Dover NH? (Portsmouth, Hampton, Durham: houses, live in, restaurants)

[CalieCat]

Me and my daughter will be taking a 2 week vacation in New England this Summer. We will mostly be staying in B&B's and we are trying to plan our route out. We found a B&B in Dover that we would like to stay at but I'm wondering if we will be happy there? We Chose this inn in Dover since it's close to Portsmouth and either the B&B's IN Portsmouth were too expensive or we didn't like it. My real question is, will we be close enough to Portsmouth if we stay in Dover and is the Portsmouth area a 1 or 2 day destination?

Thanks so much!

[fishnfool]

Dover has a nice downtown but it's nothing I would consider "vacation worthy". It's about 15 minutes drive to portsmouth, so it's not too far, but you'll lose some of the charm staying closer to portsmouth or somewhere on the coast. You can defnitely see most of portsmouth in 1 day if you limit the seacoast purely to portsmouth.

I would recommend staying two days though hit everything on the NH stretch of 1A. Hit up Rye, Ordiorne state park, Hampton beach (uber touristy beach if that's your thing), and even Newburyport Mass and Kittery. Ogunquit and Kennebunkport ME aren't too far from Portsmouth/Dover either.

[WannaComeHome]

You can defnitely see most of portsmouth in 1 day

Also depends on what you want to do!

For example, do you have an interest in whale watching? You can catch a boat out of Portsmouth, but that's going to take up most of a day.

Do you like historical villages/houses? There's Strawberry Banke which could also take up a day (not as unified as Sturbridge Village, but a nice collection of buildings and occupations - as long as you aren't badly allergic to dust or mold)

[GazelleRN]

I'd suggest the Three Chimney's Inn in Durham (very good food there too - and I'm a food snob!), if you do decide to stay outside Portsmouth. I don't know of any great B&Bs in Dover...maybe one called the Silver Lake Inn?

Oh, and I'd say Portsmouth is a 1-day destination. Go to the Dolphin Striker for dinner if you love fancy, expensive food! Also check out The Friendly Toast down the street for breakfast/lunch.

[rmcewan]

Three Chimney's is a nice place. Has a pub and restaurant too.

There's also the Pines in Durham, which has a better location but I don't know about its reputation.
PINESGUESTHOUSE.COM

Also check Rye, Newcastle, and Newington for B&Bs, which are just as close to Portsmouth.

[CalieCat]

Originally Posted by GazelleRN

I'd suggest the Three Chimney's Inn in Durham (very good food there too - and I'm a food snob!), if you do decide to stay outside Portsmouth. I don't know of any great B&Bs in Dover...maybe one called the Silver Lake Inn?

Oh, and I'd say Portsmouth is a 1-day destination. Go to the Dolphin Striker for dinner if you love fancy, expensive food! Also check out The Friendly Toast down the street for breakfast/lunch.

We were actually looking at the Silver Fountain Inn...Do you know anything about that one??? I did look at the Three Chimney Inn and I really liked what I saw!

[CalieCat]

Originally Posted by fishnfool

Dover has a nice downtown but it's nothing I would consider "vacation worthy". It's about 15 minutes drive to portsmouth, so it's not too far, but you'll lose some of the charm staying closer to portsmouth or somewhere on the coast. You can defnitely see most of portsmouth in 1 day if you limit the seacoast purely to portsmouth.

I would recommend staying two days though hit everything on the NH stretch of 1A. Hit up Rye, Ordiorne state park, Hampton beach (uber touristy beach if that's your thing), and even Newburyport Mass and Kittery. Ogunquit and Kennebunkport ME aren't too far from Portsmouth/Dover either.

We are planning on staying Midcoast Maine for several days and then staying in Southern Maine for a few more days then working our way down to NH on our way back home to Georgia. I'm just trying to decide if we want to stay 1 day in the Portsmouth area and stay somewhere else along the way home or 2 days in Portsmouth.

Our interests primarily are historical homes/areas, walking along the ocean, shopping, etc. We just love the NorthEast and want to spend some time there away from home!!

[fishnfool]

Our interests primarily are historical homes/areas, walking along the ocean, shopping, etc. We just love the NorthEast and want to spend some time there away from home!!

One thing about Portsmouth is that there is very little walkable shoreline. Most of it is taken up by the port and a few restaurants. Prescott park is awesome and has a couple of small piers, and an gorgeous garden, but there isn't any place to take a nice stroll along the water.

A little farther south is Ordiorne State Park, and the coastal stretch of Rye, which is prefect for a beach/rocky stroll. It's only 10 minutes south if that.

You could do all that in a day for sure but you wouldn't have a whole lot of time for each one. You'll definitely get a lot of what you're looking for in downeast maine as well.

[theflynns]

We live in Dover... Silver Fountain Inn is in a beautiful, old home just outside of the downtown area. It is on a busy street, in an area of older homes, many of which are now multi-families. It does have convenient access to downtown (which has some great restaurant/shops) and to the highway (15 minutes to Portsmouth), but I agree...not really a vacation destination, especially if the main draw of the area is Portsmouth.
Don't get me wrong...I LOVE Dover, just don't think it's what you're looking for!

[Yankeehombre]

Theres also Tha Hannah house on the edge of Durham, off 108, down Bennett Rd., next to a former mill site on the river at Packers Falls. Also on the Durham/ Newmarket line on 108is Hickory Pond Inn. Its a B& B plus a 'pich+putt' golf course when the weather is nicer.