Drive from DC to Bar Harbor Maine???
 

Looking for some feedback from folks who have possibility made the drive from DC to Bar Harbor Maine. My wife and I are thinking of making the drive the week of 20 Sept, maybe overnighting in New Haven, then Boston, then on to Bar Harbor for a couple of nights then back down to DC. I’m looking at 6 days and no real place to be other than Bar Harbor. We were going to fly to Portland and rent a car from there but since we’ve never been thru CT, MA or ME we’re thinking of just driving and taking in the coast. Any thoughts? Thanks

If you don't have GPS for your car, now would be a great time to purchase one. We love our Garmin NUVI!

EZ Pass is also a great thing to have.

Depending on the time of day you'll be driving through New York, crossing the George Washington Bridge, then I-87 to Cross County Parkway to Hutchinson River Parkway to Route 15 to I-91 (around North Haven) to I-84 is a much prettier drive than going I-95.

"The Coast" between New York and New Haven isn't that attractive, and farther east would be somewhat out of your way going to Maine.

We often drive from Southern NH to Baltimore or DC and back, and it's a rather boring trip scenery-wise most of the way.

If it were me, I'd fly, rent a car, and enjoy the Coast of Maine, which will be beautiful that time of year, and much quieter without the summer folk and tourists.

There are some beautiful coastal towns between Portland and Bar Harbor - Boothbay Harbor, Rockport, Camden...and lots of wonderful lighthouses you can drive right up to for terrific scenery and photo ops.

All in all, with only 6 days, your driving time is probably better spent along the gorgeous coast of Maine.

thanks for the comments, we're changing the plan..just made reservations now we're flying to Portland and renting a car. That does seem like the best way to see the area. Any suggestions other than our (wife's) mandatory Bar Harbor location? Thanks

We need some idea of how you like to spend your days before we can suggest anything. Are you planning on doing any hiking, kayaking, etc? Shopping? Driving tours?

~Liz

liz,
I'm open for anything, we do plan on hiking, biking at the park in Bar Harbor. Shopping? I did mention the wife right ;)
it's our first trip to Maine so we're open to anything, both of us are pretty active so anything from skydiving to shuffleboard. Driving tours, probably not so much as I like to do the driving myself. We're really looking for some exercise, sightseeing, relaxing, good food, the "romantic" hotel/B&B for the wife, etc. Pretty vauge/general requirements uh?

Also look into flying into Manchester NH. Sometimes cheaper than Portland and still avoids the boring part of the trip. Acadia is an awesome National Park. go to www.nps.gov and click on it for ideas on hikes, accommodations, etc. There are lots of places along the coast that are beautiful if you get of the turnpike and drive, although you will find there are lots of little fingers out to the coast that will add lots of time to your trip.

Have a great time.

I just spent last week doing the same trip = we drove- its about 12hours driving time, there's construction on several routes - you'll be very glad you decided to forego the pleasure of the drive!!

Do NOT miss Portland Head - its terrific! Majestic lighthouse, rocky shore, nice park - bring a picnic lunch -tthere's plenty of places to enjoy a picnic. If yur very hardy, there's even a sandy cove for swimming!

We were staying in a timeshare near Acadia (Ellsworth). So most of our sojourns were in that area. We did drive up to Campobello Island (about 2 hours from Bar Harbor area.) If you're a FDR/history fan its worth seeing. Nearby there's a nice park and a nice lighthuse at West Quoddy near Lubec.

At Acadia, avoid the loop road on saturady-monday. Use those days for other destinations like Seawall (another nice picnic area), Southwest Harbor, and Bass Harbor. Another choice is the Schoodic Peninsula - practically have it to yourself when the loop road is bumper to bumper!

some of my photos are here:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/574353390UIBqvg

As long as you are in the Bar Harbor and Acadia area, do day trips from there to Ellsworth (fun for shopping), Castine and Stonington (small harbor,historical fishing towns, still with working harbors), Brooksville-Blue Hill-Cape Rosier-Holbrooke Island Wildlife Sanctuary (hiking, old-time Maine vacation delights, picnics and fresh, fresh seafood stands).

thanks for all the feedback.
anyone have experience with some of the hotels, B&B's and restaurants in Bar Harbor? Like the Bayview hotel and it's Reading Room restaurant? Bass Cottage Inn, Balance Rock Inn, Saltair Inn, Kingsleigh Inn, etc.?

one more request: we're departing the afternoon of the 25th out of Portland so we'll stay the night of the 24th either in Portland or close by, any suggestions?

