Best Attractions in New Hampshire | 2016 Editors’ Choice Awards

Looking for the best things to do in New Hampshire? You won’t have to look far! Read our picks for the best attractions in New Hampshire for 2016.

Best Orchard: Alyson’s Orchard, Walpole Topographically, it’s hard to beat this 450-acre orchard at the top of a ridge overlooking the Connecticut River Valley. Equally hard to choose when it’s at its most irresistible. From the spring blossoms to the summer berries to the annual chili cookoff, it always feels like a festival up here on the heights. But with more than 50 varieties of apples, it’s ultimately the apple that reigns supreme. 57 Alyson’s Lane. 603-756-9800; alysonsorchard.com Best Salvage: Architectural Salvage Inc., Exeter Art Nouveau mantel? Porcelain folding yacht sink? How did they move that nine-panel stained-glass ceiling? Carpenters love this vintage trip down memory lane, where you can pick up aging barn doors and finial doodads like an architectural time traveler. Christopher McMahon’s extraordinary treasure trove has been here for 18 years. “We have a lot of fun collecting it,” says son Aiden, backed up by a panel of ornate doorbells, a contingent of corbels, and a couple hundred years of inventory. Open Friday, Saturday, and by appointment. 3 Mill St. 603-773-5635; oldhousesalvage.com Best Winery: LaBelle Winery, Amherst Winemaker Amy LaBelle’s elegant facility offers guided tours plus tastings from among more than 25 of the winery’s own New Hampshire–produced varietals, including Corazon, Granite State Apple, and Riesling. This coolly sleek enterprise also houses The Bistro, where you can raise a glass to farm-to-fork lunches and dinners featuring artisanal cheese plates, roasted chicken tartine, and fresh pasta. Buy all 34 wines, plus unusual kitchen gadgets, at the gift shop. Like a sip of Sonoma in the New Hampshire hills. Sampler of 5: $8. 345 Route 101. 603-672-9898; labellewinerynh.com Best Urban Escape: Contoocook River Canoe Co., Concord Just 6.5 miles from the golden gleam of the State House dome, a broad lawn sweeps down to the banks of the Contoocook River. Bright kayaks sit stacked like chili peppers beside canoes and stand-up paddleboards at Patrick and Lisa Malfait’s family-owned business. But it’s the wide expanse of water that inspires you to ease that rental vessel into the river. You can take a nine-mile paddle (they’ll shuttle you to Contoocook Village) and steer your boat through Concord’s Lehtinen Park, or a shorter jaunt upriver to Daisy Beach. Canoe: $30. Kayak: $24. Paddleboard: $20/half-day. 9 Horse Hill Road. 603-753-9804; contoocookcanoe.com/contoocook-river

