Best summer vacation in maine

Is there a time of the year where you’re more relax and enjoy yourself? The summer is when most people set out on their vacations, sometimes to places where they never went. And it’s a good idea to find a destination that makes you feel even better in the end. In this article we reveal the best summer vacation in maine.

Best Summer Vacation Ideas in Maine summer is the best time of year for you to take a great vacation. You don’t have to work, so you can choose a destination that you never had the chance to visit. Remember that the summer season is not completely the same at all states and parts of the world. Actually, in Maine, you have a nice climate indeed. Camping during summer will give you an unforgettable experience during your vacation time.

As soon as summer hits, everyone wants to get out of the house. But despite being the most popular time of year, it can sometimes be hard to decide where to go. What if I told you that you could find the best summer vacation in Maine? Now, if that sounded too good to be true, you’d be pleasantly surprised. Because it is true! (Well, at least one of them.)

Finding the perfect vacation and making your next one unforgettable is not a hard task. It’s too easy for you to enjoy yourself than you can imagine. Maine is one of the best summer getaways in the world. It offers stunning views similar to a paradise and unspoiled woods and mountains that are equally breathtaking. The destination has a famous view of Acadia National Park, which will make Maine an unforgettable honeymoon destination.

Maine is a great place to go on vacation. It has many beautiful sights to see, such as Mount Katahdin, the Kennebec River, and the Penobscot River. You can also visit Portland, which has lots of fun things to do. There are many different things that you can do in Maine during the summer, including boating and swimming. You can also go hiking or camping if you want something more active.

Maine is the perfect place to spend your summer vacation.

Maine boasts a wide array of activities, from hiking and kayaking to horseback riding and golfing. There are also many museums, including the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland and the Maine Historical Society Museum in Augusta. If you’re looking for a great way to spend your summer vacation, Maine has it all!

Even if you’re not ready to embrace your inner coastal grandma (don’t worry, your time will come), there are so many stunning places to visit in Maine—even inland, where a vast system of rivers, lakes, and forests gives way to cascading waterfalls and sweeping vistas. And if you can’t make it there before Labor Day, you’re in luck—this state’s an even bigger looker in the fall.

Acadia National Park
Staggering views and rocky shorelines in Acadia National Park. | Stan Dzugan/Moment/Getty Images

Acadia National Park

Let’s start things off with a bang, shall we? The first ever national park east of the Mississippi is easily one of the most beautiful places in New England. Hiking, camping, or even just driving through Acadia (you can take the 27-mile-long Park Loop Road for a great overview) affords breathtaking scenes at every turn.

A few favorites of mine: Jordan Pond, a glassy 187-acre pond strewn with rocks, sweet blueberries you can pluck right from the earth, and a pebble shoreline; Cadillac Mountain, the highest peak on the Atlantic Seaboard (bonus if you go at sunrise or sunset); and, if you’re a climber, the Beehive Loop and Precipice Trail.

There’s even a few underrated beaches like Sand Beach, a pocket beach surrounded by granite mountains and rocky shores. You’d have to be a masochist to swim there (the frigid waters rarely go above 55 degrees) but laying out on the pink-tinged sand is mighty nice after hiking Acadia’s trails.

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Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park
Stroll through the town of Bar Harbor for lobster and photo ops. | Peter Unger/Lonely Planet Images/Getty

Bar Harbor

Acadia is located on Mount Desert Island, the largest island off the coast of Maine. Just a few minutes outside of the park, you’ll also find the very cute town of Bar Harbor—think brightly painted shingled buildings, mom and pop shops, and a boat-filled marina. One of the best small towns to visit in the state, it’s a pretty great place to eat some lobster, check into a quaint inn, or generally pretend you’re in some kind of small-town coming-of-age novel.

Other Instagrammable sites include the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse and Bar Island, whose natural sandbar land bridge from the town of Bar Harbor disappears at high tide—so don’t get stuck!

