We are an English couple who will be travelling to Maine with our daughter next summer. Whilst she is staying with her friend we want to spend some time relaxing by one of the many lakes in Maine. Somewhere not too far from Portland, but we are also looking for peace and quiet for a week or so. We have a little info about Lake Sebago and Brandy Pond but wonder if anyone has personal expereince of these places. We would like to avoid the crowds and just find somehwere we can sit and enjoy the view (before we head on down to Florida!!). Any help gratefully received.

Sebago Lake gets a tad wild in the summer.If you want a classic Maine lake experience head over to Kezar Lake.There is a web site for rentals.

I totally agree with the last post. Kezar lake is beautiful, peaceful, memorable. Kathy

Take a look at Quisisana Resort (www.Qresort.com) it is on Lake Kezar.

We live in Portland and often rent a lakeside cottage in the summer. Kezar Falls is pretty, although the drive to Portland will put you into fairly congested traffic as there aren't fast roads to the west.

There are also very nice lakeside places that are more in central Maine which most tourists don't know about, hence they are cheaper. The lakes around Belgrade are wonderful and you can get into Waterville pretty quickly for a nice dinner out or go south on the interstate about 90 minutes to Portland. We have rented often from Lake and Country Realty: http://www.belgradelakeandcountry.com/

There are also good deals you can find on google or Jeeves for rentals by owners.

Good luck,
Marcia in Maine