jeanneba28

We are headed to Maine with our three children-- all boys aged 2, 9, & 10. We will spend about a week there and are interested in suggestions for places that we should go, hotel suggestions, restaurant suggestions, etc.. Any information that you can provide us would be great. Some of the places that we are thinking about going to include Monhegan Island and Acadia. All three boys are very active and fairly open minded...

Thanks.

nanabee

Years ago we stayed at a bed and breakfast in Bar Harbor (the town where Acadia National Park in located). I highly recommend the town and the experience of a New England b&b rather than a hotel.

jeanneba28

we would love to stay at a b & b if it is appropriate for children. Can you recommend the place that you stayed at?

nanabee

Hi jeanne
It was so long ago that I don't remember the exact B&B, I'm sorry.

Hopefully, some other posters from the area will come up with some great places.

Bar Harbor was so beautiful - it was one of the nicest places we've been to in Maine.

tinatoadster

We were there a few summers ago. We stayed at the Harborside

I really reccommend it. It is fairly new. It completed the renovations in 2005. The rooms are nice and fairly large. The location is good. Right in the heart of downtown Bar harbor. It was nice to walk everywhere.

Here is their web site.

http://www.theharborsidehotel.com/

jeanneba28

thanks for the hotel recommendation-- I'll look into it. Any other recommendations?

pollyvw

Go to the visitor's center at Acadia and ask for the schedule of children's activities. Maybe it is posted on the web...I don't know.

When we were there years ago, the most fascinating thing to my children was the ranger talk where he lead them to actually put together the bones of a moose. I believe there is a program on another day when they explore the anatomy of a whale. I know, it sounds gross, but it is a very good activity for children.

Check it out.

missypie

You definitely need to click on my screen name to find my trip report, since we went to Maine as well as Boston.

zootsi

Acadia is perhaps the most beautiful spot on the east coast. However with 3 children, you might also want to consider a few nights near a beach where they can actually go in the water (unless you are going in cooler weather). The beaches of York, Ogunquit, Wells, and Kennebunkport are great, and the water is actually bearable to swim in, at least for a few minutes. I would do 3 nights in southern Maine, a night in the Boothbay area, and 3 nights in the Acadia area.

Lord_Mesron

I would definitely recommend Bar Harbor. I have been there several times. We have always stayed at the Quality Inn Bar Harbor. It is right at the top of the main highway into town (SR 3) and only about a 5 minute walk to downtown. The rates are reasonable and the location is great. We never used our car while in town, only for going to places outside of Bar Harbor.

As for sites to see, definitly do Acadia NP. Also, I would recommend a trolley tour of the area. If you don't get sea sick, do a whale watching cruise. You will want a jacket or sweat shirt for it, though, even in the summer.

schmerl

I just visited Bar Harbor and Acaddia NP last week. It was HOT. We were sweating as we climbed around Cadillac Mountain.
We had a 10 and 13 year old as part of our group. They loved climbing around the mountain and exploring. Their favorite part however, was the swimming pool at any hotel we visited!!

jeanneba28

okay we are getting closer to figuring out our schedule... let me know what you think:

day one- Portsmith (we will be arriving around dinner time in Boston and don't want a huge drive). Any recommendations for hotels??

day two- Portland-- will travel up the coast and stop in towns along the way

day three- Monhegan Island

day four- Camden

day five -seven- Bar Harbor

What do you think? If you know of any hotels in these places which are nice but appropriate for children, please let me know. Also let me know if there are any special sights we should see, etc..

Thanks again.

