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Reservations



Travel by Bus

The Concord Coach bus at its previous bus stop, the public parking lot in Meredith at the corner of Rt 3 and Rt 25.

The CHEAPEST way to get to Weirs Beach is to come by bus. From South Station, in Boston, MA, take the Concord Coach bus to Meredith. The bus stop in Meredith is at the Irving Circle K on Route 25. The one-way price from Boston is $25. Call (603) 228-3300 or 800-639-3317 for more information.

The usual schedule includes the following trips:

Boston departure/Meredith arrival
10:00 AM/12:25 PM
4:15 PM /6:35 PM

Meredith departure/Boston arrival
9:45 AM/12:20 PM<
3:50 PM /6:20 PM

Once you arrive in Meredith, unfortunately, there is no public transportation available in the area. Unless your friends or family will be meeting you at the bus stop, you will need to arrange private transport (taxi or ride-hailing service) to take you the 5 miles from Meredith to Weirs Beach.

HISTORY OF BUS SERVICE TO WEIRS BEACH

The bus to Laconia waiting for passengers.
A bus parked in front of the Half Moon Restaurant, which served as the bus depot for Weirs Beach for about 40 years. Sid Ames told the webmaster the following story: The buses used to stop in Weirs Beach for a half an hour. We would always feed the bus driver last, so the customers wouldn’t get nervous…
Graphic from 1937 summer B&M bus schedule.
Buses gradually took over from trains as the means of public transportation from Boston to Weirs Beach. Bus service from Boston to Weirs Beach began around 1940 with B&M service and continued until around 1980, when the Concord Trailways bus from Boston still stopped in Laconia, but began bypassing Weirs Beach on its way to its next stop in Meredith. Eventually, in the late 1990’s, even bus service to Laconia was discontinued. The bus from Boston now bypasses Laconia between Concord and Meredith, stopping only right off the highway, in Tilton and New Hampton.

Locally, the new Laconia Street Railway Company was created in 1926 to replace its former namesake, which had operated electric trolleys from 1899-1925 until it went bankrupt and the trolley tracks were torn up. The new company operated local bus service to Laconia, Lakeport, and to the Weirs until 1938, when it was split in two. The Laconia Street Railway offered charters, while the Laconia Transit Company continued the local service. In 1955 the Laconia Transit Company was sold to the Laconia Bus Company, but the new company lasted only two more years. The Laconia Street Railway resumed the local service from 1958-1959, when it also folded. This was the end of regular, year-round local bus service to Weirs Beach.

Summer-only service to Weirs Beach resumed with Guyer’s Bus Service from 1960-1980 and Lakes Region Transit from 1980-1992. After a gap of a few years, the Greater Laconia Transit Agency (GLTA) started a summer service to Weirs Beach in 1996 with a replica trolley, a mini bus that looked like one of the old electric trolleys, but the service only lasted a few years. Then, a commercial service started up with a similar replica, but it also only lasted a few years. Since then, there has been no local summer service to Weirs Beach. The successor to the GLTA, the Winnipesaukee Transit Service, ceased operations in 2017. There is currently no transport agency in Laconia.

The GLTA replica trolley, known colloquially as the “Glitter Bug”.

A similar trolley to the GLTA vehicle, “Molly the Trolley”, was operated commercially for several years.

In 1939, whether you came to Weirs Beach by Rail, Air, or Bus, you would have traveled with the Boston and Maine!

Cover of the 1962 bus schedule to Weirs Beach.

The 1962 bus schedule.

Back cover of the 1962 schedule. Note the Weirs Beach office was still described as being at the Half Moon “Tea Room” even though it was called the Half Moon Restaurant since the late 1940s.