Two hours from Boston, on the Vermont border, sits a small New England city that manages to pack a genuine downtown, a 59-mile trail, a lake, a ski hill and an apple orchard into one tidy package. Lebanon, New Hampshire, in the Upper Valley region straddling the Connecticut River, has become a favourite for travellers who want storybook looks without the crowds.
The historic core sits along the Mascoma River, part of the Colburn Park Historic District. The tree-lined square is anchored by a Federal-style City Hall topped with a cupola, and the Lebanon Opera House inside it keeps a busy schedule of concerts, comedy, films, plays and ballets year-round. Around the park you'll find a Carnegie-era public library, galleries and independents, plus Lucky's Coffee Garage, where the coffee comes sweetened with local maple syrup. For dinner, Three Tomatoes Trattoria has been dishing up wood-fired pizzas and chicken Parmigiana across from Colburn Park for more than 35 years. Galleries at the AVA Gallery and Art Center are free to browse, and if you fancy it, the centre runs classes in everything from blacksmithing to plein air painting.
Outdoors, Lebanon punches above its size. The Northern Rail Trail — the city's top-rated attraction on Tripadvisor — starts a five-minute walk from the park and runs nearly 60 miles along a former railroad corridor, open to walkers, cyclists and cross-country skiers. Early on it passes the Packard Hill Covered Bridge, a timber-framed crossing dating back to the 1780s and restored in 1991, before skirting the northern shore of Mascoma Lake. The 1,100-acre lake has a public swimming beach, islands to canoe out to, and good fishing (including ice fishing) for rainbow trout and perch.
Seasonal picks round things out. In late summer and autumn, Patch Orchards — a working family farm since the late 1700s — offers apple picking from Honeycrisp to Fujis, a corn maze and a farm stand. When the snow arrives, Storrs Hill, established in 1923 and among the oldest ski areas in the US, runs seven family-friendly trails over 20 acres, with green learning slopes, blue cruisers and a double-black terrain park. Whaleback Mountain, a short six miles away, adds another low-key alpine option.
Lebanon works for a lot of travellers: Boston weekenders after foliage without the jam, families who want gentle skiing and lake days, and anyone road-tripping the Upper Valley — the college town of Hanover and Dartmouth College are just six miles north. It's genuinely a year-round destination, so pick your season and go.