Bill_I

Jeanne, I have a couple of recommendations for you from our trip this past summer. In Portsmouth, we had lunch at a restaurant called the Dinnerhorn: http://www.dinnerhorn.com/
We also went thru the USS Albacore submarine. I think your boys would definitley like that: http://www.ussalbacore.org
In Camden, we did a schooner cruise. There are a number of schooners at the waterfront, where you can catch a 2 hr cruise. The one we went on had a few kids aboard that were in the 2 - 10 yr range, plus a number of teenagers, including my son. The cruise we went on was: http://www.maineschooners.com/
One of the places we ate at in Camden was the Bayview, which is on the waterfront next to where the schooners are. It is a picnic table kind of place & we had good food there: http://www.bayviewlobster.com/
In Portland, we had a really good breakfast at a place called Marcy's Dinner. It is only open for breakfast & lunch. With its motorcycle motif, I would think the kids might like it. We didn't do this in Portland, but they also have Duck Tours at the waterfront. We went thru some historical houses in Portland. We really enjoyed them but not sure if younger boys would be interested in them.

jeanneba28

Thanks for the suggestions Bill.

I really need some help for lodging in Bar Harbor. I have contacted every place in Bar Harbor and on Acadia that accepts children and can't find any availability. Does anyone know of somewhere outside of Bar Harbor that is nice and would accommodate a family of five?? We would like to be as close to Acadia as possible since we'll be spending four days exploring it.

Any and all help is appreciated!!!!

missypie

Places on the Maine coast book up early. I had a very hard time finding a place to sleep 5 for our July trip, and I started looking in March. That is how we ended up at the Pink Blossom in Ogunquit.

clueless

Monhegan Island is beautiful for hiking. I would not recommend it for children.

Boothbay is wonderful for kids. They have the train museum with train rides and petting zoo. A hands on Aquarium that the kids can pick up and handle sea creatures and a lobster show. It also has a old fashion candlestick bowling alley with a soda fountain. The kids love it.

jeanneba28

We have already booked a place for Monhegan Island-- do others agree that it isn't great for children??? My boys love to hike and we have taken them to lots of the national parks and have never had a problem. Is there something about the island that makes it bad for children?

I think that at this point we would probably lose our $$ if we canceled our reservation...

tbelgian

I think Monheagan Island is great. You will want to watch the kids around the water and limit running on rocks and ledges and stuff. Plenty of people bring their kids to Monheagan. It's customary for the children to build a pixie house, (only natural maine woods building stuff,) in the woods there. If you keep your eyes out, you will see the pixie houses along paths and in the woods. There, (at least used to be,)some deer that were easy to see and I think the kids will like to see the working boats, sailboats and hopefully some sea life along the way. Bring binoculars.

You are getting a nice trip planned out. I might suggest a stop along the wells, ogunquit, york beach area to finish out your Maine coast tour. You could just do a few hours of beach time between Portsmouth and Portland, which is only about an hour away from each other.

dfrostnh

We've only been once just a day trip on the boat from Boothbay. We aren't hikers. It was a little rugged in places. If you are used to getting the 2 YO over difficult places you should do fine. We took a picnic lunch and ate on some ledges overlooking the water and watched some baby gulls using the puddles as a bird bath. Needless to say, you'll have to watch all the children on the cliffs. Right now I don't recall if I saw other children hiking. There's a small museum we enjoyed. I recently read an overnighter's recommendation to bring flashlights because it's REALLY dark at night. What a great opportunity to do some star gazing.

PhotoDad

I vote for a little more time in Camden. I just got back from a two week business trip there,which I brought my family along for, and we all had a blast. There were plenty of things for my wife and kids to do each day and lighthouses to look explore each evening. Camden Hills State Park offers mountains to climb with incredible views, there are sandy beaches on the ocean and lakes.

I wrote it up on my blog here:
http://familyroadtrippers.blogspot.c...ast-maine.html
It's full of activities and dining choices.
There are lighthouses all the way up the coast from Portsmouth, so you can build a theme quickly. Here's some more about lighthouses in the Portland area:
http://familyroadtrippers.blogspot.c...ouse-tour.html
One light house in Rockland has a mile long breakwater to walk out to. This really tires out the kids because they typically run all the way.

And definitely do the USS Albacore on the way up, it's amazing.

I'm not sure you need to go all the way to Acadia, but it's a nice drive if you choose to go.
Have fun,
Dan
www.familyroadtrippers.blogspot.com