Manchester, NH Road Trips

Manchester has cold winters with snowfall, and warm to hot and humid summers. The average summer heat index is around 84 °F (29 °C) during the day and 64 °F (18 °C) at night. Heat waves can bring heat and humidity and raise heat indices upwards to 97 °F (36 °C) or even higher, with overnight lows not going below 73 °F (23 °C). Manchester tourism information

1 Currier Museum of Art, 201 Myrtle Way, ☏ +1 603-669-6144. Museum hours Su M W F 11AM-5PM, Th 11AM-8PM, Sa 10AM-5PM. Zimmerman House hours: tours M Th F at 2PM; Sa at 11:30AM, 1PM and 2:30PM; Su at 1PM and 2:30PM. Collection includes works by Picasso, Monet, and O'Keefe. Features European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs, sculpture, and performances. The museum owns Frank Lloyd Wright's Zimmerman House, the only Wright-designed house in New England open to the public. Free admission Sa 10AM-1PM. Closed Tuesdays and major holidays. (updated Jun 2017) 2 Amoskeag Fishways Learning and Visitors Center, 6 Fletcher St, ☏ +1 603-622-3474. Year round. M-Sa 9AM-5PM; also open Sundays in May and June. Interactive exhibit hall that allows visitors to explore the Merrimack River. View live turtles, frogs and salmon, play a salmon migration game, generate electricity. During May and June, view migrating shad, herring and sea lamprey through underwater viewing windows looking into a 54-step fish ladder. (updated Jun 2017) 3 Manchester Historical Society Millyard Museum, Mill No 3, Commercial St, ☏ +1 603-622-7531. W-Sa 10AM-4PM. Exhibits on the history of the city, including early colonial settlement, the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company (at its peak was the largest textile producer in the world), and present-day immigration to the city. (updated Jun 2017)

Derryfield Golf Course, 625 Mammoth Rd, ☏ +1 603-669-0235. Public municipal course. 18 holes. $35 green fee; $26 for cart. Livingston Park, Hooksett Road. Running track, ballfields, walking, playground. 1 McIntyre Ski Area (Mac), 50 Chalet Ct (I-93N, Exit 8 Bridge Street; right on Mammoth Road, left on Kennard, left on Chalet Court), ☏ +1 603-622-6159. Check online for current hours. 180-ft vertical drop. Known for great lesson programs & open from Christmas vacation to mid-March. Tubing $19, Lift ticket $34. (updated Mar 2015) 4 The Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover St, ☏ +1 603-668-5588 (box office). A restored theater that features plays, concerts, and other live performances. (updated Jun 2017) Manchester is home to a handful of minor-league sports teams, all of which enjoy considerable support from local fans. The most popular is the Eastern League's New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA baseball affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays). Additionally, the New Hampshire Phantoms, a soccer team in the USL's Premier Development League (the fourth level in the American league pyramid), play in town. The Fisher Cats' season runs from spring to summer. The team has captured two Eastern League championships (in their inaugural season of 2004 and also in 2011). New Hampshire Fisher Cats Baseball, One Line Drive, ☏ +1 603-641-2005. 5 New Hampshire Motor Speedway, 1122 Route 106 North (in nearby Loudon), ☏ +1 603-783-4744.

For a city of its size, Manchester has surprisingly good restaurants, including some devoted to cuisines one would have trouble finding in larger cities. State law prohibits smoking in restaurants and bars. 1 Cotton, 75 Arms St, ☏ +1 603-622-5488. A restaurant set in the historic Millyard District. (updated Jun 2017) Cafe Momo, 1065 Hanover St, ☏ +1 603-623-3733. This small (30 seat) eatery serves excellent Nepalese food, which has elements of Indian and Chinese cuisine. The restaurant has a variety of vegetarian options and offers plenty of spicy -- very spicy -- entrees. The fiery gundruk soup is a must for lovers of spicy food, although be warned: it will clear your sinuses something fierce. A small parking lot, but other parking nearby is easily available. 2 The Puritan Restaurant, 245 Hooksett Rd, ☏ +1 603-669-6980. Quality Service since 1917. A very popular destination for locals serving American and Greek food. You may even see Adam Sandler there. (updated Jun 2017) The Red Arrow Diner, 61 Lowell St, ☏ +1 603-626-1118. Very fun diner, open 24 hours since 1922. Voted one of the top ten diners in the country by USA Today. Very good pancakes. 3 Piccolo Italia Ristorante, 815 Elm St, ☏ +1 603-606-5100. Voted Manchester's No. 1 Italian restaurant -- and with good reason. Reservations are strongly suggested. Terrific pasta and veal. (updated Jun 2017) 4 Fratello's Italian Grille, 155 Dow St, ☏ +1 603-624-2022, [email protected]. (updated May 2024) Intervale Country Club, 1491 Front St, ☏ +1 603-626-7344. Open to the public.

