Family Vacation in Maine?

March 1, 2018 9:56 AM

We are thinking about going to coastal Maine for our family summer vacation. We've never been there. Do you have any recommended towns/areas that we should look at?

Here's our ideal spot: (1) a "cozy" rental house on/near the water and probably outside of town; (2) near a town with a few restaurants/shops/ice cream for the kids; (3) near good day hiking (we like long hikes but don't camp); (4) near water activities like kayaking and perhaps whale watching/charter tour; (5) we don't mind longer day trips in the car to get to fun spots. If a beach is a possibility (I know it's cold in the water), that would be great too.

Right now we are looking a Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, but we don't really know anything about the other towns/spots or how they might compare.

We are mainly interested in finding a really beautiful and fun laid-back spot. We

Alternatively - if you have some favorite non-Maine spot in New England, we'll look at that too!

posted by Mid to Travel & Transportation around Maine (20 answers total)

Pine Point/Old Orchard Beach! Pine Point gives you lovely wide flat sandy beach and Old Orchard gives you honky-tonk tourist trap with ice cream/junk food/amusement park. Two Lights State Park is pretty close by and has some hiking trails and incomparable rocky coastline, and you can go kayaking in the salt marshes in Scarborough. I'm sure you can find places to rent via Airbnb these days, but my family has happily used the Curry Agency for decades.
posted by Funeral march of an old jawbone at 10:04 AM on March 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

Portland, Maine is wonderful. I have been there and it is one of my favourite places. There is lovely shopping and restaurants downtown, and is worth the trip there. It is very arts-focussed, and it's nice to see while walking.
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 10:05 AM on March 1, 2018 [3 favorites]

The Boothbay Harbor area has a lot of the same amenities as Bar Harbor, but is a closer drive.
posted by mkb at 10:08 AM on March 1, 2018

Southwest Harbor is adorable, and I can personally vouch for/highly recomment the Lindenwood Inn. My cousin had her wedding there several years ago, it's absolutely lovely and the people who run it are so sweet and special!!
posted by mccxxiii at 10:42 AM on March 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

Hey, Portlander here.

I want to address the suggestions above, and make my own:

- Pine Point/Old Orchard: has a "party town" reputation. Will be pricey. Beautiful beach, and lots of NJ Boardwalk style entertainment. Not much in the way of hiking.

- Portland: I love my home town, but you won't find a rental house here. Maayybeee out on Peaks Island, but you'll pay through the nose for it. Please come visit, but I don't think our city vibe is what you're looking for.

- I think what you want is Camden/Rockport. Two small, conjoined fishing villages with lovely, walkable downtowns filled with bookstores, local crafts and tchotchkes, and ice cream shops. I'd use the word 'quaint' to describe Rockport, actually. Working waterfront. Home port for many sailboats and tall ships. Great day cruises. Tremendous opportunities for family day hikes at Camden Hills State Park. Peyton Place was filmed there because it has such an iconic small town look. Some really amazing restaurants. Super laid back, and a easy day trip to a lot of other cool stuff (two hours south of Bar Harbor).

Seriously, everything about your question says Camden to me.
posted by anastasiav at 10:43 AM on March 1, 2018 [13 favorites]

Boothbay Harbor, yes! It's a cozy little town, a bit touristy but in a good way (tons of ice cream places), there are kayak rentals and boat tours and a bunch of modest attractions nearby (ropes course, outdoor train museum, big botanical garden). And it's much quicker to get to than Bar Harbor.

If you look at Rte 1, it runs up the coast thru/near a string of nice little coastal towns, any of which will be a nice place to stay - Wiscasset, Damariscotta, Camden/Rockport, etc.

If you're looking for an unusual thing maybe for a rainy day, you can stop in the Maine State Prison Store (a longstanding program where inmates learn woodshop skills and you can buy their projects, which range from very basic to amazing - it's worth a visit) on Main St in Thomaston.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:44 AM on March 1, 2018 [2 favorites]

For hiking you really can't beat Acadia NP. I'd suggest Southwest Harbor rather than Bar Harbor though. You'll be a bit further away from the best hiking, but we're talking 20 minute vs. 10 minute drives. Southwest is still on the island but it's much quieter there. There's some restaurants and stores in town but it's not the same madness as Bar Harbor. You can rent kayaks and bikes right in town.

Acadia has amazing hiking. I've been going every summer for the last ten years or so. You can kayak on Somes Sound and hike all over the island.

But really any of the other suggestions in this thread would work for you, though maybe without as much spectacular hiking in the immediate vicinity.
posted by bondcliff at 10:51 AM on March 1, 2018 [3 favorites]

My younger brother lives in York, ME and it doesn't really have the hiking you're looking for, but York (and neighboring Ogunquit) have some lovely beaches and cool things to see and do all around town.
posted by xingcat at 11:17 AM on March 1, 2018 [3 favorites]

How about something inland on a lake? The Moosehead Lake region has got pretty much everything you'd want.
posted by JanetLand at 11:26 AM on March 1, 2018

I agree that Camden or Acadia (Bar Harbor/Southwest Harbor) is probably what you're looking for, but also maybe consider a tiny bit further down the Midcoast, like Rockland (different from Rockport) or the St. George peninsula (I have family who live out there and it's gorgeous and super-New Englandy; not a ton of hiking though).
posted by mskyle at 12:08 PM on March 1, 2018

This is one of those questions where all answers are going to be pretty good. There really isn't a bad spot on the Maine coast. Pretty much every town (except Portland) is oriented primarily around tourism, so there are plenty of rental cottages and fun shops and restaurants all over.

