I am trying to put together a trip to Maine for my parents this June or July for one week, but I have no idea where to start! I've never been, so I don't even know what to suggest for them. Please help!

Here's a little about them:
Both in their late 50's, overworked, undervacationed lately. They traveled the world in their younger days, but haven't been on a good vacation for many years. They have always wanted to go to Maine and work-wise, they finally have time in the schedule to go. They are looking to relax, see beautiful scenery, and to stroll through tiny shops.

What I'm hoping to find for them:
Decent priced flights out of Minneapolis/St Paul or Madison (hopefully non-stop, but so far I haven't found anything good). A nice hotel (clean and safe, not too high priced--which I don't know what high priced is at that time of year in Maine ?) that they can base themselves out for a week and still be able to see all the sights: tiny towns, the coastline, lighthouses, whale watching (is that the right season?).

Any suggestions would be appreciated, especially where to fly into, where are the best areas to stay (Bar Harbor sounds wonderful!), what all to do, what not to do, etc...

Thank you in advance!

It's been a long time since we have vacationed in Maine but let me tell you what we enjoyed and still remember.

We drove the coast with stops in Ogunquit, check out the Chamber at: http://www.ogunquit.org/ (Loved this place!), Kennebunkport, Bar Harbor and Acadia Nat'l Park and a whale watching tour (dress warm even in July)
We stayed in B&B's along the way but it's been too long to recommend any as I don't remember their names

I'd recomend bar Harbor & Arcadia National Park. We were there last October just as the foliage colors were hitting their peak. Acadia Nat'l Park is simply amazing.
I believe Bangor, ME is the nearest airport. You will need a rental car while there.
We stayed at the Bass Cottage Inn. Amazing!! www.basscottage.com
It's a bit on the expensive side but it is amazing... a perfect blend between B&B & a boutique hotel.
If you search the forum for restaurant recommendations, you'll find several great spots.
We also did the Lobsterman's lobster fishing cruise & it was very interesting & informative & enjoyable.
Finally, just driving down the coast from Bar Harbor to Portland & spending a night or two in towns along the way should be a lot of fun. Ogunquit, Kennebunkport etc are all great little towns.

June would be preferable to July (especially the first two weeks), as there will be less traffic, better choice of accomodations (many with shoulder season rates). EVERYBODY, it seems, goes on vacation the first two weeks in July. We're in our 50's and prefer to avoid family vacation weeks.

"Maine, An Explorer's Guide" is a magnificent resource for planning a trip to Maine and for having with you while there.

I always recommend starting the trip by driving as far north as you care to go and working your way south, a night or two along the way.

Fares to/from Boston might be much more ecomical. Just plan NOT to be leaving or returning to Logan during rush hour traffic. Also check fares to Manchester, NH.

If your parents have never been to Maine before, there are plenty of beautiful and unique seaside towns to visit without driving all the way to Bar Harbor or flying into Bangor. And, be advised that Bar Harbor is fogged in much of the time.

Air sale for June July will probably pop up mid April.

Check the car rental prices now, and later. IF Boston is $150 more than Portland maine for a week, it won't really pay to fly into Boston just to save $200 on tickets.

June 10 to 16 would probably be a great week to go to avoid traffic and crowds. The following two weeks would be good too, but July and August the prices jack up and things fill up fast.

Boothbay Harbor is the first place that came to mind when I read what they'd like to do.

Frankly when I read some trip plans people have for Maine it makes me cringe. It is a huge state and getting around in the summer is never easy or fun. We have a place in very southern Maine and if I go in the summer rarely venture very far. I love where we are - York Harbor, a very upscale area with wonderful restaurants, museums, boat trips out of Portsmouth, NH, etc. If they are overworked and tired like you say, it is certainly worth looking at. I fly to Logan Airport in Boston and get there in 1 hour-15 minutes. I always get great prices through Delta from Orlando. FYI - I am early 50's so can relate to your parents. You could check condos in the York Harbor area...just google it. There are many old mansions that were made into condos and are beautiful and in great areas. We can walk to a cliff/ocean walk, a beautiful beach and several places to eat from our mansion condo. York Beach is a short drive as is Nubble lighthouse, Portsmouth, NH with it's historic area and boat trips, etc. Look at www.gatewaytomaine.org.

