More than a century ago, Bethlehem was as populous as North Conway to the south, and home to numerous resort hotels, summer retreats, and even its own semiprofessional baseball team. (Joseph Kennedy, patriarch of the Kennedy clan, once played for the team.) Bethlehem subsequently lost the race for the riches (or won, depending on your view of outlet shopping), and today is again a sleepy town high on a hillside.

Once famed for its lack of ragweed and pollen, Bethlehem teemed with vacationers seeking respite from the ravages of hay fever in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. When antihistamines and air-conditioning appeared on the scene, the sufferers stayed home. Empty resorts burned down one by one until the 1920s, when Hasidim from New York City discovered Bethlehem. They soon arrived in number to spend summers in the remaining boardinghouses. Indeed, that tradition has endured; it's not uncommon to see resplendently bearded men in black walking village streets or rocking on the porches of Victorian-era homes.

Nearby Littleton, set in a valley along the Ammonoosuc River, is the area's commercial hub, but it still has plenty of small-town charm. The long main street has an eclectic selection of shops -- you can buy a wrench, a foreign magazine or literary novel, locally brewed beer, pizza, whole foods, or camping supplies.

Neither town offers much in the way of must-see attractions, but both have good lodging, decent restaurants, and pleasing environs. Either town is an economical alternative for travelers seeking to avoid the commercial tourist bustle to the south. Note that some visitors find Bethlehem melancholy and full of unpolished charm; others find it a bit eerie and prefer to push on.