First Trip to Maine - Help!
 

Hi all,

We are planning a trip to Maine this summer - we'll have about a week there.

What we want to do - the "typical" Maine stuff. Eat lobster, take a whale watching cruise, eat lobster, shop in some quaint local stores, eat lobster, and relax. :)

First - should we fly into Portland or Bangor? We're open to either.

Second - where should we go?! I'm most interested in staying in the quaint coastal towns. We love towns we can stay in and walk around without having to be in the car the whole time.

Third - we are open to when we go...either July or August. Would one of those months be better than the other for some reason? We love cool weather and even though it will be summer we hope for some cooler weather than what we will be having in the Southeast that time of year!

thanks for your help fodorites!

My suggestion would be to stay in Bar Harbor. The great and only National Park in New England is there :Acadia national park.We stayed there in 2004 and had a wonderful time in September. Great whale watching and lots of lobster.Paul

Acadia and Bar Harbor are lovely, but far away from most everything else. Well, Camden is a charming, walkable town, and that's pretty far north, too, so you could combine those two, if you wanted.

Since you don't specifically mention beaches or hiking, but seem to enjoy shopping and dining, I'd suggest staying further south. I would definitely fly into Portland and spend most of my time in either Kennebunkport or Ogunquit, and a couple nights in Portland.

I am from the area, and I like July the best for summer tourism. Believe it or not, mid-August can start to cool a bit (we have such short summers), and some of the summer residents start home (a lot of Texans) for early school openings. I also like the "Americana" feel of early summer with all the patriotic events. If the climate is normal, it will definitely be cooler than what you'd have in the Southeast; most homes don't even have A/C on coastal Maine. And of course, if you do take a whale watch or any kind of harbor cruise, be sure to bring along sweatshirts and/or windbreakers.

What is your age range? What is you budget? That will help you get more accurate advice.

Have fun planning!

Great advice!

To answer your questions...
We are in our 30's. As for budget, this isn't our "big" vacation of the year so we don't want to spend a ton of money...for hotel or B&B we'd prefer around $150 or less per night. Something nice, very close or on the water would be great.

If you have restaurant recommendations (nothing fancy, just casual good food) and/or whale watch company recommendations that would be appreciated!

I'd check on flying INTO Portland and OUT OF Bangor with one-way car rental if it's affordable. I'd also book soon because you aren't going to find anything for $150 near the water if you wait, unless you can go in September.

Look at Ogunquit, Cape Elizabeth, Boothbay Harbor, Camden, Belfast and Bar Harbor.

I'd skip Bangor, unless you're planning on doing some things in northern Maine.

Also, I think July will be better weather than August. (Plus the days are longer, which is nice.)

The coastal towns are very crowded in the summer, so be patient and plan on traffic and crowded restaurants.

If you want to shop go to Freeport.

the farther north, like Camden, the prettier.
And Bangor is not worth any special time.

If you're going to go to Boothbay Harbor, drive up further to New Harbor and Damariscotta - they are very pretty coastal towns. This would be a short detour on the way to Camden. There is an excavation site in Damariscotta that is very interesting. In New Harbor, go up to the Point to see the lighthouse, pilot whales and seals (it's a great place for a picnic), and there's a wonderful inn there for an overnight stay right there. You can also drive by the summer home (it's an enormous log cabin and compound) that I believe was owned by the Kresge family. You can also stop by Shaw's for dinner in the cove and see the lobstermen unload their traps. If you're familiar with the movie "Time In a Bottle" starring Kevin Costner, Paul Newman, and Robin Wright-Penn, some of the scenes were filmed right there. Also, right in the center of New Harbor is a wonderful ice cream stand with homemade ice cream, a cute general store, and some boutique shops.

Realize that the Maine coast, if you stretched it out, is longer than California's - so there's a lot of territory to consider. The southernmost area (York to Keenebunkport) is where you want to go if you like wide sandy beaches. The water gets rockier and colder as you head north, and generally the crowds thin out. If you do want to swim, early August is possibly the best time - the water actually becomes bearable at times!. Either July or August will be fine for sightseeing however. As for lobstah, there are literally thousands of places up and down the coast. I would fly into Portland and head north from there. Portland is a fun little city, Bangor is not particularly interesting.

hi iluvs2travel. imho tracey2cents has got the right plan!! and while there is No reason to spend time in bangor (closest city to me) it has an excellent airport with bar harbor and acadia park about an hours drive. and while portland is a bigger, more happening town i get the impression you will enjoy the little coastal towns much more.
the southern areas are much more built up and have more going on but the towns closer to bar harbor are alot more "quaint".
you will find that lobster every place you go on the coast. even our macdonalds do a decent lobster salad sandwich.
you can do this drive easily by selecting 1 or 2 of the towns listed by others and ending up in either bangor or portland. and i know bangor accepts one way cars as i have done that...
the first week of august is pretty good too for best weather. along the coast will be much cooler than inland.
great whale watching from bar harbor. google either topic for links to companies.

This all sounds terrific!

We are using free tix so I just need to see if they will let us do an open jaw. I like that idea.

Neither of us cares too much about swimming etc - both originally from florida so we don't want to do the traditional beach thing. More sightseeing, eating, and shopping for us!

Any hotel or B&B recommendations for Bar Harbor, Camden or Keenebunkport?

Looking for something $150 or less per night if possible...

At the height of the season in those 3 towns, you may have to pay quite a bit more than the price range you quoted. Also, many B&Bs require a minimum of a 2 or 3 night stay during the season.

ok, that's fine...if we have to pay more, i'd rather do that and get a good place. We'll stay at least 2 nights in each place so that shouldn't be a problem.

