Top Maine hotels
Lighthouses of Portland & the Area Portland
26 Reviews Try to go to the lighthouses near the ocean. It's a beautiful sight, when the water is splashing on the rocks, when the birds flies around . And on the way, take a stop at one of the amazing beaches...
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Eastern Promenade Portland
5 Reviews The Eastern Prom is a large grassy park that slopes down to Casco Bay. The views from up here are some of the nicest in the area!! It's a great place for a picnic, to sit with a book, toss a frisbe,...
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Longfellow House Portland
6 Reviews The home is open May-Ocotber from 10-5 Mon-sat and 12-5 on Sunday. The home was built in 1785 and restored in 1850's. The Maine Historical Society is attached to the home and part of the tour. Tickets...
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Portland City Hall Portland
6 Reviews Merrill Auditorium is the historic auditorium at Portland City Hall. It's home to the Portland Symphony Orchestra and PCA Great Performances. The performance schedule is a little light in the summer...
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Portland Museum of Art Portland
3 Reviews The Portland Museum of Art is not a very big museum, but it's got an interesting collection. Dating back to 1882, it is the state's oldest and largest art museum and it is comprised of three historic...
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Who knew that there was a desert in Maine? After checking out the outlets around Freeport, ME you can check out a real desert. More info at-http://michaelwtravels.blogspot.com/2011/10/desert-of-maine-freeport-me.html
Budget a full day to visit it unless you want also to take hiking trails and swim. In the latter case, you can even budget a week. Acadia NP strechtes on various islands connected through bridges. There is a main loop, on the eastern island, which takes you to the nicest view points but I would suggest to drive also the less beaten loops. Just loosing ourselves, we saw a breathtaking lupines' field. A very gentle lady explained us they bloom in June but they remain so purple just few days. What a nice surprise, despite of the fact we visited Maine not during the fall (so missing the best "foliage" or Indian summer perhaps in the world?)! Perhaps the best location to stay if you are interested to visit Acadia NP is Bar Harbour.
Leon Leonwood Bean, born in 1872, was a great outdoor activieties fan. In the beginning of 1900 he developed a new type of outdoor boots and patented them. Consequently, he founded his first store, in 1912. Now L.L.Bean is a 2 billion USD sales company and its main store is in Freeport. Actually I did not want to go there as I expected a huge shopping mall full of shouting people. Instead, it is a very peaceful place. It has different buildings according to the different activity (fishing, hunting, hiking, etc etc) and is very pleasant. Selling personell is also very kind and professional. What I found exceptional is the working hours: 24 hours a day 365 days in a year! Since '50s they just closed when president JFK was killed and on LL Bean's funeral day.
Cape Neddick Lighthouse, better known as Nubble Light can be seen from many spots along the coast in York, Maine. The best view is from Sohier Park which offers an unobstructed view with perfect photo opportunities.You can sit on a bench and watch the waves crashing on the rocks, the seagulls coasting overhead and the occaisonal scuba diving group. There are almost always artists painting or drawing the lighthouse. It's a very peaceful, romantic setting. What you CAN'T do is actually go onto the island the lighthouse sits on. I have heard that once a year they have a clambake in the lighthouse but I've never seen any evidence that they let people over there.There is a lot of history and stories associated with the Nubble, which I won't go into here. You can read about them online. Nobody lives there now. Rumors that it's haunted, but then there are stories about hauntings in lots of...
Portland is the largest city in Maine, on the southern end of the state. It may be a city but don't let that keep you away.Probably my most favorite small city in the United States....it is built on a slight hill that goes down to the waterfront with a shipping and fishing industry that keeps it alive and well. The city is full of life with great architecture, history, cultural events, wonderful sculptures through the streets and squares, old hotels and two great museums. Not only that but the waterfront area called the "Old Port" has been re-vitalized with renovations of the original old stone and brick buildings, many smart shops and cafes and restaurants. Fun just to walk along both sides of Commercial St. with it's many cobble stone streets that shoot off of it, with narrow charming places to explore.The tourist and fishing industry abide side by side in this wonderful quaint...
Baxter State Park is an example of how big the United States is. This would be a National Park anywhere else, it is such a huge tract of utter wilderness (over 200,000 acres) with only a few logging roads criss-crossing the northern extremities. The southern end of the park does have a park road and it is here that most visitors come to camp and do some hiking/climbing around the state's highest peak, Mount Katahdin at over 5000 feet. Noted for highly changeable weather and often harsh conditions, the park can be utter paradise on a calm sunny day. Though not right on the tourist path, it is well worth making an effort to get over this way if you love nature.
Driving the 27 mile Acadia Park Loop is a must do in Maine. The park entrance fee was $10 in October 2010. There are multiple look-out points and there are some great historical facts to be learned. Our hotel (Primrose Inn in Bar harbor) gave us a CD to play in the car as we drove the 27 mile route. This was ideal as we could start and stop the CD at the appropriate time and stay in the warmth of the car to listen. Apparently other places make this CD available too. Other places not to miss en-route include Sand Beach, Cadillac Mountain, bridges on the carriage trail and some of the impressive Trump tower like beaver lodges. Thunder hole is unpredictable - we were very underwhelmed and did not stay long.
Bass Harbor Head Light is the iconic image of the Maine coast. It is worth making the effort to see it and everyone says climb down on to the rocks for a good photo. At the lighthouse (which is well sign posted at Bass Harbor) take the footpath beyond the lighthouse - steps will take you down to the rocks for an ok photo angle. Don’t expect to get the best shots at high tide unless you are on a boat. Visit the lighthouse at sunset for potentially great shots but do take care climbing down on the rocks. No photo is worth getting swept away for.
You can cross the causeway from Bar harbor to the island from 2hrs before to 2 hrs after low tide. If you stay at the Primrose Inn, they'll tell you the tide times ! Over on the island, follow the marker cairns to guide you on an easy climb to the summit and a wonderful look-out over the harbor. From Bar Harbor to the summit and back is about 1.4 miles. In October, the view was clear - but cold ! Take hats, scarves and gloves.
We visited Portland in the winter time during our ski trip for Christmas. Portland looks like a nice smaller city, but a lot of things at the shore where shut down for the season. It looks like there might be a lot of tourists during the summer . We loved all the little shops and restaurants in the downtown area of the Old Port. If you drive across the bridge to South Portland, you can visit the lighthouse in the photo. It is called Portland Head Lighthouse and is located in Fort Williams park on Cape Elizabeth. Some stuff was closed for the season there also. I really want to visit here again in the summer .
Embassy Suites Hotel Portland Portland
4 Reviews and 167 Opinions Worst experience ever !!! We booked Hilton Honors reward reservation- a non-smoking room with double...
Bar Harbor Inn Bar Harbor
7 Reviews and 495 Opinions Our family has stayed here several times over the past 25 years, usually in the Ocean Front Lodge....
Blackwoods Campground Acadia National Park
2 Reviews and 38 Opinions Only one of 2 campgrounds actually in Acadia National Park, Blackwoods is really in the middle of it...
Reviews and photos of Maine attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Maine sightseeing.
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Q: Hello all! I am graduating from college and my family wishes to rent a cottage in Maine this August as send-off. I will be...
A: I would highly recommend taking a look at Mt Desert Island. Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor are on the island, and while both can be busy, there are smaller, quieter...
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