Manchester

Manchester is a mill city on the Merrimack River in southern New Hampshire, a short drive north of Boston. It grew around the Amoskeag textile mills, and the long rows of red brick mill buildings along the river are still the heart of the place. Today the Millyard holds offices, a history museum, restaurants and a college presence, while Elm Street, the downtown main street, runs a few blocks away. Manchester is more practical than pretty, but it has a fine art museum, a historic theater and a Frank Lloyd Wright house. It makes a useful base for exploring southern New Hampshire.

The Currier Museum of Art is the anchor of any visit, with American and European paintings, sculpture and rotating exhibitions. The museum also runs guided tours of the Zimmerman House, a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, so book ahead. The Millyard Museum tells the story of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company and the people who worked in the mills. The Palace Theatre downtown stages musicals, concerts and comedy, and SNHU Arena hosts hockey and touring acts. The New Hampshire Fisher Cats play baseball at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium. Outdoors, Rock Rimmon has city views from an easy hike, Lake Massabesic has trails and boating, and McIntyre Ski Area is a small city ski hill.

Elm Street has cafes, bars and restaurants, and the Millyard has Cotton, a modern American restaurant. Red Arrow Diner is a long-running diner open around the clock, and Cafe La Reine is a downtown cafe with a Parisian theme. Great North Aleworks and Pipe Dream Brewing pour local beer. The city's French-Canadian history shows in the food and in places such as the Franco-American Centre. Nightlife is modest and centers on the Palace Theatre, SNHU Arena and the bars along Elm Street. For a bigger night out, Boston is close, but most visitors find enough to fill an evening here.

Downtown and the Millyard are the best bases, with hotels near SNHU Arena and the restaurants on Elm Street, and the Mall of New Hampshire and many chain stores and restaurants lie along South Willow Street. Downtown and the Millyard can be walked, and a free Green Dash shuttle links the two. Manchester Transit Authority buses cover the wider city, but a car helps for the lake and the ski hill. Manchester-Boston Regional Airport lies just south of the city. Intercity buses stop at the Transportation Center downtown. There is no Amtrak service in Manchester.

Autumn is the best season, when foliage colors the hills and the Merrimack, and the weather is crisp and clear. Summer is warm and comfortable, with outdoor concerts and baseball. Winter is cold and snowy, which suits the ski hill and cozy museum days, though driving can be slow after storms. Spring is short and often muddy. One full day covers the Currier, the Zimmerman House and the Millyard. A second day adds Rock Rimmon, Lake Massabesic or a baseball game, and many travelers use Manchester as a base for several days.

Manchester sits on Interstate 93, which runs south to Boston and north through Concord to the Lakes Region and the White Mountains. Route 101 leads east to Portsmouth and the Seacoast beaches and west toward Keene and Vermont. The city works well as a base for day trips, a stop between Boston and the mountains, or a convenient place to pick up a rental car at the airport. A night here pairs with the Seacoast or with Lake Winnipesaukee on a New Hampshire loop, and it is an easy way to see something of New England without Boston's traffic and parking.