Start from 36 curated places around Portsmouth, NH, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Black Trumpet
A chef-owned bistro and wine bar tucked into a 200-year-old building on Ceres Street, where chef-owner Evan Mallett riffs on Mediterranean and Middle Eastern pantry traditions — harissa, preserved lemon, sumac — using New Hampshire farms and foraged ingredients. The menu changes constantly, which means the kitchen is cooking whatever is at its peak. Order the wine pairings; the list is genuinely thoughtful.
Moxy
Moxy occupies a bright, plant-filled room on Bow Street and runs an all-tapas format — bold, shareable New England-inflected plates that reward ordering six or eight rather than three. The kitchen leans on seasonal produce and keeps the menu genuinely interesting. Same team as Jumpin' Jay's, so the seafood items punch above their weight.
Trails & outdoors
Odiorne Point Loop Trail
A 2.8-mile easy loop through Odiorne Point State Park — New Hampshire's only Atlantic coast state park — tracing a rocky shoreline past tidal pools, salt marshes, and the concrete bunker remains of WWII Fort Dearborn. The Seacoast Science Center sits mid-park and is worth a stop for its marine touch tanks. AllTrails rates it 4.6 stars from 1,500+ reviews, making it the standout trail in the Portsmouth area.
Urban Forestry Center Brooks Trail
A 3-mile loop through the 182-acre state-owned Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth, winding along Sagamore Creek through hardwood forest with salt marsh views. AllTrails community rates it 4.5 stars from over 1,000 reviews and it's one of the most popular running and walking trails in the city. Free access, dog-friendly, and close to downtown.
Things to do
The Music Hall
A beautifully restored 1878 Victorian theater seating 895, now operated as a nonprofit presenting world-class concerts, comedy, cinema, and literary events year-round. The secondary Music Hall Lounge at 135 Congress Street — a 116-seat nightclub-style room — runs more intimate shows and film screenings. Together they make Portsmouth one of the best small-city performing arts destinations in New England.
Prescott Park Arts Festival
Free outdoor theater, concerts, and dance on the Piscataqua River waterfront every summer for over 50 years. The main-stage musical production runs all summer with multiple performances per week, and the concert series brings Grammy-winning touring acts to the grass. Suggested donation of $20, but genuinely pay-what-you-can. Locals bring blankets, wine, and dinner — so should you.
Landmarks & sights
Strawbery Banke Museum
A 10-acre outdoor living history museum on the original Portsmouth settlement site, with 37 preserved historic structures spanning three centuries of life in this seaport neighborhood. Costumed interpreters, working period trades (blacksmithing, coopering), heirloom kitchen gardens, and the remarkable side-by-side Drisco House — half furnished as 1795, half as 1954 — make this more than a walking tour. The neighborhood feel is genuine; these are the actual buildings in their original locations.
Prescott Park
A manicured waterfront park on the South End with direct views of the Piscataqua River and the historic tugboat museum, Prescott Park hosts the free summer Arts Festival — six weeks of outdoor theater, concerts, and dance on the Wilcox Main Stage. The formal flower gardens peak in July and August. This is where Portsmouth residents spend summer evenings, which is the best reason to come.