Long after sailors, fishermen and agricultural colonists had domesticated the entire coastline of New England, the harsh, glacier-scarred interior of NEW HAMPSHIRE , with its dense forests and forbidding mountains, remained the exclusive preserve of the Algonquin Indians. Only the few miles of seashore held sizeable seventeenth-century communities of European settlers, such as Strawbery Banke at Portsmouth .

Even when the Indians were finally driven back, following the defeat of their French allies in Canada, the settlers could make little agricultural impact on the rocky terrain of this "granite state." Towns such as Nashua, Manchester and Concord grew up in the fertile Merrimack Valley, but not until the Industrial Revolution made possible the development of water-powered textile mills did the economy take off. For a while, ruthless timber companies looked set to strip all northern New Hampshire bare - very few of the trees you see now are original growth - but they were brought under control when the state recognized that the pristine landscape of the White Mountains might turn out to be its greatest asset. Large-scale tourism began towards the end of last century; at one stage fifty trains daily brought travelers up to Mount Washington.

Ever since becoming the first American state to declare independence, in January 1776, New Hampshire has been proud to go its own idiosyncratic way. The absence of a sales tax, or even a personal income tax, is seen as a fulfillment of the state motto, "Live Free or Die." Alternative sources of revenue include state-owned liquor stores in which, unlike in neighboring states, you are able to purchase alcohol on Sundays. The stores were set up after the failure of Prohibition, and have been enthusiastically promoted ever since: they even have them in freeway rest areas. The state has long gained inordinate politi cal clout as the venue of the first primary election of each presidential campaign, with its villages well used to playing host to would-be world leaders.

One less ideological aspect of New Hampshire's individualism is the emphasis on a healthy outdoor lifestyle. Hiking, climbing, cycling and skiing are enjoyed both by energetic locals and by the many visitors who drive up from Boston and New York. The major destinations are Lake Winnipesaukee , and Conway, Lincoln and Franconia in the mountains further north. Some have grown rather too large and commercial for their own good, but if you steer clear of the paying "attractions," the lakes, islands and snowcapped peaks themselves remain spectacular. To see the bucolic rural scenery more usually associated with New England, take a detour off the main roads up the Merrimack Valley - to Canterbury Shaker Village near Concord, for example.  TOP

Lake Region
Of the literally hundreds of lakes created by the snowmelt flowing south from the White Mountains, much the biggest is Lake Winnipesaukee , which forms the center of the vacation-oriented Lakes Region. Long segments of its 300-mile shoreline, especially in the east, consist of thick forests sweeping down to waters dotted with little islands, which are disturbed only by pleasure craft. The most sophisticated of the towns is Wolfeboro ; the most fun to visit has to be Weirs Beach .

Ideally, you would bring your own small boat and get thoroughly lost in the maze of small channels and islets. Failing that, the cruise ship Mount Washington does daily two-and-a-half-hour tours of the more open stretches in summer, leaving Weirs Beach daily at 10am, 12.30pm and 3pm, Wolfeboro (except Mon & Thurs) at 11.15am and Meredith Mondays at noon and 2.30pm. The tours cost $18, and also call at either Center Harbor (Mon 11am) or Alton Bay (Thurs 11.15am). It's certainly a pretty ride, though it can seem a little long in the heat of the day, and you might prefer to take an evening dinner cruise instead for $35-39 (July & Aug Mon-Sat; tel 603/366-5531 or 1-888/843-6686, ). A smaller mail-boat does more local round-trips from Weirs Beach for $14 (Mon-Sat 11am & 2pm; tel 603/569-1114) or from Wolfeboro daily at 10am, also $14.

Merrimack Valley
The financial and political heartland of New Hampshire is the Merrimack Valley , which - first by water and now by road - has always been the main thoroughfare north to the White Mountains and Québec. None of its towns is of any great interest to tourists, though all are pleasant enough, and equipped with relatively inexpensive motels.