The Bar Harbor area is wonderful - as are the little towns of Mount Desert Island (like Bass Harbor). If your parents are going to be here for a week or even less, you may want to consider a cottage on the water. For the same price as an upscale hotel or B & B, they can rent a private cottage with cooking - not that they will cook any meals but a cup of coffee or making a picnic lunch on their own schedule can be very relaxing - and time saving so that more of the vacation is spent looking at those lighthouses (Bass Harbor Head Light - very highly photographed). The Maine Tourism Association's Maine Invites You is a great resource and can get you started with the planning. Some visitors are flying into Portland (3 hours from Bar Harbor) and Manchester NH (5 hours). Logan in Boston is an option also. Rates in June are much more friendly than July. Hope they have a great time and it is sooo nice of you to plan this for them.

This is a place we have enjoyed: beautiful scenery, lovely people, gorgeous rooms, - I don't know about flights for you, it would be a connection but they have a link on their website.
www.samosetresort.com/

I went to college in Central Maine and have been back several times, as recently as last summer for a weeks vacation with my extended family north of Bar Harbor. For someone who has never been to Maine, I would recommend Bar Harbor. Maine can be very quaint and welcoming, but also can be very cold and desolate. Bar Harbor is meant for Tourists and is a great place to relax, soak in the scenery and have a good time. Its a great combination of Genuine Maine, and all the comforts that are great on a vacation. You could spend a whole week there and never leave, or use it as a great base for exploring. Early June is a good time because local schools are not out yet and the crazy/hectic crowds havent arrived yet. If they feel like exploring, send them to the Nature Conservancy on GReat Wass Island, and Quoddy State Park/Light house (most Easterly Pointe in the US.) The most magical thing to do of all though is to catch the sun rise from the top of cadillac mountain, the sun rises from the water, and offers pinks and purples unimaginable!

When we went to Maine two years ago, we flew into Manchester NH the first part of June. The Manchester airport is small and easy to get in and out of. It was a fairly quiet time to go to Maine since schools there are not out yet and the weather was just right. We spent a week in NW Maine and a week on the southern coast. In fact we enjoyed ourselves so much, we're going back this summer for 10 days and are staying at a motel in Old Orchard Beach and an old inn in Camdem. I can't wait to go back.

We went to Mount Desert Island (where Acadia National Park) last July with my in-laws. It is beautiful there and very relaxing. The closest to fly into is Bangor, and plane tickets will not be cheap. From Bangor, they'll need to rent a car to drive into Mount Desert Island (a little over an hour).

I'd recommend renting a house for a week - then they can cook some meals themselves instead of eating out every day/night. If they stay in Bar Harbor, it'll be more expensive as it's very touristy. But if they have a car, they can stay at other parts of the Island which is a lot cheaper.

I usually recommend flights into Manchester NH until a poster said from where she lived it was hard to get to. Generally Manchester is at least as good as Boston if not better and usually cheaper than Portland ME. We favor the mid-coast area of Maine, drive north on Rt 95 until we get to Brunswick and then get off on Rt 1. Last year we vacationed there the first week of July. Yes, there are crowds but that's because a few places in Maine are wildly popular while there are other places that aren't crowded at all. We camped in Wiscasset where there was a lot of traffic congestion on Rt 1 during commuter hours. There was also a lot of congestion on the interstate on the Friday before 4th of July. We had no trouble traveling early in the day but friends traveling late afternoon took a lot longer due to traffic. Downtown Boothbay is wonderful and fun to visit but extremely crowded. (It's near Wiscasset.) But get there early and you can get a parking spot in a lot convenient to downtown. We parked there when we took the boat to Monhegan Island. Just outside of Boothbay there is wonderful scenery, pleasant drive and the new Maine Coastal Gardens provides a great easy hike. I'd like to say, don't avoid the first week of July because of the crowds, just plan around them. We had a wonderful time at Bath's 4th of July event (great parade and craft fair) but got there early for a good seat and parking place. The shops were open for the early birds. The Wiscasset area makes it convenient to visit Rockland (great art museum plus nearby Owls Head Lighthouse and our most favorite lobster place by the water) but we avoided travel during commuting hours. Camden can also be a day trip and is a not miss place for shops, beautiful harbor, etc. But it is also very crowded. Again, plan to dine at off times (we prefer a picnic on top of Mt Battie). We've stayed at the Glenmoor-by-the-Sea just north of Camden which provides a variety of accomodations. It's really nice to have a frig and microwave. The idea to stay at a cottage is very good. A place we've driven by that is quite off the beaten path but not too far is Baypath Village, groups of Victorian cottages clusters around a green with shared beach. I found rentals on the internet but have never stayed there. It's convenient to Searsport. We have also liked staying in Searsport (camped) which is far enough north to make Acadia a do-able day trip but also convenient for visiting Rockland and Camden to the south. But Wiscasset seemed to have the most lobster places within driving distance so our idea of a nice drive was to travel out to a point where there was usually at least one lobster place (eat at picnic tables kind of places), roads to explore, places to discover. Brunswick is a college town, nearby Bath (home of Bath Iron Works and a wonderful maritime museum) provides a lot of choices. In addition to congestion, one of the reasons why I don't like Boothbay except as a day trip is the travel time to and from Rt 1. Arm your parents with a Maine Atlas and Gazetteer published by DeLorme for detailed maps unless they don't mind driving down a road just because it looks interesting. When we stayed in the Damariscotta area it was fun to drive out to Pemaquid Point (beautiful lighthouse and another place great for a picnic or just bring a snack and have a lobster lunch nearby). How to relax... we tend to drive to much but now carry bag chairs in the trunk and an insulated bag for simple picnics. Pack binoculars and good books. Sit for awhile. Watch the water. Watch the boats. Go find lobster when you get hungry. Early July is great if you like rhubarb pie. You might find lodging a lot cheaper before July 1, save the money for lobster! You will find more shops in the area south of Portland but also consider stopping in Portland and/or Freeport coming and going from the airport. If your parents like things like old cars, check out the Owls Head Transportation Museum weekend events. Enjoyed seeing antique airplanes last year.

