**November 2025: Weekday Early Afternoon Visit** To be honest I almost skipped visiting the State Capitol because I foolishly judged it by its size. I thought it was small and thought that it wouldn't be worth the visit, but boy was I wrong. My friend and I arrived around 12:15pm and parked on the street. There's meter parking, but you'll pay by paybyphone.com. I think it's $1 an hour, but I recommend you fill the meter a little longer since it's $.85 extra if you need to add another hour (on top of the $1 per hour). I recommend 4 hours if you plan to visit the New Hampshire Historical Society, and the Library as well. Anyways, my friend and I got there and I was surprised by two things 1) The Hall of Flags all encased made for a really grand entrance and 2) There was no metal detector. We just basically walked in and headed towards the visitor's center towards the right side of the building. We signed our names in the guestbook and one of the volunteers gave us a shpeel about the area we were visiting. She informed us that since New Hampshire is start of the Presidential Primary and that a lot of presidential candidates will make an appearance here to start their campaign. It was kind of cool to stand in the same spot as Biden, McCain, Obama, Carter and many others. We saw went upstairs to the 2nd floor to see the Senate room, Governors Office, Secretary of State's office (and actually got to meet him - David M. Scanlan on our tour), and the house of reps (which was 400 seats!). In summary, never judge a book by it's cover. This small capitol held it's own and is definitely worthy of a visit! read more

A beautiful state house with a golden dome and an eagle on top. It was built in 1816-1819 as a Greek Revival style. The land it's on is 2.6-acres with a granite fence. There are seven statues/memorials on the grounds, the oldest being dedicated in 1886. The house chambers holds 400 people, which is the largest in the US. The building is open to the public and there are guided tours. This was part of the self guided walking tour and we enjoyed stopping by to explore it. It's close to everything; there were plenty of parking, restaurants, and shops. Overall, a historic building in a historic area, which is worth a visit. read more

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Beautiful location filled with unique history. Loved the flag room - so many civil war flags on display! The vital is filled with paintings, only 9 are of women though. The grounds have interesting sculptures including a Liberty Bell replica. Parking was easy near the capital and affordable. Tour guides were available in the Visitor Center. We were able to visit the Governor' office, seeing a wonderful display of tea cups. read more

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Sometimes how you connect with the people at a location made an experience memorable. It was so true when we visited here. The state house was beautifully designed and built. And we were so lucky to have a Christina to provide us a guided tour. She was well travelled and told us many interesting stories. Also, the gentleman from Scotland (who joined us about 5 minutes after the tour started) who was an avid traveler himself shared many of his past experiences and insights. By the end of the tour, we met a historian named Virginia who gave us more details about how some of maintenance work been done to this historic building. During the tour, we caught a glimpse of the current governor and met one of her staff who worked there for 40 years but still carried a smile on her face. Altogether a wonderful experience. read more

From the beautiful interior to the great architecture of the buildings exterior it's definitely a great place to visit and learn about the history of the state New Hampshire, they have tours of the interior at set times, overall this place is definitely nice and worth the trip. read more

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This review is for the visitors center and state house as a whole. The state house is in a central downtown location, with nice statues on the grounds outside. When u walk in to the state house, you walk thru the hall of flags and the visitors center is to the right. Staff there is very friendly and knowledgeable. There was no guided tour available at the time I was there, but I was given materials for a self guided tour. The state house is a beautiful historic building made with local New Hampshire granite. It's small compared to other state houses. There are portraits throughout the building. The house and senate chambers are very nice. The building is topped with a shiny gold leaf dome. I was looking for a rotunda, but there isn't one. The dome was added on to the roof later, making it the rare state house without a rotunda, which is usually a highlight of a state house visit. This is not one of the top state houses, but worth a visit. read more

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Visited this State House on a busy weekday (traffic wise) morning (an outdoor statue dedication ceremony for a former NH governor was taking place). Parking consists of paid on street spaces with a strictly enforced 2 hour limit, along with a nearby parking garage. If one is willing to walk a free commuter lot off Main Street and on the perimeter of downtown is available. Upon entrance I was directed to the visitor center which also doubles as the gift shop .The staff was polite and told me as stated tours were self guided gave me a brochure to use. Following the tour route one travels in a u shape formation. Unlike many state houses visitors are encouraged to peek and enter into most offices. One exception would be the office of the governor but the adjacent waiting parlor can be entered. After my 45 minute visit I returned to the visitor center to discover a guided tour was to commence so I asked if I could join. Glad I did because a guide can always tell interesting facts not in a brochure and highlight the important information and answer question. This second trip around allowed me by chance to meet the current governor. H was very nice and posed for pictures with the group. Here are a few tips. First, park in a lot or nearby garage to not worry about the 2 hour limit. Second, although the staff and the statehouse website say tours are self guide they do "randomly" offer guided tours. Three, tour the history museum across the side street if time permits.The museum offers more insight in NH history which enriched the statehouse tour. Finally, if time permits walk the downtown which unlike many cities, has a vibrant retail core filled with some nice shops and restaurants with friendly staff. The lack of regularity scheduled state house tours and no Saturday openings lowered my rating from 4 to 3 stars. read more