The southernmost (and New Hampshire's second-biggest) town on the river, Nashua , was rated by Money magazine in 1997 as the number one place to live in America. Plenty of its citizens still choose to work in Boston, though Massachusetts no longer allows employees to escape state taxes by living across the border in New Hampshire. MANCHESTER , like its namesake in England, was a major nineteenth-century cotton producer. Although its massive Amoskeag Mills closed in the 1930s, it remains the largest city in the state, and is now notable mainly for the glassware, furniture and paintings in the Currier Gallery of Art at 201 Myrtle Way (Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat & Sun 11am-5pm, Fri 9am-11pm; free). The focal point of CONCORD is the gold dome of the State House, the seat of New Hampshire's state legislature; despite its small size it has 424 members, making it the fourth largest such body in the world (after the parliaments of the United States, Britain and India). Local schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, a victim of the Challenger shuttle tragedy, is commemorated by a planetarium, at 3 Institute Drive, off the I-93, exit 15E (Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm, open until 10pm on Friday Skywatch nights; tel 603/271-7831).

Fifteen miles north of Concord on Hwy-106, Canterbury Shaker Village (May-Oct daily 10am-5pm; April, Nov & Dec, Sat & Sun 10am-5pm; $10) was the sixth Shaker community to be founded by Ann Lee in the 1780s, numbering 300-strong by 1860. Ninety-minute tours show Shaker crafts and techniques - such as box-making - and the attached Creamery restaurant serves Shaker food from April through December. South of Concord, outside Derry on Hwy-28, the Robert Frost Farm (summer daily 10am-5pm; rest of year Sat & Sun 10am-5pm; $3) has been evocatively restored to its condition when New England's poet laureate lived here from 1900 to 1911. Displays in the barn discuss his work, and a half-mile "poetry nature trail" leads past the sites that inspired many of his best-known poems.

New Hampshire Coast
Of all the US states with ocean access, New Hampshire has the shortest coastline - just eighteen miles. Driving north from Boston along either I-95 or the quieter US-1, you enter New Hampshire after roughly forty miles, to be confronted almost immediately by the nuclear power plant at Seabrook Station , which opened in 1990 after years of determined opposition, not least from the irate state of Massachusetts over the border.

HAMPTON BEACH , a little further on, is a traditional family-oriented, if somewhat tacky, seaside resort (its free information line has the optimistic number tel 1-800/GET-A-TAN). The usual assortment of motels and fast-food places lines the approaches to the boardwalk and crowded beaches, but in a place this close to Boston summer accommodation rates are high. The Breakers by the Sea Motel at 409 Ocean Blvd (tel 603/926-7702, ; $50-75/$75-100), is one of the least expensive options, offering roomy one- or two-bedroom apartments; for a bit more comfort try the Oceanside Inn at 365 Ocean Blvd (tel 603/926-3542; $75-100). Large local campgrounds include Tuxbury Pond in South Hampton (tel 603/394-7660 or 1-800/585-7660).

West to Vermont
Much of the western side of New Hampshire, as you approach the Connecticut River that forms the entire border with Vermont, amounts to a less developed - and therefore less touristy - version of the Lakes Region. For a tranquil day or two the area around Lake Sunapee can be very appealing. Good bets for local inns include The Back Side Inn , 1171 Brook Rd, Goshen (tel 603/863-5161, ; $75-100), behind Mount Sunapee, a former hostel and now family-run Victorian with ten simple but comfortable rooms and a sumptuous breakfast buffet; and the upmarket Goddard Mansion on Hillstead Road in Claremont (tel 603/543-0603 or 1-800/736-0603, ; $75-100), with fancy mountain-view rooms and an elegant dining room and parlor.

White Mountains
Thanks to their accessibility from both Montréal to the north and Boston to the south, the White Mountains have become a year-round tourist destination, popular with summer hikers and winter skiers alike. Commercialized they may be, in built-up strips along the main highways, but the great granite massifs retain much of their majesty and power. Mount Washington can claim the severest weather in the world, and conditions are harsh enough for the timberline to be at four thousand feet, as compared to the norm in the Rockies of ten thousand.

Just a few high passes - here called " notches ," discovered only after infinite pains by the early pioneers - pierce the range, and the roads through these gaps, such as the Kancamagus Highway between Lincoln and Conway, make for an enjoyable driving tour. However, you won't really have made the most of the White Mountains unless you also set off, on foot or on skis, across the long expanses of thick evergreen forest that separate them, with snowcapped peaks poking out in all directions. The best sources of information in the region are the White Mountains Attractions visitor center at I-93 exit 32 in North Woodstock (tel 603/745-8720 or 1-800/FIND-MTS, ) and the info center at Pinkham Notch (tel 1-800/262-4455, ) on Rte-16, open daily year-round 6.30am-10pm.  TOP