Can't help you with Bar Harbor since we stayed in a timeshare unit, but in Portland I highly recommend The Chadwick Inn. Others share my opinion if you look at B&Bs in Portland on TripAdvisor.com
http://www.thechadwick.com/

We just returned from Bar Harbor and stayed at the Bar Harbor Inn - right on the harbor. It was lovely - a bit pricey but most every B & B was quite pricey and the first B&B we stopped at was a bit downtrodden and the second (Ledgelawn Inn) was waaayyy too musty. Maybe it's me but I seem to develop an allergic cough in many of the old inns.

Bar Harbor Inn was great - ate there and also at an Italian restaurant Momma something about two blocks away on a side street and the food was excellent.

Have a great time - we did!!

There are several options in Freeport, about 20 min north of Portland and you could check out LLBean and the outlets while there if you're interested. I don't have any personal experience with accommodations there. The Harraseeket Inn is lovely, and pricey. Not really a B&B, but a larger inn. There are several chain hotels there too. Do a google search for Freeport accommodations.

i am going next week to bar harbor and i am staying at the bass cottage inn. i will update you. it looks amazing and better than all of the other places on the island. once i do my whole itinerary, i will also let you know what i liked and didnt like. i am a crazy planner! my boyfriend and i are starting in ny, driving through the berkshires and green mountains to burlington, and then through the white mountains to ogunquit/kennebunkport, camden, bar harbor, and then back down again to providence.

Michelle,
EXCELLENT! I have been looking at the Bass Cottage Inn also, and we're thinking of Ogunquit and Camden as well. I'm very interested in your feedback. Have a great trip
craig

We're heading to Bar Harbor this weekend (from Rockland, Maine)and spending the night at the Bar Harbor Regency. The drive from Portland to Bar Harbor is beautiful and relaxing. You just follow Rt. 1 all the way to Bar Harbor (a two-lane road). It will take you through Freeport (LL Bean and ALL the top outlets!) if you want to get off there for awhile. Rockland is about an hour up the coast from there and was just voted one of the hippest little towns in Maine. Rt. 1 takes you right through the historic downtown area with all its restaurants, shops, galleries, windjammers and Wyeth Art Museum. Definitely worth a walk through. Rockport and Camden are just up the road on Rt. 1 and another popular place to stop and look around and take pictures. Bar Harbor is about an hour and a half above Rockland--a beautiful drive along Penobscot Bay. You will want to be sure you don't miss Acadia National Park. It's a great place to hike or ride bikes, but you can also drive around in there. Enjoy Maine!

I think I have narrowed down where we will be staying in BH, the Bass Cottage or the Saltair Inn.

Anyone have experience with either? They both look nice from the websites and are reccomended on Tripadvisor , about the same cost per night, etc.

Also, we're staying at the Berry Manor Inn in Rockland on the way to BH. Any info on that one?

Add Whale watching to your list of things to do in Bar Harbor. And definitely rent bikes as the carriage trails do not allow cars. Acadia is absolutely beautiful. It's the first place I visited in Maine and fell in love with the beauty of this state - so much so, I moved here three years later and it's been 10 years now and I am still in love with it!

Enjoy!!

I have to chuckle reading back at these posts and the one about the GPS. I recently purchases and iPhone with gps capability. It is great, but here in Maine there are quite a few black holes for connectivity. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but if your driving around Maine the best tool is the DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer. The company is located just off the highway, on Route 1, almost right on the Yarmouth/Freeport town line. You can't miss it as they have the largest rotating globe in the world (?) in a big window in the front of the building. Its cool to visit and if you're into maps, etc. the store is fun.

We stayed at the Inn at Southwest Harbor which we loved, if you haven't already made your reservations. Definitely have lobster at Thurston's Lobster pounnd, in Bernard (I think). Take the windjammer cruise out of Bar Harbor.

If you have time, drive through Brunswick, Maine and go to Harpswell Peninsula, Bailey's and Orr's Island for some GORGEOUS coastal scenery. I recommend any of the Estes restaurants for seafood!!!

