Hi. We're looking at heading to Maine coast mid-late September after visiting Connecticut, and not sure how many days to allot where.

Will have 6-7 nights, and plan to fly home from Portland. We're thinking staying 3 nts in Kennebunkport, 3 nights in Camden and Rockland, and last night nearer to airport, such as Brunswick or Freeport.

Is 3 nights too much each in Kennebumkport and Camden? We don't want to spend the time driving and stay for only 1 night. Does this make sense, or are there are better suggestions? We just want to relax, enjey beautiful scenery, eat lots of seafood, and stay in cozy B&Bs.

We found the coast of Maine to be beautiful and drove from Camden/Rockland area up to Bar Harbor. Driving took longer than we expected on the small country roads and wish we'd allowed for more time to stop in small towns and eat lobster rolls!

travelbunnies - check out this thread (they are not on as leisurely a schedule as you)
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=1.
with the time you have alloted you can enjoy nearly everything fodorites have shared in this thread. i'll be happy to offer additional info. if you are not planning to make reservations, you would move on whenever you feel you're ready! that's how i like to travel. there are other points of interest not mentioned in above thread in kennebunk area, portland and north, but at least some good lobster shacks. helpful to have that delorme map of maine for your trip -- downeast travel fun is more often "off" the beaten path not shown on traditional road maps. corwin

Great weather in Sept usually, and yes you'd be able to just stay where the road takes you without reservations as long as you're not dead-set on a certain B&B.
If it's in the budget, think about INN BY THE SEA in Cape Elizabeth for your final night...it's about a 25 min drive to Portland jetport. And no better place for that one last "lobster roll by the sea" then the Two Lights Lobster Shack nearby.

just found this website of beaches in southern maine that i didn't know about before....it lists them all with accurate, brief description of what the beach scene is truly like.

http://www.maine.info/beach-southernmainecoast.html

corwin

hello, we are still a little slow on planning our maine trip (hoping for a long wkend end of July, visiting from NYC). The main things (no pun intended) I'm trying to figure out is if driving is better than flying. We are planning on visiting Camden/Kennebunkport with maybe a drive to Boothbay Harbor. A drive is 7 hrs (a long trip for a 4-5 day trip?), or we could alternatively fly into Portland and rent a car, but then I'm concerned we're missing out on the scenic drive and spending too much time in airports.
My next question is how to best break up the vacation between the towns I mentioned above without moving too much, but getting a feel of coastal Maine. And lastly, is there reasonable, quaint accomodations that are little known hideaways? Thank you and sorry if some of these ques are repeats.

Thanks everyone for your replies and helpful information.

We're basically ready to book our accommodations and airline tickets, but wondered if you could pick a week to go, which one would you pick?

9/1 - 9/9
9/15 - 9/23
9/21 - 9/29

Is earlier in the month better, or later? I'm wondering if traffic will be heavier over Labor Day weekend and we should go later? I'm thinking it will be cooler mid/late Sept and more "fall like" to possibly see some fall foliage?

jacqui, I find the drive from NYC to Maine always seems to take forever! The drive *in* Maine, as others have mentioned, is the highlight of the trip. So if you're up for flying, I'd recommend it - you'll miss nothing on the interstates in CT and MA. If you feel there's some part of Maine south of Portland that you'd like to see, you could always loop down, then back up to the part of the coast you indicated.

When we drove from NYC to Boothbay Harbor, it was probably about 2 hours from Portland to our destination (though we stopped to take photos in front of the Delorme headquarters, and shopped in Freeport to break up the trip).

We loved Edgecomb Potters. They have shops in Freeport and Boothbay Harbor, but the real treat is their studio in Edgecomb, en route to Boothbay. Tons of pieces for sale, including "irregulars" at good prices!

If you want to avoid the traffic and crowds I'd choose the week of 9/15. You won't see any foliage in September so best to go a little earlier when the weather will be warmer.

all of september is lovely. IMO, it wouldn't matter which week you traveled. today we took boogie and skim boards to spend the day at parson's beach in kennebunk. altho i live minutes from other beaches, there is something special about this one, so we drove the hour. everyone's garden in wells is so beautiful. turning at riverhurst farm onto parson's road, all the breeding horses were out in the fields. then the river and beach were so beautiful, the waves so consistently perfect, the sand so white and smooth, we could barely tear ourselves away after five hours to come home. southern maine may be more like a polished silver tea service than northern maine's rugged downeast look, but it is still gloriously untainted by high rises, malls, highways throngs of tourists and other travelers seem to spawn elsewhere. i feel so lucky to live here..... can hardly bare to travel away from it in the summer
tracy2cents, i love your cape elizabeth suggestions. when i went to high school there, inn-by-the-sea was a less well-rated place called crescent beach inn. having moved there from texas at 14, i thought it heavenly to live right on casco bay. over the years, i've observed a certain uniqure feature to cape elizabeth. tourists, travelers, and other visitors never stand out. nor do they seem to arrive or bunch up in large packs to clog a location. some magical quality in the environment absorbs them or helps each visitor meld right in. do you know fort williams, hidden court and casino beach?