OK, this is not a New Hampshire suggestion but the Berkshires have lots of culture, museums, etc. You are near Bennington, Vt and other places. That might have more of what you seem to be looking for.

You have picked the right places for the description you have given of yourselves. Oddly, I am in Burlington right now, and my thought and my wife's comment as well, were that it reminded us of Portland, OR, but smaller and more compacted. It is definitely a hip place with tons of restaurants, cafes, nightlife, an excellent performing arts center, and Lake Champlain to give a great by-the-water feel.

Burlington is about 2.5 hours drive to Concord, NH. Portsmouth is another hour east. Portland, ME another hour north of that. All doable. But you may want to select just two of the places. There is plenty to keep you busy and interested.

You mentioned Manchester. The Currier Museum has just undergone a huge renovation and is an excellent place to go. I am trying to remember what I have heard about the FLW house, perhaps that it is next for renovation and restoration. But I am not sure. Manchester is an interesting place, as well. Good restaurants and nightlife. But definitely, the other three cities have more.

A couple of other considerations for places. Keene, NH has its annual Pumpkin festival, where people cut and bring jack-o'lanterns to Main Street. the result is nearly 30,000 lit jacks up and down Main Street, on low staging and on 5 story scaffolding. It is awesome and a great crowd scene, and sometimes they set the Guinness World record. That event is Oct 25 this year, if that coincides with your visit.

Another city is Hanover, the home of Dartmouth College. A small but excellent downtown, plus the culture and sports events of Dartmouth.

The Berkshires, as suggested, are also an excellent alternative. You could fly into Burlington, then wind you way down the west side of the state to Bennington in the south, of head down the center of the state on Rte 100 - awesome picturesque route, and work your way over to benningtona nd down into the Berkshires.

My vote would be Burlington and either Portsmouth or Portland, and leave enough time to explore a bit of the coast of Maine and NH.

Burlington, Portsmouth, Portland that's a lot of miles on the car...you can expect to be spending quite a bit of time driving and not a lot of time "doing"....you will be missing some of the natural wonders of the region...White Mts. and all they have to offer, Lakes region of NH, Mondanock region (around Keene area)...Folks have spent weeks in the White Mt. region and admitted to not having enough time to see and do all they wanted.

You are young enough to do some easy hiking to get you out into the woods to see the fall colors up close and personal rather than from the seat of your car...the colors with the backdrops of the mountains and lakes are what memories are made of...

Consider the Flume in Franconia Notch, The Cannon Mt. Tramway, Cruise the "big lake" on the Mt. Washington, drive the Mt. Washington Auto Road to the summit for a view of five states and Canada, visit Canterbury Village for Shaker architecture and craftsmanship, etc.

When you start to dig into New England and all it has to offer, you can realize that there is life outside of the "big" cities. There are a lot of big cities in the world to explore, if you are coming to New England to sample it's offerings, you need to venture out into the countryside, after all that's what sets New England apart from the rest of those destinations...just one man's thoughts...enjoy your journey

Thank you all for the suggestions. I am glad to know that the mock itinerary I proposed is probably too ambitious from a driving standpoint. I think I will have to stick to just two states.

Ramblin, are the types of sightseeing you proposed more day trips from a central location or two? Or are they more places where you would spend a night or two?

I would definitely be interested in hiking, I just didn't know how much would be possible from a weather standpoint. Is it usually rainy in mid-October or more just cool? Is most of NE pretty hilly/mountainous where there would be plenty of hiking available most anywhere? Or are there certain areas that are really great to go?

I feel a little overwhelmed since I am used to planning trips to larger cities and everything is based from your hotel room. I guess I don't know what towns to base my trip from in order to see some of what NE has to offer.

I would agree with Ramblinman about what makes New England so special, especially the three northern and more rural states - VT, NH, ME. A lot of the things to do - hikes, bikes, boats, etc. can all be day trips with a central location as your base. For instance, if you are going to do Franconia Notch things, I would plan to stay in Woodstock/Lomcoln at the south end of the notch, or Franconia or Littleton north of the notch. That would include any of the surrounding towns. On the other side of the White Mountains is North Conway, which has a lot of the commercial activity, but also Conway, Glen, Jackson and others.

Likewise, if you focus on the Lakes region, the usual towns are Meredith, Center Harbor, Moultonborough, Wolfeboro, Alton Bay, Laconia, as well as other nearby towns. The Monadnock region usually includes Keene as the central city, but also Peterborough, Jaffrey, north and south on Rte 202, and Rtes 9, 10, 12 and 101, all of which pass through Keene.

Coming in mid October, you may be at the tail end of fall colors in the White Mountains. The area is beautiful any time, but if you want to see the colors, yoou may wish you were further south. I would suggest Lakes, Dartmouth/Sunapee or Monadnock regions for fall colors in mid-Oct. You can pick a specific town or small city, if something particularly grabs you about that town or location. But there are so many B&Bs in so many of the towns in the state that you can also find the place that appeals and then determine what attractions, hikes, activities are available. There is plenty of good hiking and vistas all over the state, but there is only one Mt. Washington, or Chocoura, or Monadnock, or whatever. If it that mountain you need to climb, or you have to be on a specific lake, etc. then that may deermione your location.

