lifeandmylens

Hi all!

We would like to go on a rather last minute trip to Maine the first week of October for 4 nights to see the fall foliage and find some beautiful places to explore. Any recommendations on specific locations? Will be flying from Chicago.

Thanks!
Shawn

Calabria62

Are you flying in to Portland? Four days isn't a lot of time, but if you fly into Portland, you spend a day in Portland, maybe visit one of the islands off Portland (Peaks Island is only a 15 min. boat ride). Day two you could visit Kennebunkport, and Ogunquit and York, all lovely seaside towns. If you wish, you can do an easy hike up Mt. Agamenticus in York. Walking the Marginal Way is a must in Ogunquit. Fab beaches. Day 3 you could go further north to visit Boothbay Harbor, and if so.....visit the the Coastal Botanical Gardens, and Rockport, Camden. If you need a mountain hike, you can hike up Mt. Battie in Camden, it's about an hour up, with lovely views. Day 4.....go west to the mountains.

OR: head right to Acadia National Park, about 2.5-3 hrs from Portland. Visit the Park for 4 days....you won't be sorry....plenty of hikes, and fab scenery.

Or: you could just head west to the mountains for your 4 days.

lifeandmylens

Thanks so much!! Great info!!

Ackislander

First night: Would also fly into Portland and spend the night there.

Second and third nights: North through midcoast (Freeport, Brunswick, Harpswell, Bath, Wiscasset, Boothbay, Rockland, Camden.

Fourth night: Bethel, return to Portland via Pinkham Notch (Mt. Washington and White Mountains) and Conway.

The "highland" route will have or should have more color than along the coast.

All these places have charm and/or interesting sites.

lifeandmylens

Ackislander, thanks so much! I just plotted those on a map, sounds like a great loop!

StacyB

That may be peak time for foliage, so make sure you have reservations or a lot of flexibility in lodging choices. I would choose Acadia. Lived in the area for 10 years.
Enjoy your trip!

dfrostnh

Good advice from Ackislander. Camden is considered by Yankee Magazine to be one of the prettiest and best foliage sites in Maine. Although Acadia is wonderful, I think it is too far north for your limited time. Somehow, on our many trips to Maine we usually missed Rockport. It's north of Rockland but you'll have to make a slight detour to see the pretty little harbor. Make sure to take the auto road up Mt Battie just north of Camden. My most favorite view of a harbor.

Portland is a great foodie city with a fascinating Old Port Area but if you'd like some quiet time to look out on Casco Bay, visit Fort Williams park in South Portland or the Eastern Promenade on the north side of the city.

lifeandmylens

Thanks all, this is so helpful! I am going to work on lodging now. Where would you suggest each night to be? Something like

1) Portland
2) Bath
3) Camden
4) Bethel

StacyB

Love the Whitehall Inn in Camden. Stayed there for our first anniversary in a *ahem* less expensive room. About 30 years later went again and we were able to afford the main inn! It was wonderful and historic.

lifeandmylens

Thans Stacy, I'll check it out!

Additionally, I've looked into flights and Portland is 3x the cost of Boston. For the little time we already have in New England, would it be worth it to pay the extra instead of driving to/from BOS?

dfrostnh

NO, don't pay extra. I would however flip the route around and head north via I93 from Boston. I think it is more fun to see the scenery open up before you. It's not bad once you get to NH but starts to get interesting north of Manchester. As long as you have daylight and decent weather keep heading north. You can stay anywhere along I93 and then take an easterly route to Conway/North Conway and from there it's only about an hour to Portland ME. If you got off at exit 23 for example, you could stay in Meredith with a view of Lake Winnipesaukee. But you do want to continue north on I93 to see more of the mountains.

But check flights into MHT - Manchester NH. At one time they were cheapest but for past couple of years Boston has been cheaper from some places. If you go MHT, ignore mapquest or googlemaps to take Rt 101 to the seacoast. Head up to Concord and take Rt 4 to Rt 16. It connects with I95 at Portsmouth traffic circle and then north to Portland if you decide to do Portland first.

I would stay two nights in once place. Camden is upscale and pricey but beautiful. Bath is a wonderful blue collar town with a downtown Reny's and the Bath Iron Works. We've been staying in seasonal cottages so no good suggestions. Brunswick just south of Bath is a college town. Not on the water but lots of hotel choices.

lifeandmylens

Thanks dfrostnh! Manchester is also $$$$.

Hi all,

Just another update. So we decided it's not worth it to spend the money for Portland so we'll be doing a little more driving. For the plan is:

Day 1) BOS to Salem, then Rockport

Day 2) Drive to Portland

Day 3) Up the coast to Camden

Day 4) Over to Mt Washington....stay where? Bethel? What to see?

Day 5) Drive back to BOS for flight

Any recommendations/changes?

dfrostnh

It's about 3 1/2 hours from Camden to Mt. Washington no matter which route you take. When you drive into North Conway from the south, you get a really nice view of the mountain as you drive down main street but that would be the route that doesn't go thru Bethel.

The bad news is a lot of tourists go to North Conway. On a good non-traffic day it is possible to drive from I93 over the Kancamagus Highway to Conway, south on Rt 16 then west thru Tamworth and Center Sandwich and then Meredith to I93 South to Boston. The Kanc is heavily forested and thru the mountains. The southerly route is at a lower elevation and past homes and thru small towns. Center Sandwich is considered one of the prettiest small towns in NH. The other bad news is there is a country fair running Columbus Day weekend so traffic in that area might be heavy. It's not a big fair. I like the scenery at this lower elevation with mountains in the background. Meredith is a beautiful town on Lake Winnipesaukee and will also probably be congested to get thru town.

So, if you are up early and get to Mt. Washington area by lunch time, you can probably spend the afternoon doing the east/west loop unless traffic is really bad. Going north on I93 in Meredith will take you back up to Mt. Washington area and goes right thru the mountains. If it's a weekend, southerly traffic is going to be extremely heavy in the late afternoon. It was pretty heavy yesterday afternoon since weather was great and people are probably still boating on Lake Winnipesaukee. Just keep it in mind to make sure you allow plenty of time to get to Boston.

lifeandmylens

Thank you very much!

I've extended the trip to 5 nights, but the first would be in Boston since the flight arrives at night. I'm not opposed to reversing the route if it'd be better. Which route would you suggest and where would you recommend to stay near the mountains?

lifeandmylens

One more possibility would be flying into Portland and out of Bangor or vice versa (I found availability with miles).

dfrostnh

If you reverse the route, which would be my preference, you could get up early and head north out of Boston via I93. Scenery starts to look extra nice by the time you get north of Manchester NH and looks nicer and nicer as you get closer to the mountains. You need to be in the Mt Washington area first for best chance of good color since it will peak there first.
Sorry, the mountains are a day trip for us and we tend to do air b&b and the mountains aren't my favorite area.

My choice for a trip finale would be Portsmouth NH and an inland rivers cruise.

We love Maine's mid-coast area so flying into Portland and out of Bangor might be a terrific idea but in that case head to Conway area which is about an hour from Portland and then to Mt. Washington. The northern route east thru Bethel I think is the one that goes past Sunday River ski area. Nice rural drive to Bangor and Camden area but I think Boston works better for your trip.