Camden is a great location with a beautiful harbor, home port to several windjammers. We like to take a picnic, bag chairs and binnoculars to the top of Mt Battie and just watch the ocean. (Take the auto road.) It's a very popular town with nice shops lots of traffic. We have also stayed near Damariscotta and enjoyed the lobster places near Pemaquid Point. You will need a car. Our goal in Maine is to hunt for the best lobster. I actually like mid-June for a visit when the lupine are blooming but it was pretty cold out on the water during a boat ride.
I'm going to vote for at least a brief visit to Bangor. The Cole Transportation Museum in interesting. If there is an event going on a the logging museum near Brewer (? Mills), you'll see more typical Maine stuff since logging is a big part of Maine, too, not just lobster. You will love walking and shopping around the Old Port are of Portland. I have yet to go on a whale watch cruise but have enjoyed shorter cruises out of Bar Harbor and other places. The best one we were ever on was when the Maritime Museum in Bath did some full day cruises to see lighthouses. We were told to bring a picnic lunch and got to eat on a little island. If you go in August I would include a hunt for the best blueberry dessert to go with lobster.

Hi again,
B&B style inns you might want to consider in the Kennebunks are:

(Less expensive: )
Maine Stay Inn
Kings Port Inn
Green Heron Inn

(More expensive: )
Captain Jefferds Inn
Breakwater Inn
Yachtsman Inn

All of the above are within walking distance to all the shopping and many great resaurants.

Good places to eat include: Hurricane, Bandaloop, Mabel's seafood, and Grissini's. (For take-out: Port Bistro, Aunt Marie's, and Salty Dog).

Enjoy!

For Camden check out strawberryhillmotorinn.com and islandviewinn.com, in nearby Rockport.

oops, that shouldda been islandviewinnmaine.com

In Bar Harbor we liked
www.barharbor.com/bayview

Umm, I'd go across to Nova Scotia if I were you.

And while I hear the black and horse flies are worse in Alberta, they can getcha pretty good in this part of the woods too.

I loved Bar Harbor. It's a pretty town with shops and restaurants. We stayed at the Bar Harbor Inn and loved it. It's on the water and you can walk to everything in town. We flew into Bangor, but we didn't leave from there because we drove down the coast and then to Vermont. Acadia National Park is pretty and is accessible from Bar Harbor.

We also stayed in Kennebunk but we preferred Bar Harbor.

Good shopping in Freeport.

We only drove through Camden, but it looked cute and I wouldn't mind staying there.

I think we went in July, and it was cold for us. But I live in south FL so everything is cold to me.

Hope this helps.

Hi. The Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor area, including Southwest Harbor/Tremont (acadiachamber.com) will have lots of lodging options within your price range, still on Mount Desert Island and close to the Park. Depending on your dates and length of your stay, a cottage on the water may be an option as well. July rates can be kind and the weather generally cooler. Whale watches will go out of Bar Harbor but Bass Harbor, Southwest and Northeast all have other options - ferries, mail boats, nature cruises.Lobster is everywhere. Have a great trip.

i would definitely not miss boothbay harbor. beautiful, very quaint, but still a lot of things to do. went there twice and bought a house..

My family loves the southern coast of Maine...Damariscotta is a favorite. (Wonderful locally made pottery available in actual studio where made...name is "Damariscotta Pottery"...ask around in town for directions.)
And you must have a lobster roll from "Red's Eats" in downtown Wiscasset.

If you want to check out local potteries, I recommend a stop in Blue Hill. It's a great little town anyway (although it can get crowded in the summer) and there is a little take-out stand called the Fish Net that had fabulous lobster rolls. Made the way they should be with just a little mayonaise and nothing else. Anyway, in Blue Hill there are two local potteries - Rackliffe and Rowentrees. You can actually watch them working on many days. I have an entire set of the "Blue Hill blue" Rackliffe dishes that I use for my everyday dishes. As for the weather, I tend to like August better - it's a little warmer and the boating is better (usually), plus the blueberries are ripe and there is nothing better than Maine blueberries. The past couple of years July has tended to have a bit of fog and the nights have been pretty cool. The other advantage of coming later in the summer is that the black flies have settled down a bit. They are nasty little biting guys that like to get up in your hair line. For whale watching - we like Bar Harbor Whale Watch which goes righ tout of the main dock in Bar Harbor. There is also a wonderful restaurant right on the pier down at the water level. I can't remember the name, but it's the only one down there. I would fly into Bangor, but that's just because I tend to prefer the coast around Bar Harbor over the southern part of the state. It's all personal preference. There are lots of quaint little towns. If you drive up Rt. 1 from Ellsworth (gateway to Bar Harbor and Acadia) you can also go to Schoodic Point which is the "quiet" and undiscovered part of Acadia. There is a great little fishing village that you drive through on the way out called Wonsqueak Harbor! I just love the name! Also on the way out Rt. 1 just out of Ellsworth you should stop and see the Wild Mountain Man. He does carving with a chain saw and has been in the Guiness Book or Records about 9-10 times. You can't miss him - there are huge carvings of eagles and bears on the left side of the road. He is a fascinating guy to watch and/or talk to. Enjoy my second home!

iluvs2travel
Did you plan your Maine trip. I am looking to spend a week in Maine this August with a 14 and a 10 year old. I wanted to go to a coastal town and then explore in Acadia. Did you settle on an itinerary? I would love the help for a typical Maine vacation.