re: Coastal Maine

I was a big fan of Boothbay Harbor and Portland. Kennebunkport was a nice 20 minute drive. I thought Bar Harbor was super touristy and not worth the drive. I will say that the 3 hour drive from Boothbay Harbor to Bar Harbor was stunning. It was the first week of October. Lots of 2 lane roads through farmland.

The Portland airport is easy to navigate and was easy to get checked in. We stayed several days at the Portland Harbor Hotel before traveling to other parts of Maine. We stayed at the Portland Regency Hotel the night before we flew out. Both were great hotels but I may give the edge to Portland Harbor Hotel because of its location.

My wife contacted a Portland travel agency who set everything up and actually saved us money on rates through her connections

Bump.

Planning a trip for early June of 22. Flying into Boston for a 10 day trip and wanting to split time between coastal Maine and then finish in cape cod. Thinking of spending first 5/6 days in Maine preferably in a cool and fairly central coastal town with great scenery. I’m considering Camden or Belfast for a base. Aware that it’s a 3 hr+ drive from Boston but that’ll be okay. Any suggestions on lodging or towns as a base for our trip ? Thanks in advance

Yeah i figured as much. Is the area I’m considering a good jumping off point ? What would you suggest?

Camden would be a good start, maybe Kennebunkport.

Wiscasset is quaint and fine to pass through and stop at Reds Eats for a lobster roll but it’s a sleepy town. Camden has much more going on.

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I’ve never stepped foot in Maine before.

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Then you should spend a little time in Portland.

So far I have sort of a tentative itinerary which I’m confident I’ll end up changing up before it’s all etched in stone. I’ve only booked the flight so far which was (msy to bos-nonstop-roundtripX3) for 634$ (thanks Cuse). Flight gets in around 6pm and was gonna drive up to south Portland area (maybe Higgins beach inn) and check out the Portland head lighthouse then stay there for 1 night. Then make the long drive the next morning up to Acadia National Park and spend 2 nights in Bar Harbor. After that we’ll take our time back down with stops in Camden, wicasset(for lobster roll @reds) , Bath maybe on our way to Kennebunkport where we’ll stay and explore for another 2 nights. Once we wrap up there we will make our way to the Cape where I’ll prob book around the Dennis or Hyannis area and spend the next 4 nights/days. Hopefully I’m not cramming too much into 10 days and I’m still open to suggestions.

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Then make the long drive the next morning up to Acadia National Park and spend 2 nights in Bar Harbor. After that we’ll take our time back down with stops in Camden, wicasset(for lobster roll @reds) , Bath maybe on our way to Kennebunkport where we’ll stay and explore for another 2 nights.

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That's similar to what we did in 2018 and we had never been to Maine either. We drove from NC and picked up our travel companions at Portland airport, drove to Bar Harbor (going to Acadia NP was the main purpose of the trip) for 4 nights, then Waterville for 1 (??), Camden for 1 and Portland for 1 night before heading home.

Three nights (two is good IMO unless you want to hike a bunch of trails) in Bar Harbor and two or three in Portland would have been better.

We drove by Red in Wiscasset about 2:00 pm and there was a large crowd, maybe 50 people, standing around waiting to get their food. It must be good as there was another place across the street that had about 5 people there.

Main trip 2018
This is the link to the trip report I did. The pictures have turned to links but if you click reply I think you can see them.

Kids might like this. On Hwy 1 just before you get to Bucksport is the Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory. Take the elevator and see the view. Fort Knox Historic Site is nearby also but we did not go there.
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This is the wagon you ride in Acadia if you do that. We did the hour ride which was plenty but they offer longer ones (or they did).

May be an odd question but I’ve always wondered if lobster is cheaper in Maine?

Nice pics. I really appreciate the replies and info . I’ve found some pretty awesome deals on Airbnb and Vrbo. May lock a few in this week w/ flexible cancellations since it’s so far out.