Going to be in Maine June 24 to 30 (Thurs thru Wed.) Want to drive up to Bar Harbor (Flying in and out of Manchester NH )and just stop when we feel like it. Will we need to pre book hotels along the way or will we be able to find accomodations each night Suggestions?

Not sure about late June but last year we wanted to do a weekend in mid September and 6 weeks out everywhere we wanted to go was already fully booked. If you're willing to take anything available you may be OK - but if you want particular places I would make reservations immediately.

It's really best to have reservations. While you'll not likely find "No Vacancy" signs everywhere before July 4th, you may not have many options and may have to spend considerable time driving around for a place to stay.

My recommendation would be to book places where you can cancel up to 6PM day of arrival.

Like others have said, reserve rooms in Maine for June. Many of the inns/hotels are only open May-October, and you figure that they must be full most of the nights to make enough money for the whole year.

And it seems like after 9/11, occupany has actually gone up, as many people living in the Eastern seaboard (especially from NYC to Boston) decides to do roadtrips rather than flying, because of the extra hassles at the airport.

As mentioned above, all the New England states visitors offices are anticipating record numbers this summer, in spite of increasing gas prices, due to current bookings, high air fares, and dismal exchange rates.

If the traffic, which has picked up enormously with the nice weather, during my commute to work every day is any indication, I would definitely agree.

Definitely need to pre-book for Bar Harbor. The rest of the state shouldn't be too bad except on Fri & Sat. I'd find something by 5pm however, because by evening they do get full. If you're fussy, book everything ahead because when you get the last rooms in town they're not the best of the best.

How about for the first week or 2 in August? I'm considering a trip to Maine then and was going to wing it, with a tent as backup.

I thought I'd just drive up to maine and grab a room as needed for a 2 week trip about 15 years ago in August I believe. Made it to Brunswick the first night and had to drive inland an hour to find a room. For the rest of the trip we'd start trying to nail a room down by 2 PM or we were afraid we'd have to sleep in the car.
That was a while ago and Maine has only gotten busier.

travellyn,

That is the absolute peak of the Maine travel season, I wouldn't even try to wing it...

Please prebook! --Although I will be away from my home just south of Portland for exactly the period you will be here. Would you like to stay at my old farmhouse and care for my 2 teenagers, dog and cats?? Just kidding!
Seriously, everything fills up quickly here for the few warmish months we have. I always spend some summer weeks near Bar Harbor and the past few years have been especially busy with tourists.
Hope you enjoy your trip. So far, this spring has been cold and rainy so I know the summer has got to be wonderful!

Thanks for the heads up! We don't really know where we'll be going yet; NYC, Chicago, and the Pacific NW are the other possibilities. I don't think that NYC is within our budget, and I have always wanted to visit Acadia NP. I'm sure I'll be posting with more questions once we nail down our destination.