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Cranberry Isles
The tiny Cranberry Isles are only reachable by ferry. | Mihai_Andritoiu/Shutterstock

Cranberry Isles

It’s a quick 30-minute ferry ride from Bar Harbor to the Cranberry Isles, a cluster of five tiny islands with beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. Two of the islands are private, so plan your day trip around Islesford and Great Cranberry, where you’ll find the most “action.” And by action we mean a couple of gift shops, general stores, historic homes, and the most ridiculously adorable post office I’ve ever seen.

There are almost no cars (the speed limit is 15 mph) and no more than 140 year-round residents. It’s worth escaping for an hour or two and getting a slice of small town New England living.

Mount Battie
Climb Mount Battie for awesome views over Camden Harbor. | E.J.Johnson Photography/Shutterstock

Mount Battie

The town of Camden is ridiculously charming in itself, with its friendly restaurants, grazing belted Galloway cows, and unbearably photogenic harbor filled with bobbing sailboats. You’ll get the best vantage point of all that New England goodness by climbing Mount Battie, located inside the Camden Hills State Park.

Hikers can take in panoramic views of Camden Harbor and Penobscot Bay from the top of the mountain. Fair warning, the trail is a little over a mile and can be fairly steep and slippery through the forest, with some wild Maine blueberries along the way. It’s also possible to drive to the top.

ferris wheel and festival tents on a harbor
Honestly, it doesn’t get more Maine than the Maine Lobster Festival. | Courtesy of Maine Lobster Festival

Rockland

If you’ve come to Maine and think you might only be able to bear a few days of lobster bisque, lobster mac and cheese, lobster rolls, and/or all other lobster-filled creations and combinations that fishermen and chefs work so hard to provide—well, first of all, weak.

Second, at least lobster yourself out in August at Rockland’s Maine Lobster Festival a five-day, food-filled celebration of that delicious, buttery crustacean that makes Maine, Maine. Come for the seafood cooking contest, and stay for the paradelobster cage racesarts and crafts, live music, beer, wine, and—naturally—the Maine Sea Goddess Coronation—Tiana Attride

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Pemaquid Point Lighthouse
Pemaquid Point Lighthouse was chosen to be depicted on Maine’s quarter. | Don Landwehrle/Shutterstock

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse

This is classic coastal Maine: dramatic cliffs, crashing waves, and a simple white lighthouse—but this one you may recognize from Maine’s state quarter. It was commissioned by President John Quincy Adams in 1827, and standing near the edge of the jagged cliff with the Atlantic roiling below, it’s not hard to imagine a ship or two getting a beating here, so good job on that one, Adams. The keeper’s house next to the lighthouse is a fishermen’s museum packed with all kinds of quirky oddities and artifacts.

Lobster Shack in Mackerel Cove
A funky lobster shack in Mackerel Cove. | Photography by Deb Snelson/Moment/Getty

Bailey Island

Located in Casco Bay, tiny Bailey Island contains several of the state’s coolest attractions: Land’s End, a rocky beach at the end of the island; Mackerel Cove, a lovely cove usually dotted with fishing boats; the Giant Stairs, a rock formation that looks like, well, giant stairs; and the Bailey Island Bridge, which connects the island to neighboring Orr’s Island. This famous bridge is thought to be the world’s only granite cribstone bridge (built in a hole-filled, cobwebbed manner using no mortar because of the tides) and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

cobblestone street in a historic city
Within Portland’s winding streets hide some of the best food in the country. | jejim/Shutterstock

Portland

Big-city chaos, you will not find anywhere in Maine, even in the state’s most populous city, Portland: a harborside idyll replete with cobblestone sidewalks, breezy waterfront lookouts where you can watch boats drift along the horizon, and historic inns that put you right in the middle of the action—the action being the city’s more than 500 restaurants, plus bars, breweries, and in-town wineries, the quality of which could put any major metropolis to shame.