For hiking close to where you'll be staying, further north (i.e., Acadia) is better, but since you don't mind driving to hike, you'll have plenty of options. You can get to Mount Washington from York in 2.5 hours, so pretty much all hiking is within a day trip.

York has, IMO, the best beach. Kennebunkport is nice too. I haven't been to beaches north of Portland, though.

If you expand beyond Maine, the towns you should look at are Rye, NH and Newburyport, Mass.
posted by kevinbelt at 12:20 PM on March 1, 2018

I live in Portland. I was coming in to say Camden for all the reasons anastasiav detailed above, and additionally I concur with their points about Portland and Old Orchard Beach.

Boothbay Harbor is adorable. Belfast is also great, and not too far from Acadia, which is a must-see. I also agree with the Wiscassett/Darmariscotta suggestion.

I wouldn't stay in Bar Harbor. Lovely to visit for the day but really dense with summer tourists.
posted by donnagirl at 12:39 PM on March 1, 2018 [2 favorites]

Acadia Nat. Park is beautiful and you can hike in varied terrains. Pretty much anyplace n Mt Desert Island is likely to be a good spot. Bar Harbor is full of shopping has good restaurants. Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor are pretty villages with amenities. There's still a lot of wealthy summer folk, so there are plenty of art galleries and cafes and fine dining. Go to the gardens at Asticou, and to the Jordan Pond House in the park for tea. I have enjoyed every ranger talk I've had the chance to attend. There's excellent night sky viewing from Cadillac Mountain. Stop in Portland on the way there or back; it has become a serious food town, the Old Port is nice for strolling and shopping. Crescent Beach State Park near Portland has lovely sand beach and bathrooms; bring a picnic (Aurora Provisions, or one of may excellent delis in Portland or S Portland). Take a ferry ride from Portland to Peaks Island and visit the Umbrella Cover Museum. The ferry ride is a relaxing 20 minutes, there are nice restaurants on the island, and the museum is worth the visit.

I live near Portland with access to a small lake that is great for kayaking and canoeing. Memail me if you want info.
posted by theora55 at 12:56 PM on March 1, 2018

You should go to York Beach, Maine. It really does have great family hiking options nearby, like Mount A and Highland Farm Preserve. And it has everything else you want, without being either as remote or as intensely touristy as Bar Harbor or some of the other destinations. It is really the perfect family vacation.
posted by Miko at 1:59 PM on March 1, 2018

South of OOB, Ocean Park. although I think you have to inherit a place but it's the town that time forgot.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:30 PM on March 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

If it's on your way to/from Maine, you may want to consider funspot:worlds largest arcade in new Hampshire with tons of historical arcade systems, so the kids can learn where video games came from.
posted by TheAdamist at 5:27 PM on March 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

There really is a large number of places in ME that fit your list. I think you'll get better answers if you talk a little bit more about this trade-off: do you want more village/activities or more remoteness/peace? Also, do you mind

Also, would you count being close to Portland/urbanity as an advantage or a strike against?

Eg, if you want remoteness, something like the smaller corners of Booth Bay (Southport?) or up past Acadia might suit.

But don't discount southern Maine and even something like Willard Beach in South Portland. You have access to smaller beaches right there, larger beach spots in Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough and OOB as well as the amenities of Portland (don't let people fool you that it isn't all about tourism). If you're a foodie or like beer it's a great thing to have nearby and it's oh so easy to get around to all of these. It's also an hour drive from here into the lake region for a different take and mountain hikes.

2c
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 6:39 PM on March 1, 2018

Camden is just what you are looking for.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:50 PM on March 1, 2018

I went to Camden a few years ago and thought it was great. My question about things to do should still have some good answers.
posted by TedW at 2:16 AM on March 2, 2018

Pine Point/Old Orchard Beach! Pine Point gives you lovely wide flat sandy beach and Old Orchard gives you honky-tonk tourist trap with ice cream/junk food/amusement park. Two Lights State Park is pretty close by and has some hiking trails and incomparable rocky coastline, and you can go kayaking in the salt marshes in Scarborough. I'm sure you can find places to rent via Airbnb these days, but my family has happily used the Curry Agency for decades.

100% endorse, down to the agency. We stayed in Pine POint and then walked into OOB in the morning for Dunkin, because New England. There's a great takeaway restaurant with picnic tables just outside the entrance to Two Lights as well.
posted by TravellingCari at 12:28 PM on March 2, 2018 [1 favorite]