Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has many different identities. There’s Market Square, of course, and buzz of shops and restaurants that rivals Boston’s Newbury Street, minus the parking nightmares. Its compact size and sheer number locally owned stores, however, gives it a small town feel. It’s a working waterfront city, too, with tugboats and bigger ships on […]
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has many different identities. There’s Market Square, of course, and buzz of shops and restaurants that rivals Boston’s Newbury Street, minus the parking nightmares. Its compact size and sheer number locally owned stores, however, gives it a small town feel. It’s a working waterfront city, too, with tugboats and bigger ships on the Piscataqua River serving as a fitting backdrop. Woven through all of this is the city’s history, from its downtown architecture to the charms of Strawbery Banke.
For all the beauty Portsmouth offers during the summer, the holiday season just may be its finest time of year. The Christmas spirit you find here isn’t garish or overblown. It’s tasteful and subtle, more vintage than big-box store. So, two weeks ago, with much of our Christmas shopping still not done, my family and I spent two nights in Portsmouth, walking, shopping, eating, and walking some more.
A Portsmouth visit begins at Market Square
For lodging we camped out at the Ale House Inn, a modern downtown hotel right on the water.
Among the amenities offered at the Ale House are free iPads in every room and wonderful, sunlight reading room with free snacks.
The perfect spot to plan your day.
A simple stroll around Portsmouth offers up some impressive water views.
One of the charms of Portsmouth is its real working waterfront. While closed to cars, walkers can still take advantage of Memorial Bridge, which crosses over into Maine. We discovered this wonderful view while strolling through a neighborhood of 18th century homes.
Portsmouth features a wide array of shops. In one quarter-block stretch we counted a high-end paper store, a jeweler, salon, an Irish and Celtic craft shop, toy store, and custom frame shop.
One of our favorite stops was Tree House Toys, where my one-year-old son fell in love with the marionettes. Interested window shoppers take many forms in Portsmouth.
When it was time to get a bite to eat, we pulled up a seat at Popovers, a popular lunch spot smack-dab in the heart of Market Square.
Seconds on the clam chowder? Yes, please. My wife opted for the beautiful pear and gorgonzola salad. In a popover, of course.
We also found time for some good tea and muffins at Breaking New Grounds, Porstmouth’s most popular coffee shop, located in the heart of Market Square.
Coffee, tea, and free Wi-Fi are good incentives to spend an hour, maybe longer at Breaking New Grounds coffee shop.
Portsmouth is an eminently accessible small city. Parking is a breeze, and in fact during the last three weeks of December is free throughout the downtown. During our visit we spent a good portion of one afternoon strolling through the city’s historic neighborhoods, discovering a host of favorite homes to gawk at along the way.
The historic Governor John Langdon House is a 1784 Georgian mansion that sits just outside downtown Portsmouth.
Of course, any visit to Portsmouth, especially during the holiday season, must include a stop at Strawbery Bank, a recreated historic village that covers some 400 years. During weekend nights in December the village is open to visitors to walk the grounds for its Candlelight Stroll.
Our visit to Strawbery Bank began at the visitor’s center a few minutes with the museum’s elaborate gingerbread village. The horse drawn wagon was also a popular sight. So was the small harpsichord concert at the Chase House.
On our last night in Porstmouth we took a late-hour walk around the city, strolling across the Memorial Bridge so we could say we’d walked to Maine and just taking in the downtown’s holiday feel.
A view of Market Square and the North Church at night.
Ian Aldrich
Ian Aldrich is the Senior Features Editor at Yankee magazine, where he has worked for more for nearly two decades. As the magazine’s staff feature writer, he writes stories that delve deep into issues facing communities throughout New England. In 2019 he received gold in the reporting category at the annual City-Regional Magazine conference for his story on New England’s opioid crisis. Ian’s work has been recognized by both the Best American Sports and Best American Travel Writing anthologies. He lives with his family in Dublin, New Hampshire.
Among the amenities offered at the Ale House are free iPads in every room and wonderful, sunlight reading room with free snacks.
Among the amenities offered at the Ale House are free iPads in every room and wonderful, sunlight reading room with free snacks.
