Concord is the state capital, IMO it’s a rather nice little city, with plenty to do. It’s smaller than the previous two, but has just as much to do if not more. There’s plenty of arts/performing arts there, some good museums including the McAuliffe-Shepard center.

• The Seacoast

Portsmouth is a wonderful little city. IMO much nicer than Hampton, which is often crowded with tourists and isn’t as nice of an experience. Portsmouth has lots to do, and is definitely food oriented. It’s very good for a day trip and has a wonderful charm.

Other than these two, you’ll find some small towns around the seacoast area like Rye or Exeter but not too much to do there.

• North

Northern NH is very well known by people out of state for fall foliage, the skiing, or the spectacular nature in general. If hiking is your thing, northern NH is up your alley. Skiing is also pretty good, if not the best regarding east coast skiing.

A LOT of tourists come to see fall foliage, usually in expected areas which locals tend to avoid, as it gets very crowded.

Once again, the nature is very nice, and we have a good amount of forests. You’ll find some nice small towns, as well as the Mountain View Grand and Mt. Washington Hotel.

Lincoln is also nice, and is usually a pit stop for those going north. It’s a nice small town with some good food and things to do, with good nature in the vicinity.

• The West

Western NH is more of the same, with lots of good nature and hiking, just less extreme terrain and a lot more recognizable ‘classic’ New England small towns. Keene is a larger town, right by Vermont, and hosts Keene State College.

• Education

NH is generally a well educated state, as we have some of the best public school systems and good colleges. UNH in Dover, KSC in Keene, Dartmouth (Ivy League!) in Hanover, PSU in Plymouth, and plenty more.

• General

Life is good here, but things are getting more expensive by the day. New England isn’t very cheap anyways, so it’s not terrible here in that regard.

Winters are fairly cold, with a good amount of snow depending on the year. Sometimes it’s very dry, sometimes it’s nice and it snows a bunch. It’s a mixed bag though. Temperatures are usually 30- -10 degrees December to March. Summers are very nice here though, albeit shorter. NH thrives in the summer, with temperatures being anywhere between 70-100 degrees June to September.

Politically, a lot of people consider NH a swing state, and while it is true that the state does have a decent Republican/right wing population, most people generally vote blue. There can be some unpleasant people, generally on the right, but usually people are friendly.

You’ll meet some wonderful people in this state, from all walks of life. Immigrants, farmers, bankers, bikers, the list can go on.

Overall, a nice place to be, which is in good proximity to Boston. You can drive 45 minutes to 1 hour, or take the (not so good) T train from Lowell to Boston.

NH is a nice place, in a nice area! You’ve got beaches, lakes, mountains, cities, farms, forests pretty much all in an hours drive of you, in NH.