I would not recommend June for travel in Maine. My parents live in Maine from June to October and June is almost always wet, foggy and chilly.

We drove from South Dakota to Quebec City and then through Maine one summer, and camped out with 3 children in Bar Harbor. We brought 4 bicycles with us. If your parents might enjoy a little bicycling (or walking, of course), Bar Harbor/Mt. Desert Island/Acadia National Park would be a great place to visit, I think! Of course, you can rent bicycles. There are numerous gorgeous trails throughout the forested park, and we were sad that we didn't have more time to explore. I have read that there are many beautiful places along the coast of Maine, and we've only been to Mt. Desert Island, but we've always wanted to go back there one day! Highly recommended! So much travel to do, so little time!

Now that clueless mentions it, I remember we got some chilly, rainy weather mid-June when we stayed in Searsport. The weather was pretty good for most of the week but cold on the ocean for boat rides. However, great time for lupines and fun to get a lupine festival map to find the areas of best bloom. It was on the Blue Hill Peninsula, maybe Stonington. This area is just before you get to Mt Desert. It was also the one trip to the top of Mt Battie when we found it crowded. There was a Model T convention going on and all of them had driven up the auto road for the view. Also, found some of the shops in Belfast closed. Really, truly, "closed - gone fishing" sign on the door.

As usual, I agree with DFrostNH. That was a great itinerary!

I would also recommend Kennebunkport, if they should want something a bit more central and ON the beaten path - just don't go the first week in July! The best choices for a "more reasonable" hotel there would be: The Lodge at Turbot's Creek, the Maine Stay Inn, or if they can swing it, the Colony Inn. (At the latter, ask for a room with an A/C - most sections don't have.) Lots of lovely scenery, beaches, interesting shops, and great restaurants.

As for flights, Portland would probably be most central, and also most expensive. Boston is generally the cheapest, but a hassle to get out of the city, and a long drive up to Bar Harbor. Manchester, NH is a very pleasant airport, and usually reasonable, but not usually direct flights.

Good Luck with your plans!

Thank you all so much! I really appreciate all the advice and will work on compiling it all for my parents. They are very excited and this will definitely help them. Feel free to keep the advice/suggestions coming

Two or three days on a schooner: http://www.sailmainecoast.com/

We saw all kinds of lighthouses you'll never see from a road.

ttt

We liked staying at th Bar Harbor Motel. It is located near the entrance to Acadia National Park. They had shuttle buses that took you into the town(which sometime had limited parking spaces). It is also nice to visit Camden ,Maine & Boothbay(with a ferry boat ride to Monhegan Island for the day).They both haves the little shops. Don't forget to stop at the Trenton Lobster pound before crossing over to Mount Desert Island.Love those lobsters!!!