Five quarters, twenty minutes apart

The civic and commercial hinge of the downtown: a compact open space where the principal streets converge under a landmark steeple.

Start here on a first visit. Almost every walk in this guide begins or ends within three minutes of this square.

Mostly level paving with granite curbing; some brick sidewalk sections are uneven. Curb cuts are present but not uniform.

A dense, low, largely residential quarter of timber-framed houses, tidal creeks and small greens south of the commercial core.

The most rewarding neighbourhood to walk slowly. Bring no agenda and take the lanes that look too narrow to be streets.

Narrow, occasionally absent sidewalks; brick and stone surfaces are uneven in places. Some lanes have no step-free route.

A small, deliberately assembled cluster of relocated historic houses on rising ground at the edge of the downtown.

The Hill is the clearest lesson in twentieth-century urban renewal anywhere in the city — read it as a document, not only as a pretty group of houses.

Sloping ground with brick paving and steps between levels; step-free routes exist but are indirect.

Former industrial and workshop blocks west of the centre, now the city's most active adaptive-reuse district.

Where the contemporary city is most visible. Go for dinner rather than for architecture history, then notice the architecture anyway.

Generally flat with modern sidewalks; some converted buildings have stepped entrances.

A genuinely working river edge — tugs, piers, warehouses and a fast tidal current — rather than a leisure harbourfront.

The Piscataqua is a strong tidal river. The waterfront is at its best an hour before sunset with the current running.

Waterfront parks have paved paths; some older wharf areas are cobbled and uneven.