Check www.visitnh.gov, the state tourism website, for comprehensive listings of lodging ad activities by region of the state.

Based on some great response on here, I think we are going to do a 5 day trip split between Portsmouth and Portland, and probably fly into and out of Manchester since it is so much cheaper and pretty close to both Portsmouth and Portland (sort of anyway).

So now I need to do some research on here to figure out what to do in each city. Any suggestions are invited :)

Thanks.

I can't say I have read every response in detail but here's my two cents anyway:

Burlington is really great.

Bennington (where I went to school for three years), less so. On the other hand, Williamstown, MA, just to the south, has some interesting attractions (the Clark Institute has an interesting variety of minor pieces by Old Masters like Botticelli and Turner).

You can easily drive from Burlington to Bar Harbor in a day. It's only 7 1/2 hours. For some reason, those of us who live in New England tend to greatly exaggerate the distances - I often notice this in the things people post on Trip Advisor.

A number of years ago I did a little college tour of New England with my son. We drove from Boston through Amherst, MA to Bennington in less than a day. Spent the night in Bennington (which was nostalgic for me, but honestly the area is still kind of a dump), from there drove to Burlington, then across to Thornton, NH for the night (where my family has a house). From there we drove to Bar Harbor, spent the night, then drove back to Boston stopping in Brunswick. We could easily have done that trip in two nights.

Manchester has made great strides in recent years but I wouldn't particularly recommend it as an overnight destination unless possibly you are seeing a concert at the Verizon Wireless Center (they often have really good concerts - we saw Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan there last Fall).

Portsmouth and Portland have really good reputations as interesting places. I know Portland better - it's similar to Burlington in a lot of ways. Both smaller than but similar to Portland, Oregon in terms of lifestyle. Burlington is really pretty.

I just saw your last post - Manchester, NH is a really great little airport. Burlington, VT is less than 3 hours away. Particularly in October this would be a nice destination. Depending on the exact dates and foliage conditions you could do worse than to drive to Burlington, drive down to Williamstown, drive to Brattleboro (another nice little city - not as nice as Burlington but still nice) and then drive back to Manchester.

Marcus,

If you fly into Manchester with sufficient daytime hours, do go to the Currier Gallery, even if you leave the city right after that. It is well worth a couple of hours.

Portsmouth and Portland will be a bit redundant, but you will enjoy both places, judging from your preferences and the decision you are making. In both places, I would recommend staying in downtown hotels so you can access the nightlife without having to get back in your car. I just love the walkability of both cities. Downtown hotels in Portsmouth would be the Sheraton or the Hilton Garden Inn. There are also a few B&Bs in the downtown area. In Portland, The Hilton Garden Inn and I think the other one is The Regency or something like that. These are the two top hotels, unless there is a new one in the last year or two.

Spend some daytime exploring the coastal areas near these two cities. York and Ogunquit in ME are close to Portsmouth, and the coast of NH, Rte 1A going south from P'mouth, is quite nice. Maybe take a whale watch out of either city one of the days. Quite a thrill. Take some dramamine if you are at all prone to motion sickness. And dress way warmer than the shore temp would suggest. In Portland, there are many islands in Casco Bay that are reachable by ferry, which has its pier right across from the Hilton. Definitely get out to one or more of the islands.

Excellent restaurants and several micro breweries in both cities. In Portland, the acknowledged best restaurant is Fore Street. They do not take reservations, and I have never had the luxury of time to wait, but if you do, hang in the bar and wait for your table. Everything I've heard says you willnot be disappointed. Another restaurant that I highly recommend, up near the Art Distict and beyond on Congress Street, is Ufa or Ufa Cafe. The atmosphere is very relaxed but the food is outstanding and they make great martinis and cocktails. Make a reservation.

Both cities have great nightlife. Just go out and find it.

Ok, I am going to throw in my 2 cents worth. Fly into Portland ME. Stay in Portland for 2 nights, check out Old Port, Fort Williams State Park, The twin Lights, Portland Art Museum, drive a bit North and visit Kittery. Drive West over the Mountain to Jackson or North Conway. One day drive the Kancamungus over to Lincoln (the drive is amazing!) nearby Stop at the Woodsock Brewery for a meal, head North from there and hike the Flume and buy a combo pass to the Cannon Tramway. Head North from there and gut back over through the Notch to Barlett/Glen. Another day head North from Jackson and drive the Mt. Washington Auto road or take the Van or Cog railway up. If you still have time in your day stop at Wildcat MT and try out the Zip line. Last day either head back to Portland or spend some more time hiking or shopping. TONS of hiking of all skilllevels in this area. Check out www.outdoors.org for hte AMC website or pick up a copy of the White Mountain Guide. It comes with great trail maps. You can stop in at the Joe Doge Lodge for condition and trail reports before spending the day on the trail. There is often snow at the summits in October.

It is a beautiful area Between Portland and Jackson you will get a good sampling of our Seaport vs. Mountain appeals.

Burlington and Stowe VT are also wonderful but they would be a different trip.