Throughout the summer, the city also hosts a few festivals worth coming to town for, including June’s Portland Wine Week and The Clam Festival in July (technically hosted in Yarmouth, just a 15-minute drive away). Just south of the city, you’ll also find Cape ElizabethFort Williams Park, and the lighthouse to end all lighthouses: the Portland Head Light, the state’s most recognizable icon. —TA

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Two Lights State Park Cape
The rocky coast of Two Lights on Cape Elizabeth. | JLC Photo Images/Shutterstock

Two Lights State Park

The name of this park refers to two lighthouses dating back to 1828, although only one is still functioning (the other is a private home—how cool is that?!?). Weirdly, the lighthouses actually aren’t located inside the 41 acres of Two Lights State Park, which is on the stunning Cape Elizabeth.

The park is full of rocky cliffs, crashing waves, and sweeping views of Casco Bay and the Atlantic. But if you want to see the lighthouses, you’ll have to leave the park and head to the end of Two Lights Road. Trust me, it’s worth it, and Edward Hopper agrees (he depicted one of the lighthouses in his 1929 painting The Lighthouse at Two Lights).

Ogunquit Beach
Ogunquit Beach is one of the state’s few soft sand beaches. | Jay Yuan/Shutterstock

Ogunquit Beach

The coast of Maine is full of beaches that look lovely but aren’t actually that hospitable (read: full of sharp rocks and soaring waves). The most notable exception is Ogunquit Beach, which offers three pristine miles of soft white sand. Summers here on Maine’s southern shore can be downright balmy, and the Ogunquit River helps keep ocean temps on the warmer side.

The town itself is equally picturesque (one of our favorite beach towns in America) with a dose of LGBTQ+ panache and a solid dining scene (try the Crooked Pine or Brix + Brine). I love hiking along Marginal Way, a path along the cliffs where you can take in panoramic ocean views and a classic lighthouse (are you even surprised at this point?). The path leads to Perkins Cove, an impossibly photogenic harbor, where you can and should order the lobster roll of your dreams at Barnacle Billy’s.

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Sunday River
Sunday River Bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. | Alan Majchrowicz/Stockbyte/Getty Images

Sunday River Bridge

Taking a break from lighthouses for a second: Located in the western part of the state near the Sunday River Ski Resort, this covered bridge was basically the 19th century version of Instafamous, earning the nickname “Artist’s Bridge” because it showed up in so many paintings and photographs. It’s an 87-foot Paddleford truss bridge—one of the few historic covered bridges remaining in the state—that’s been closed to vehicular traffic for decades.

Coos Canyon
Take a summer dip in Coos Canyon, near Byron. | Portland Press Herald/Getty Images

Coos Canyon

I found this water-filled canyon driving through the town of Byron, south of Rangeley, one summer (it’s listed on a sign simply as a “rest area”) and I’ll never forget the feeling of jumping off the edge into the refreshing Swift River below. The erosion lines along the canyon add to its beauty and there’s a 15-foot drop with cascading falls for the ultimate backdrop. Bring a picnic and find yourself a shady secluded spot.

Height of Land Moose Lookmeguntic Lake
Mooselookmeguntic Lake. Say that five times fast. | Jeff Foott/Photodisc/Getty Images

Height of Land

On Route 17 (aka the Rangeley Lakes Scenic Byway) where the Appalachian Trail crosses the highway, Height of Land is a small parking area with one of the best views in the state. Pull over for epic views of Mooselookmeguntic Lake (Maine lake names are the best!), Toothaker Island, and a backdrop of New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

Continue on to the town of Rangely, perched on the shores of the trout-filled Rangely Lake. Hit up the Pine Tree Frosty, a small blue shack in the center of town, for an expertly made lobster roll and a few scoops of Gifford’s ice cream, a local favorite. The Rangeley Lakes Region encompasses six large lakes and dozens of other smaller tributaries—so rent a kayak, canoe, or motor boat, and keep your eyes peeled for bald eagles.

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