7 Reasons You Need to Own a Moped in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Editor's note: This article was written by a Townsquare Media Northern New England contributor and may contain the individual's views, opinions or personal experiences.

Biased post coming at ya from a proud moped owner!

Having a moped just makes sense in some locations. To that point, it also makes no sense to own a moped in other locations. For example, there is probably no point in owning a moped in many parts of northern New Hampshire.

Dover, NH. Keene, NH. Ogunquit, ME. Newburyport, MA. Those are all great moped towns, but the best place to own a moped, without a doubt, is Portsmouth, NH. There are a variety of reasons to own a moped if you live in or close to Portsmouth.

1. Free Parking.

Hands down, this is the greatest perk of owning a moped in Portsmouth. Paid parking, anywhere, is frustrating. I mean, everyone HATES getting out of the car, going to a kiosk, forgetting your license plate number, returning back to the car to remember six letters and numbers, then going back to wait in a kiosk line to pay $2 an hour.

FORGET that, because moped parking in Portsmouth is free.

2. Parking Close to Your Destination.

Hands down, this is the second best perk of owning a moped in Portsmouth. Mopeds are not required to park in real parking spots. WHAT?! Really?! Yes. You can drive, pull right up to, and park on the sidewalk next to your favorite bar, coffee shop, or store downtown. Forget the parking garages and parallel parking.

3. Fun.

Downtown Portsmouth is fun. There is always stuff going on, people to see, street performers, etc. Instead of walking around trying to find the entertainment downtown, driving is a much better option.

4. Driving on the Coast and Nearby Towns.

Another benefit is driving on the coast. It is beautiful. On a hot day, jump on your scooter and rip down 1A. Drive through Ordiorne State Park and through Rye. You can also take it across the bridge to Kittery. You can take it on Rt 18 to New Castle. The coastal opportunities are endless.

5. Great on Gas.

I do not need to tell you that gas is expensive, right? Right. You know that. It is painfully expensive. Your car is probably getting 20-30 miles per gallon. A moped? Guess.

Try about 100. That is five times what your car gets. If you are not driving your moped, and you can based on weather and location proximity, you are wasting gas.

6. Driving Distance.

Portsmouth, NH, has about 16 square miles of land. That is it. It is not an overly large city by any means. That means, for the most part, everything is reachable by way of moped. I do not take a car unless I need to.

7. Service Nearby.

I am not the only one saying that Portsmouth and surrounding cities are the best places to own a moped. There are 3 stores all very close to the area that sell and service scooters: EZ Scooters in Exeter, Port City Mopeds in Portsmouth, and Seacoast Scooters in North Hampton.

If you have an issue, you have service in close proximity.

BONUS #8: You Can Drive With Your Pet!

This is my fam (minus one of our dogs). Me, Miko, Missy, all on the moped and headed downtown!

Miko loves moped rides more than I do!