Getting Around Maine

Motor transport is the most practical way of enyoying Maine. It gives you the choice of exploring the enormous northern forests, the rugged coastline or the many interesting cities and towns. The road system is quite good, but it does get crowded along the coast during the summer months. On our last major excursion into Maine, we used our 1990 Plymouth Acclaim with a roof carrier since there were only 2 adults and 2 children to pack in (my beloved old van was long gone!).

As many other places it is better to avoid rush hours for driving , although there is a small population. there are large numbers of visitors from out of state so main roads get congested. Also many of the roads are narrow and not wide enough to accommodate seasonal traffic patterns in many instances so be aware of this and adjust your travel times. That being said it is really not possible to get around to see the state with out a private auto.

Hey, this is the nation of the automobile. And that´s the way how I got around in Maine. With my Ford Focus rental car. Highways are good and usually not too crowded. At this picture I stopped at a beautiful lake.

If you plan, like most people, to come up from Boston, and you want to get there reasonably quickly, you can would take Interstate 95 to Bangor, where you turn southeast on a fairly unremarkable and rather narrow tarmac road that leads to a causeway over to the island. This will take 5-6 hours. The other option, and the one I would recommend, is to follow twisting, scenic, US Highway 1, from which you can branch off onto side roads and visit the many interesting 'down East' fishing towns and villages scattered along one of America's most dramatic coastlines.

Photo: A topographical diorama of Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park in the Park Visitors' Center

Well, we came in from Quebec, Canada near Moose River, along US 201. It was a very small border station too, but the INS agent was very friendly. I think a lot of logging trucks go through here too.
Car

Flew into the Bangor Airport. It's a very small airport, but is serviced by Delta, American, and some smaller carriers.
Rented a Blazer. It was good for transporting luggage and gear, and traversing the sometimes not-so-smooth roads.

US Route 202 takes you to much of Maine. You will see the back road areas, small towns, lakes, and the character of non-coastal region as well as the highway ends in Bangor. Bangor is an inner seaport with a tidel river where commercial barges travel.
Need the car... reminds me KEEP TO THE RIGHT except when PASSING is the law in Maine

The only way to go is to drive. you'll miss the best part of Maine if you stay in one place. Fly in and drive around or drive in and rive around. Meet the people there Maine best feature. Stay away from tourist season, summer. Go in spring or fall.
Drive and walk once you get to where your going