If you like art, definitely go to the Wyeth Museum. You are smart for deciding to fly into Portland. We stayed at a Holiday Inn there, and also the Pomegranat B&B, which I highly recommend.

I haven't stayed at the Berry Manor Inn but we have freinds that stayed there last year and they raved about it. Aside from lovely rooms, they had fresh pie available just about whenever u wanted it. In Portland we have stayed at Morrill Mansion which is a nice B&B.

OK here's the plan:
day 1, Rockland at the Berry Manor
day 2&3, Bar Harbor at the Saltair Inn
day 4, gonna wing it (maybe Bass Cottage or head to Boothbay)
day 5, Portland, Residence Inn Waterfront
day 6, depart back to Va
now I just need to nail down where we're gonna eat some lobster..

Great itinerary!
I vote for Thurston's Lobster Pound for lobster!!!

leaving tomorrow am, any last minute advice..food (LOBSTER)/pubs/bars/activities/etc..bring it on
thanks

I envy you - You'll have a fantastic time!

We bought our fresh lobster at CH Rich, 49 Shore Rd
Bass Harbor, ME 04653
(207) 244-3485

well we're back. a bit of a let down for me, but the wife like it. the BnB's we stayed at were nice but not my cup of tea (staying in somebody elses house for 300+ per night is a no-go in my book). the lobster was not cheap by any stretch. bar harbour is very much a tourist town. i actually like portland better than bar harbor. the Residence Inn Waterfront in portland was the best room we had (king bed, kitchenette, living room, newly updated). i had lobster every day and was disappointed, too expensive, small/medium soft shell, etc. the best of the lot for the whole lobster was at thurstons the best lobster roll bang for the buck was at red's. all in all it was just ok, next year we're north or south carolina beach bound..the maine box has been checked

"...staying in somebody elses house for 300+ per night is a no-go in my book..."

Sorry to hear that. I have to wonder where on earth you stayed!? We love B&B's and have stayed in MANY of them, all over the U.S., including many in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, and we have NEVER paid anywhere near $300/night at any of them!

Even the Albemarle, in Asheville, NC, a top notch place, was far less than that (under $200), even in season there!

You must have hit the "tourist trap" places, which is unfortunate. Did you try any of the towns between Bar Harbor and Portland?

I'm also sorry to hear about the lobster prices, since actual prices lobster men can get are very LOW this year due to an overabundance of them vs what they can get for them. Trouble is, as I posted after our trip, in August, the restaurants are generally paying maybe $2.50 or so a pound and then often charging tourists $19.95 (in many cases) for a 1-1/4 lb lobster dinner!

I don't know what to tell you, but we're sorry you were unhappy.

cindyj:

"I have to chuckle reading back at these posts and the one about the GPS. I recently purchases and iPhone with gps capability. It is great, but here in Maine there are quite a few black holes for connectivity. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but if your driving around Maine the best tool is the DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer."

I chuckle, too, at the GPS "magic" up here! We don't even own one and wouldn't want one, for that matter, since they CAN mislead you! (A relative once chose to ignore my careful, step-by-step directions to visit us, heeded his GPS instead, and wound up taking a road near here that is NOT even a ROAD in the middle! It LOOKS like a road, and his GPS foolishly somehow told him to take it, instead of following our straightforward directions, but it literally ENDED and became a TRAIL in the middle, as we could have told him, so he had to back up over a mile to get out of there!)

We've never used anything but official highway maps to get around up here. Within a city, I suppose a GPS might help. I can't comment, since we usually abhor cities and try to avoid them, anyway, except to take interstates through them!

Sorry u were disappointed in your trip, but glad your wife enjoyed herself. I guess I am puzzled why u specifically asked for "the "romantic" hotel/B&B for the wife..." since it sounds like B&B's may not be 4 u.
Not sure how u ended up paying so much at B&B's. U must have had the more expensive rooms at the Berry Manor Inn since I know they have rates way lower than $300 for some of their rooms. The Marriott Residence Inn in Portland is nice, but a chain hotel and totally different than a B&B.

Portland is a great city and very different than Bar Harbor which I agree can be clogged with tourists, but Acadia Park is wonderful I think.

Love Thurston's and Reds, but u apparently missed lots of the other really good lobster pounds which is too bad.

Hope your trip in the South works out better 4 u.