Discover Portsmouth: History, Parks and Coastline

Portsmouth brings together a waterfront park, islands with distinct natural features and picnic amenities, and several independent ways to explore history and culture. To plan your trip, you can first consider whether you want to focus on time outdoors, engineering history or a historic neighborhood.

Parks, Gardens and Islands

The public Prescott Park is on the Portsmouth waterfront, is free and is open to everyone. Its 10-acre grounds include formal plantings, the Liberty Gardens and several other individual garden areas. Since 1974, its summer season has featured at least one full outdoor performance of a Broadway musical for family audiences each year. If you plan to include this performance in your trip, check the dates for the relevant summer season.

Four Tree Island is also a public park and can be reached from Peirce Island via a causeway. The park is open to everyone. Picnic tables are located beneath small pavilions; the large pavilion can be reserved. Peirce Island itself includes salt marshes, tidal pools, rocky outcrops, wooded trails and scenic viewpoints. The boat launch there provides access to the quieter branch of the Piscataqua River.

A Coastal Route for Hiking and Cycling

The NH Seacoast Greenway is intended as a shared-use trail for hiking and cycling along the coast. In Portsmouth, it runs for 3.6 miles along an abandoned former railroad corridor between Barberry Lane and the Greenland town line. This sets it apart from a visit to a single park: the focus is on a route, its endpoints and its intended shared use.

Research Submarine and Living History

Albacore Park is a site in Portsmouth designated a National Historic Landmark. It offers self-guided tours of the historic research submarine USS Albacore. Visitors can go inside the submarine, look through the periscope and explore the control room, technical areas and sleeping quarters. Those interested in the interior of a research submarine will find a tour centered on the vessel itself and its various interior spaces.

Strawbery Banke is an almost 10-acre living history museum in the Puddle Dock neighborhood. It preserves the development of an entire neighborhood over more than 350 years. The museum includes historic houses, most of which remain in their original locations, as well as gardens, landscaped areas and exhibits. The Jones House features an interactive exhibit about Abenaki culture, arts, foodways and storytelling traditions.

The two sites focus on different aspects of history: Albacore Park centers on touring a single research submarine; Strawbery Banke preserves the development of an entire neighborhood. You can choose between an engineering artifact and a broader neighborhood context depending on your interests.

Another Historic Site Outside Downtown

Less than 2 miles outside downtown Portsmouth is the Wentworth-Coolidge State Historic Site, a New Hampshire state park.

Discover more destinations: Sandown, Northwood, North Hampton, Seabrook, Rye, Atkinson, Greenland, Windham

For the regional travel overview: Rockingham.