Best Place to Get Away From It All: Oceanic Hotel, Star Island Portsmouth’s Isles of Shoals Steamship Company ferry (315 Market St. 603-431-5500; islesofshoals.com/cruises) cruises six miles off the New Hampshire coast to the windswept Isles of Shoals, where you can reserve lunch at the Oceanic Hotel, a picturesque mid-19th-century hotel turned conference center on Star Island. The Oceanic also offers “personal retreats” for up to a week for those not conferencing, but lucky daytrippers can wander the 43-acre island at will, exploring the old burial ground, picnicking at the gazebo, or just admiring the stunning Atlantic views. 603-430-6272, 603-601-0832 (island phone); starisland.org Best Cruise: Gundalow Co., Portsmouth Set sail on the Piscataqua from Prescott Park and bring your own picnic dinner. This traditional “gundalow” is a replica of the sailing barges that regularly cruised these river waters starting in the 1600s, but with a modern-day twist. On Thursday nights (and some weekends), local musicians climb aboard and play concerts ranging from folk and Celtic to bluegrass and jazz. What could be sweeter? The wind in your sails, the port at your back, a picnic, good tunes, and soft river breezes. From $40 for adults. 60 Marcy St. 603-433-9505; gundalow.org Best Organic Farm Stand: Rosaly’s Garden, Peterborough Mounds of veggies scent this airy farm stand, surrounded by acres of pick-your-own flowers and herbs set against a backdrop of Mount Monadnock, a favorite of fresh-air painters. Named Gardener of the Year by the Northeast Organic Farming Association, founder Rosaly Bass has recapped it all in her book, Organic!, which you can cherry-pick from her picture-perfect stand, along with just-picked lettuce, cukes, and armfuls of Skittles-bright zinnias. 63 Route 123. 603-924-7772; rosalysgarden.com Best All-Around Entertainment: Portsmouth Music Hall, Portsmouth The outrageous scope of this performing-arts venue—from Tom Brokaw to Melissa Ethe­ridge—seems right at home in this elegantly rehabbed 1878 Victorian theatre, which once hosted vaudevillians. Its acclaimed Writers on a New England Stage series has seen the kind of celebrity cross-pollination that would rattle any reader, spanning Salman Rushdie to Patti Smith. Across the street, Writers in the Loft hosts more-intimate programs and signings, with best-selling authors such as the prolific Chris Bohjalian. 28 Chestnut St. 603-436-2400; themusichall.org Best Studio Gift Shop: Salty Dog Pottery, Barnstead Everything about Teresa Taylor’s world is organically artistic, from her weathered-barn showroom and studio to the stooped and hobbity kiln out back. This 40-year-plus pottery veteran produces a nimble and lovely tumble of platters edged with broad leaves, beakers that are literally beaked, whimsical tiles, and swirling birdbaths, shimmering in foamy greens, blues, and coppery earth tones, perfectly complemented by the late-afternoon dust motes filtering down through barn light. 92 Suncook Valley Road. 603-435-6014; saltydogpottery.com Best 20th-Century-History Museum: Wright Museum, Wolfeboro An M3A1 Stuart tank juts from the brick wall encompassing this collection of World War II artifacts, materials, and memorabilia. “We’re losing 500 vets a day,” notes Gene, a volunteer guide at this under-the-radar gem “Dedicated to the Greatest Generation WWII.” The “time tunnel” leads visitors through a series of rooms, one for each year from 1939 to 1945, that orient us to the war via LIFE magazine covers, exhibits, and bits of trivia: A gallon of gas cost 10 cents in 1939 (a car was $700); Rosy the Riveter appeared in 1943. The 1940s-era wartime kitchen is complete in every detail, down to the shiny Glenwood stove and a box of Rinso at the sink. Jeeps, tanks, and a Red Cross van huddle under hanging airplanes in the Vehicles Gallery. Founded in 1994 by collector David Wright, a Marine in the Korean War, the museum educates and inspires, a tribute to those who served. Adults: $10. Veterans: $8. 77 Center St. 603-569-1212; wrightmuseum.org Best Vintage Décor: White Home Collections, Wilton Pearly mirrors, vintage wrought iron, birds’ nests—a breezy, elegant collection of carefully curated antique finds, furniture, and garden equipment fills a three-story 1860s farmhouse, spilling over into extra barn stalls, a potting shed, and the front yard. Special events like the annual Garden Extravaganza on Mother’s Day attract collectors and decorators from the four corners; across the street, the affiliated White Home Market hosts special themed exhibits every few months. All the ingredients for a makeover. 9 Greenville Road. 603-654-7363; whitehomecollections.com Best Ocean Adventure: Al Gauron Deep Sea Fishing & Whale Watching, Hampton Beach For more than 50 years, the Gauron family has guided fishing trips, fireworks cruises on Wednesday nights, and close encounters with those most awesome of mammals: humpbacks, minke, and finbacks, along with dolphins and sharks. Until you’ve looked a whale in the eye, it’s just another fish story. 1 Ocean Blvd. 603-926-2469; algauron.com