Manchester has a vibrant nightlife scene, particularly along Elm Street downtown and surrounding streets. Note that "last call" in Manchester comes early by American standards: about 12:45AM, with bars in the city closing around 1AM 1 Billy's Sports Bar, 34 Tarrytown Rd, ☏ +1 603-622-3644. Billy's has an extensive menu, is inexpensive, and is an excellent place for out-of-state visitors to watch football games. Although the bar is a Patriots bar, fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and other out-of-market teams will find fellow partisans there on Sundays, usually in the smaller "back" room. The "back" room will usually have sound and one of the main high-definition televisions turned to the Steelers game when the Steelers are playing, due to a large group of Steelers fans who gather there weekly. (updated Jun 2017) 2 Strange Brew Tavern, 88 Market St, ☏ +1 603-666-4292. More than 65 beers on tap. Live music every night of the week. Good, cheap food. Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, place is very crowded. (updated Jun 2017)

Most travelers will find themselves staying in two-diamond or three-diamond (AAA) properties, with rates generally in the $75 to $150 per night range. Some properties may be slightly cheaper, although one tends to get what one pays for. The majority of Manchester's hotel stock is in the two- to three-diamond range, although business travelers with expense accounts should consider the Bedford Village Inn, an excellent inn in suburban Bedford, N.H. Travelers with business downtown might consider the Hilton Garden Inn, immediately adjacent to the city's baseball stadium (rooms overlook the park, and home runs occasionally bounce off the hotel), or the Doubletree Manchester, a popular place to hold conferences and meetings. (The Doubletree is co-located with the Center of New Hampshire convention center. ) 1 Econo Lodge Manchester, 75 W Hancock St. (updated Jun 2017) 2 Best Western Executive Court Inn and Conference Center, 13500 S Willow St, ☏ +1 603-627-2525, toll-free: +1-877-627-2525, fax: +1 603 665-7090. Courtyard Manchester Airport, 700 Huse Rd, ☏ +1 603-641-4900, fax: +1 603 641-0001. Fairfield Inn Manchester Airport, 860 Porter St, ☏ +1 603-625-2020, fax: +1 603 623-7562. 3 Holiday Inn Manchester Airport, 2280 Brown Ave, ☏ +1 603-641-6466. Offers a complimentary 24-hour airport shuttle service, fitness center, indoor heated pool, and an affordable park & stay package. Weekly specials and packages are posted on the hotel website. (updated Jun 2017) 4 Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, 1298 South Porter St, ☏ +1 603-669-6800.

1 Manchester - Boston Regional Airport (MHT IATA), Brown Av (Route 101 exit 2), ☏ +1 603 624-6556. A convenient way to get to the city and much of southern New Hampshire. Sometimes used as a low-cost, low hassle alternative to Logan International Airport in Boston. Airlines serving Manchester include American, Avelo, Southwest, Spirit and United. Southwest is the primary passenger air carrier for the airport, and now accounts for more than half of the airport's annual passenger traffic. There are non-stop flights to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport from the following cities (some cities may be seasonal or only offer service certain days of the week): Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Orleans New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Tampa, and Washington. Delta has been increasing service to MHT including larger aircraft on the MHT-ATL route.Travelers at the airport will find it a convenient and easy to navigate facility. There are two security checkpoints, one on the second level in the center of the terminal, and one on the west end's ground floor, to the "right" of the airline ticket counters. Use the ground floor checkpoint if the center terminal one is busy; they both go to the same place, and the walk between the two is short.Smokers will find -- to their joy -- that there are two smoking rooms in the airport, one on the ground floor by the main baggage claim area, and one behind the security checkpoint.

Renting a car, which may be done at the airport, and walking are the easiest ways to get around Manchester. Bus service and taxis are also available, although bus service is relatively limited and taxis can be expensive. Renting a car, or knowing a local who has one, will make your life considerably easier. On foot: Downtown (Elm St.) has become more walkable as of late, much of the sites are within walking distance. The Manchester Transit Authority, 110 Elm St, ☏ +1 603-623-8801. Service within the city including between the airport and bus terminal. Buses are hourly and a one-way fare is $2. It stops at around 6PM.

Compared to American cities of its size, Manchester has an extremely low crime rate. Violent crime and property crime is rare, and even at night, visitors should feel safe in pretty much every area of the city. Although crime in the city is very rare, one should not take leave of one's common sense either. The downtown area is largely safe at all hours, although there are areas of the center city and the West Side where traveling alone, on foot, at night might be inadvisable. Female visitors should take all customary precautions. Manchester Police Department's main police station is at 405 Valley Street, ☏ +1 603-668-8711.