Everything worth doing.Within 20 minutes.

A 22-seat wood-fired barbecue spot on Main Street that sells out most nights it's open — Tuesday through Saturday from 4 p.m. until the smoker's empty. Everything is scratch-made, from the jumbo signature wings to the pulled pork. Happy hour runs 4 to 6 daily, also the safest window to get a table before the kitchen runs dry. Full bar, no reservations, no guarantee of a seat past 6:30 on a Saturday.

Newbury Harbor's deck restaurant, directly across from the town docks where the day-trip boats tie up. The seafood chowder has won enough local awards that regulars order it before opening the rest of the menu. Weekend brunch runs 11 to 2, with a pizza list deep enough to feed a group that can't agree on dinner. Closed Wednesdays — plan around it if a Newbury dinner is the goal, not a backup.

A six-room inn built in 1836 on Andover Road, renovated with a kitchen the owners — both career cooks — clearly prioritized over the guest rooms. Fish comes from the Boston piers rather than a regional distributor, which shows up in a menu that shifts with what actually arrived that morning. Won Best Destination Dining from New Hampshire Magazine in 2015 and still earns it. Reserve ahead here more than at the harbor spots.

A seasonal ice cream stand on Main Street with a deck cantilevered over the Sugar River as it runs out of the harbor — Gifford's ice cream, soft serve or hard, and a hook-and-ring game on the porch that holds a kid's attention longer than the cone does. Cash only, no exceptions, so stop at an ATM before walking down from the lot. The regulars' order is a small hard-pack, not the soft-serve swirl.

New London's brewpub since 1996, built inside what was once a dairy bar and, before that, the Four Corners Grille dating to 1993. Twenty house beers rotate through a farm-to-table kitchen with gluten-free and vegetarian options built in rather than bolted on, and the building runs partly on solar and biomass. Open seven days, closing at 8 early in the week and 9 Thursday through Saturday.

The lake's main public beach, at the Route 103 traffic circle in Newbury, with a bathhouse, park store, and kayak and canoe rentals on-site alongside the swimming area. No lifeguards, so it's swim-at-your-own-risk even on a packed July Saturday. Adult admission runs $5, kids $2, and the lot fills by mid-morning on the good weekends — arrive before ten or plan for a wait. Pets are allowed at the campground but not on the beach itself.

A hiking route up Mount Sunapee to Lake Solitude, a small mountain pond near the summit that most summer visitors never learn exists because they only know the mountain as a ski hill. The trail runs through dense forest with real elevation change rather than a groomed ski-trail grade. Figure close to four miles round trip combined with the connecting summit trails. Bring water — there's no summer store at the top the way there is in ski season.

A short, steep mile to the summit of Mount Kearsarge from the picnic area, with a 1.75-mile loop option for the way down. The payoff is a clear view of Mount Sunapee, Ragged Mountain, and Pleasant Lake from open granite at the top — one of the better return-on-effort hikes in the region. Opens weekends only in early May, full-time from Memorial Day. Day-use runs $4 for adults, free for NH residents 65 and up.

Under half a mile, moderate grade, and it delivers one of the better views of Lake Sunapee anywhere in the region — a clearing opening south down the lake and out toward the surrounding hills. The 14-acre property was once part of a carriage-road estate; a stretch of that old road is still the trail. Open year-round on foot; the Town of New London issues gate keys for vehicle access through the town office.

A working farm stand on Main Street rather than out on some back road — pick-your-own strawberries and flowers in season, sweet corn by midsummer, and a CSA share for anyone renting long enough to use it. The nursery side sells the ornamentals; the stand side sells what's actually ripe that week. Closed Tuesdays in fall. The stop for a dinner-party centerpiece and the vegetables to go with it in one visit.

The public boat launch and transient dock system at the center of Sunapee Harbor, off Lake Avenue, with the town gazebo and its summer concerts a short walk up the hill. This is the closest launch to the harbor's restaurants and shops, which also makes it the busiest — expect a line for the ramp on a July Saturday morning. Transient dockage lets a boat tie up for a few hours while the crew eats lunch in town.

Formerly Sargent's Marina, family-run from 1948 until Goodhue Boat Company bought it in 2019 and kept the gas dock and rental fleet running under new ownership. Pontoons and surf boats make up most of the rental lineup, alongside storage, valet, and full service for owners. Open 8 to 6 daily in season at 19 Cooper Street. The gas dock here is the practical reason to launch from Georges Mills instead of the harbor on a long boating day.

A harbor-based rental operation running kayaks, canoes, pontoons, and a gas dock right where Main Street meets the water. The paddlesport fleet is the draw for a family without their own boat who want an hour on the water rather than a full-day charter. Being inside the harbor itself means a five-minute walk to lunch or ice cream between launches, which the Georges Mills marinas can't offer. Call ahead in August — the pontoon slots go first.

The public dock at the south end of the lake, across the road from Bubba's Bar & Grille, with its own gazebo hosting summer concerts alongside Sunapee Harbor's. The two-hour tie-up limit is enforced — this is a stop-in dock, not day storage — and dogs, bikes, and skateboards aren't allowed on the dock itself. The easiest lunch move in Newbury: dock here, eat at Bubba's deck across the street, move the boat before the two hours run out.

A narrated cruise around the full lake departing Sunapee Harbor, built around the story of the three inland lighthouses and the steamboat era that put them there in the 1890s. This is the version to book for a first visit — the history is specific rather than generic, down to which lighthouse ice destroyed and which one still stands on its original rock. Afternoon departures run through the summer; check the current schedule before planning a day around it.

The southernmost of the lake's three lighthouses, a white hexagonal tower at the tip of Burkehaven Island. Crushing ice destroyed the original structure in 1936; the rebuilt light stood on a failing wooden foundation for decades until the Lake Sunapee Protective Association completed a steel-foundation replacement engineered to last another sixty years. Visible from the M/V Mount Sunapee II's route and from the water near Burkehaven — there's no public dock to walk up to it.

Sixty-six trails for downhill skiing and riding in winter, on a mountain Vail Resorts bought into its portfolio alongside places like Stowe. The same terrain flips every summer to a canopy zip-line tour, downhill mountain biking, an aerial challenge course with 32 elements, disc golf, mini golf, and scenic chairlift rides — the Wild Goose Deli runs the summer food service at the base. This is the piece that makes the lake a genuine four-season rental market rather than a May-through-September one.

John Hay's summer retreat on the lake's eastern shore, 84 acres of formal gardens and lake frontage built by a man who served as personal secretary to Lincoln and later as Secretary of State. The 2026 season runs Wednesday through Sunday, June 17 through mid-September, 10 to 4, with weekend-only spring and fall hours around that. Hiking trails wind through the property beyond the formal garden rooms — worth a full afternoon, not just a quick walk-through.

One of the oldest continuously operating summer theaters in the country, staged inside a converted barn on Main Street with no seat more than 30 feet from the stage. Professional actors work alongside an apprentice company each season, which is most of the point for anyone who's followed a particular young performer's career. The 2026 season runs through its 94th year with a lineup that includes Chicago and Young Frankenstein. Air-conditioned, which matters more than it sounds on a July matinee.