Bar Harbor/Acadia NP

Old May 31st, 2016, 10:26 AM
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Bar Harbor/Acadia NP

Me husband and I would like to visit Acadia NP in early September and right now are looking at staying in Bar Harbor. Or should we stay somewhere else? Any hotel and restaurant recommendations? Favorite hikes? We mainly want to spend most of our time outdoors, enjoy the scenery and some good meals. Thanks for any suggestions.
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Old May 31st, 2016, 10:46 AM
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How long are you planning to spend there?

We stayed a week in September of 2013 (a really nice time to go) and stayed here: https://www.vrbo.com/119223ha#
We like having more space, especially for longer stays. It was about 15 minutes outside of Bar Harbor. We loved it; it remains one of my favorite rentals.

We brought bikes to ride on the Parks's carriage roads (you can also rent them in Bar Harbor), went on a sea kayaking tour (a real highlight of our travels), and rented kayaks another day at Long Pond. We went on various hikes, too, but I enjoyed the time we spent on the water and cycling a bit more if memory serves. Bring sturdy hiking shoes and hiking poles if you have them. I'm an active hiker, but I found the granite surface of many of the hikes to be particularly hard on my knees.

We didn't eat out a lot during our stay, but we enjoyed the Side Street Café enough to eat there twice. We had a nice meal, too, at McKays.
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Old May 31st, 2016, 10:50 AM
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Anywhere on Mount Desert Island is fine for lodging.

Where exactly comes down to what you most value: stay in/near Bar Harbor if you want to have the most dinner choices with the least driving, or stay elsewhere if you want to be away from things/people as much as possible.
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Old Jun 1st, 2016, 08:12 AM
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Thanks indyhiker for the suggestions. That house is really cute! We will only have three nights and it sounds like we will be busy. Hope the weather is good for kayaking. I didn't think about hiking on granite so that is good to know.

Elberko, your advice is definitely something to think about. While I'd prefer to be away from people, I do like being able to walk to a restaurant for dinner after an active day, so that would probably be my preference. Thank you!
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Old Jun 1st, 2016, 09:00 AM
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I prefer to stay closer to BH, too. The small, windy roads on the Island are DARK at night, and fog isn't unknown.

Acadia has lots of day-trippers, so I usually don't find it that crowded except at mid-day, and lots of people never get off the loop road, so trails are usually not over-crowded, either.
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Old Jun 1st, 2016, 03:43 PM
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Thanks Elberko. Do you have any lodging recommendations? We usually like to get out early so I'm glad we should miss the crowds.
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Old Jun 1st, 2016, 04:32 PM
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I'm really only familiar with the place I've stayed for years, which is really rustic and dog-friendly. Not for everybody:

http://www.hutchinscottages.com
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Old Jun 2nd, 2016, 11:02 AM
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Thanks again Elberko. It looks like a very peaceful place to stay!
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