For the long weekend in October, I wanted to go on a camping trip so I went to Hancock, New Hampshire. Located in southern NH, on the border of Massachusetts. Hancock was perfect because it is only 2 and half hours from Mystic, CT.

I also wanted to go somewhere that had amazing foliage! It’s often recommended to go more northern into the White Mountain region (Conway, Franconia, etc). So many New Englanders love going to Vermont or New Hampshire for leaf peeping. I have never gone further north than the CT border during fall, I had to see what I was missing out on!

My itinerary looked like this:

Day 1 — Hancock

I arrived in Hancock, NH around 3pm. After setting up the camper at the campground, I went exploring the small town of Hancock. There was a downtown historical village. A beautiful historical church with old horse stables. The pond behind the church had a small beach. This turned out to be a perfect spots for photographing the foliage! My favorite had to be the gazebo in the town green and Hancock Market. The market was one of those small town stores with a beautiful facade. Very quintessential New England!

*Quintessential New England home in Hancock, NH.*

Day 2 — Peterborough/Dublin/Jaffrey/Rindge

A day of road tripping on the rural roads. I stopped in Peterborough first, a good sized small town with a downtown. A lot of antiques shops! There was a large plaza with many stores and restaurants. Of course, I popped in the bookstore which had a section of discounted used books. I fell in love with a cafe that had excellent gluten free options. I had ‘The Southern Comfort’ which was chicken and waffles and it was AMAZING. I even came back to get two meals for the road/leftovers to store at home. Unfortunately they have since closed their doors permanently.

*A beautiful church in Peterborough, NH.*

*A woman reading a book in a Peterborough park.*

Dublin was an even smaller town. There was a historical village district with town hall, police station, fire department, church, library and home of Yankee Magazine. There isn’t much to see here, but it’s very picturesque! There happened to be a touch-a-truck event at the fire department so we took our Dalmatian to photograph her with the trucks. While at the event, someone recommended I drive up the road to the water. It was the best recommendation, some of my best photos were taken right there! It was so gorgeous with the foliage.

*My pup with the Dublin Fire Department truck.*

Jaffrey was another small town with a downtown area. It was adorable to see their scarecrows event. I drove over the border to check out Cathedral of the Pines. An open-air cathedral with panoramic views of Grand Monadnock. It was so stunning! My jaw literally dropped at the views (remember… even more beautiful with the foliage!). While I was there, the space was being set up for a wedding. I only can imagine the beautiful wedding photos with that backdrop!

Day 3 — Brattleboro, VT and Keene

I never had been to Vermont. Brattleboro was less than a hour drive from Hancock. I walked around a downtown filled with many shops. I enjoyed Brattleboro Books, a used books store. Brattleboro had a very artistic vibe with many murals in town. I do have to mention that it was really difficult to have my pup because many shops did not allow pets. I stopped in Against the Grain, one of my favorite gluten free brands. Their warehouse had a small store with their products and bakery goods. I grabbed some whoopie pies, muffins and brownies. So good!

Keene was the biggest city I visited in New Hampshire. The downtown was only blocks away from a college so there were many shops, restaurants and businesses. I spotted the Parrish Shoes mural on one of the buildings and was excited to learn that the movie, Jumanji was filmed there! My favorite store was the Hannah Grimes Marketplace. It had many local artisans goods. Also, if you’re into fire stations - the Keene Fire Department was pretty impressive with an older building across the street from the current building.

STAY: Spacious Skies Seven Maples Campground / Hancock, NH

I stayed at Seven Maples campground. It was a very idyllic setting, surrounded by the trees. The campground was very spacious, had a fun game room and clean facilities, the people there are friendly. Very family oriented campground with many activities for families to participate. The weekend we were there, they had hayrides, Halloween costumes parade and trick-n-treating. A beautiful pond where you can go catch-and-release fishing.

Southern New Hampshire isn’t really a tourist destination, being a very rural area, but it was simple and relaxing. It definitely is the ideal photographers destination! I saw so many photographers everywhere. There was plenty of spaces where you could easily pull off the road. I loved exploring on the rural roads, taking us through many historical districts. I appreciate how many historical buildings we have in New England. The area also had plethora of covered bridges too! The weekend in NH was very enjoyable. It motivated me to plan a trip more north of NH during fall another time!