We loved bar harbor.

Flew into Portland and drove up the coast (super easy drive). Stopped for lunch in Camden at a deli and drove the rest of the way to the airbnb. Spent the full week in Bar Harbor. We had an early flight out of portland on day 8, so we drove back down the coast and stopped in Booth Bay to do a puffin cruise on the way back to spend the last night in Portland. It was perfect.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing mixed about it, head to Acadia.

Yeah, it's busy that time of year but absolutely spectacular. There are some quieter trails worth checking out.

Bar Harbor is super touristy but a lot of fun.

My family has been going to Bar Harbor for 40 years. I haven’t been since covid but they’ve said it’s overrun now with crowds and a lot of the good stuff is gone. Not sure how true that is.

It is crowded but what is the “good stuff” they are missing? You can still do the shore walk or cross over the sand bar, get ice cream at MDI, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing mixed about it, head to Acadia.

Yeah, it's busy that time of year but absolutely spectacular. There are some quieter trails worth checking out.

Bar Harbor is super touristy but a lot of fun.

My family has been going to Bar Harbor for 40 years. I haven’t been since covid but they’ve said it’s overrun now with crowds and a lot of the good stuff is gone. Not sure how true that is.

This is unfortunately true. The town is not what it used to be and the crowds are insane.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing mixed about it, head to Acadia.

Yeah, it's busy that time of year but absolutely spectacular. There are some quieter trails worth checking out.

Bar Harbor is super touristy but a lot of fun.

My family has been going to Bar Harbor for 40 years. I haven’t been since covid but they’ve said it’s overrun now with crowds and a lot of the good stuff is gone. Not sure how true that is.

I think your girls would like Kennebunkport the most. You could do that and then go up to Camden and check out Camden/Rockport/Rockland. All of that can be done through Portland.

Acadia is stunning, yes, but if your girls aren’t super outdoorsy, I think southern Maine is a better fit for this trip. I’d fly into Portland and plan on visiting other coastal towns/cities like Kennebunkport, Ogunquit, York Beach, and Portsmouth NH.

Definitely a ferry ride to an island whether out of Portland (peaks, diamond, the mail run) or Monhegan Island, out of Rockland.

Anonymous wrote:Nothing mixed about it, head to Acadia.

Yeah, it's busy that time of year but absolutely spectacular. There are some quieter trails worth checking out.

Bar Harbor is super touristy but a lot of fun.

Another vote for Acadia.

Nothing mixed about it, head to Acadia.

I would fly into Portland and then mid-week move to Acadia (it’s a 3 hr drive) and fly out of Bangor.

Mine loved Boothbay.

Acadia is obviously amazing, but I honestly found Bar Harbor a bit more touristy than I was expecting.

My teens loved Acadia, Bar Harbor and Portsmouth so much that they want us to pack up and move to Maine.

Fly into Portland, not Bangor, and do midcoast and south. You're only there for a week it sounds like, so Acadia + is too much. You can do a day shopping and eating in Portland, a day each in a few beach towns, and there's lots of easy hikes, all in easy driving distance. We like Mount Agamenticus, near Wells/Ogunquit. Two Lights State Park is nice for an easy walk and a picnic. The Marginal Way in Ogunquit is also easy.

Early August. What towns/areas would you do for a family of 4 with two teen girls 18 and 15. We like easy scenic hikes but aren’t super rugged types. We love fish and shellfish and cute downtowns. We will fly into a local airport (Portland or Bangor?) and probably only want sleep in two locations for the week (willing to move once midweek or just stay in the same place the whole time.)

I read mixed things about if it’s worth going all the way to Acadia or not vs just seeing cute NE beach towns in the mid coast or “down east.”

Maine experts, WDYT?