My husband and I (and our 6 month old) will be renting a house in the Bar Harbor area the week of the 4th of July, and I'm not sure on what part of the island would be the best to stay.

I've considered staying in downtown, to have easy walking access to restaurants, but also want some privacy and quiet.

We'll definitely be doing a lot of biking and hiking, so being close to the park is appealing. I'd prefer not to have to drive into downtown for dinner and would be happy to take the bus - but I'm not sure of how long it takes to get around the island (i.e. from Southwest Harbor to downtown)

Any advice would be most appreciated!

i have been searching out places to stay and i suggest you go to cyberrentals.com, vrbo.com or greatrentals.com

search the bar harbor listings - also have a map of maine on your lap to see if staying a bit away from bar harbor in anohter town with cute shops works for you, like southwest harbor....

there are quite a few that may fit your agenda.

I'm reading your post and I think you are saying you haven't rented a place yet for the 4th of July. There may not be anything decent left.

This is the site I used for my trip last year, but I booked in February. http://www.barharborinfo.com/

I would stay in town.

Here are some places we've used to find summer rentals:

Coastal Cottage
http://vacationcottages.com/

The Davis Agency
http://www.daagy.com/

The Knowles Company
http://www.knowlesco.com/content/Hom...build-homepage

Maine Vacations
http://www.mainevacation.com/

One plus to renting a house, of course, is not having to rely on restaurants. From Southwest Harbor to Bar Harbor would be about a 40-minute drive, but Southwest Harbor has its own downtown with restaurants, takeout, lobster pound and Sawyer's grocery store. Outside of Somesville there's Beech Hill Farm which has a very neat farm stand that's open from 8 to 5 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. And Bar Harbor has no shortage of places to eat or be entertained or, in the case of Reel Pizza, you can do both!

Southwest Harbor is probably a better place for you to stay...Bar Harbor is a zoo that weekend...biking will be impossible. Asticou Inn has a couple of apt/cabins outside of the main inn.

Thanks everyone -- there's actually quite a few houses left to choose from. I'm just trying to figure out if we should stay "downtown", in Hull's Cove, Southwest Harbor, etc.