The "Seacoast" is the area of New Hampshire's Atlantic coast and the adjacent coast of the southern tip of Maine. The central place on the seacoast is Portsmouth, a beautiful American town with a long history and a very rich cultural life. It is located one hour north of Boston - one of Americas great cities. To the north and west of the Seacoast are the White Mountains with endless forests, clean rivers and quiet lakes. One can see wild animals such as moose and black bear, rare birds such as loons, and numerous species of turtles that sunbathe on logs at the waters edge. In the other direction, beyond the beaches and lighthouses, one can explore the vastness of the ocean, admire the rough and beautiful Isles of Shoal, or visit the waters of whales.

Portsmouth is an amazing place with three impressive bridges spanning over the Piscataqua River, two of them drawbridges whose central section lifts up to let huge ships squeeze through them to enter the harbor. The famous red tugboats, dogged right next to the downtown restaurants and cafés, are helping with this task. Across the river from downtown, one can see the Portsmouth Naval yard, where there might be one or two submarines dogged, and frequently one the Coast Guard ships. Not enough technology? In the back of Portsmouth is located Pease Airport, once used by the Air Force, now transformed into a civil industrial park, but still featuring one of the longest landing strips in North America. This is best visited during an Air Show, which seem to occur every year.

The coastline is dotted with old forts and lighthouses. In between are sandy beaches, most inviting only in the heat of summer, since global warming does not seem to have an effect on its water temperature! However, the lobsters seem to like it and thrive here. Restaurants with great seafood menus and other specialties are abundant! Portsmouth and it's surrounding communities also offer very abundant shopping opportunities, from downtown shops to well maintained malls and factory outlets. Don't miss the art galleries, Strawberry Banke Museum, Prescott Park and Fuller's Gardens, numerous small theaters, and especially the summer events in Prescott Park - open air plays and jazz performances by the dozens.

Portsmouth photos will be added soon
Lookheed C-5 Galaxy at Pease Tradeport airshow	tugboat guiding a freight ship into Portsmouth harbor
Rye beach	boating near New Castle
Lighthouse at Fort Constitution	Whaleback lighthouse in the mouth of the Piscataqua river
salt marsh creek at the New Hampshire coast	Rye harbor is a place to find a whale-watching cruise or to go fishing
seals on the coast at Boothbay Harbor	ocean rocks at Rye
Boston view from Hancock Tower	Maine is famous for its blueberries - the wild ones are the tastiest
View from Baldface, North Chatham	Mountain view around Franconia Notch
typical bog in New Hampshire	Mount Chocorua reflecting in Lake Chocorua only 1.5 hours from Portsmouth
Mount Washington railway	View from Mt. Washington, New England's highest peak - 2 hours from Portsmouth
resting on Mount Chocorua	view from Blueberry Mountain at North Chatham
a refreshing mountain creek	a church lifted to replace the foundation