lodging vs. attractions
 

all. We are coming up june 28th - july 5th next year. we stayed once on gov's island but a big expensive. we have a boat, 4 kids( older). we are thinking meridith, alton,etc. staying on west side of lake for no reason except more things to do. Weirs doesn't have much, but kids like funspot, drive in, golf ,etc. Also, it is a close drive into town ( homedepot, shopping,etc). my boat had issues last time and its nice to have places close. My question is how populated is it on the east side of the lake.? Will there big long drives to things we might need? thanks for any information. - Jim

No offense to folks on the East side but if you've got little kids and want to do day/road trips the West side is best. I live in Gilford so maybe I'm biased but we vacationed up here for 25 years before moving here. We always stayed on the West side. Again, no offense meant to anyone as I love this whole lake....East and West!

Not going to be a lot of help here but...
 

From our prospective, living in Alton Bay, if you stay on the Merideth to Weirs to Alton side of the lake, you are close to Funspot and all things from the lakes and south, including to Manchester to catch a FisherCats baseball game.

If you live Merideth to Center Harbor to Wolfeboro, you are closer to the mountains, North Conway, and all that the North Country offers.

If you live in the more populated side Laconia Gilford, you will be close to shopping, but also more traffic and congestion, with less on the other side of the lake.

Bottom line, take a look at what you and your family want to do with your time, in good weather and in bad weather. And remember, that you can go around the lake in a little over an hour, so one side is not really all that remote from the other.

Hope you find a great place for your family to stay, and that when you get up here, everyone has a really great time. Enjoy the area and all it has to offer.

West is best....it even rhymes!

R2B:)

We have folks who stay and have an enjoyable drive to North Conway for shopping and/or Storyland for the kids. Funspot and the Weirs are an easy drive; both Meredith and Wolfeboro are easily accessible by boat; and Castle in the Clouds is right around the corner.

We are also close to several marinas.

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p347116

Maybe, but from my perspective the east side of the lake is more quaint and it is pretty close to the way things were in the seventies when I started coming up. I agree that the west side has lots of stuff to do but so doesn't Boston and that is what I am trying to escape when I visit. The bottom line is that if all the folks on the west side of the lake liked it best on the east side it would be like the west side and I'd be upset!

I was sort of joking.

Although there are more things to do and places to shop on the west side, we are currently getting our place somewhat close to the Weirs ready for the market. We are older and if we were to buy again on the lake, it would be on the east side. I like the east side life style much better, although walking over to the Weirs in the summer and fall will be missed.

As for vacation, I suggest people try different locations on the lake. There is so much to see and do all over the lake. Great vacation destination.

R2B

where are you heading after you sell?

Not really sure.

We have two thoughts. One is the Wolfeboro area, non-water front, but with a lake view. The second is a snowbird home in Florida, Sarasota area. Again, not on the water and away from a hurricane flood zone.

We would likely build new if we go with the Florida idea. In either case, we now boat in the ocean during the summer here and would have a second boat during the winter in Florida. Plenty of marinas and boating clubs down there, so waterfront is not a requirement.

I have been retired for almost nine years, so we want to change it up a bit.

R2B

Sounds like a couple of nice options. Good luck with your sale and purchase.