Portsmouth

Portsmouth is New Hampshire's only seaport and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the United States, founded in 1623 by English colonists who originally called the settlement Strawbery Banke for the wild strawberries growing along the Piscataqua River. It served as the colonial capital until the Revolution and hosted the signing of the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth that ended the Russo-Japanese War, putting this small city on the world stage. The downtown is remarkably intact and walkable: Market Square anchors a dense grid of independent restaurants, galleries, and shops, while the Strawbery Banke Museum preserves four centuries of architecture across a ten-acre campus. The waterfront defines much of daily life here, with Prescott Park serving as the city's front yard along the Piscataqua River. The park's formal gardens and rose displays draw locals year-round, while the summer arts festival brings outdoor theater and concerts that pack the lawn with families and visitors. For a deeper dive into Portsmouth's naval heritage, Albacore Park houses the USS Albacore, a 205-foot experimental submarine you can tour from bow to stern to see how sailors lived and worked underwater from 1953 to 1972. When summer heat hits, Water Country has been the regional escape since 1984, offering New England's largest collection of water slides and pools. Across the river, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard — technically in Kittery, Maine, but bearing the city's name since 1800 — remains one of the region's largest employers and has built and serviced submarines for over two centuries. Portsmouth's food and drink scene rivals cities several times its size, with a concentration of chef-driven restaurants and craft breweries that draws people from Boston and Portland alike.