Bar Harbor is the town on Mount Desert Island that Acadia National Park wraps around — a compact grid of inns, restaurants and outfitters two minutes from a park entrance. It was a Gilded Age resort before it was a park gateway, and a fire in 1947 took most of the great cottages, which is why the town reads as pleasant rather than grand. It is where you sleep for Acadia, and on a foliage road trip it is deliberately the last stop: this coast turns two to three weeks after northern Vermont, so arriving here at the end of the drive is the point rather than an afterthought.
- The base for Acadia — the park boundary is minutes from the town centre
- Downeast Maine turns last, so it rewards being the final stop on a north-to-south trip
- Cadillac Mountain, the first place in the United States to see sunrise for part of the year
- The carriage roads: 45 miles of crushed-stone paths built for horses, closed to cars
- A real harbour town with a working waterfront, not a resort built for the park
Region: Northeast Best time: Mid to late October for colour. The National Park Service puts Acadia's peak anywhere from the first to the third week of October, and Maine's own zoning puts the eastern coast at 21–27 October; a warming climate has pushed the best weekend later than it was a generation ago. July and August are the busiest months by far. Much of the town closes from late October to May. Getting there: Three hours up the coast from Portland, or four if you take Route 1 through Camden and Rockland — which you should. Bangor (BGR) is the nearest airport at about an hour, with US connections only; most UK visitors drive from Boston, five hours away. Getting around: A car to arrive, then ideally not. The free Island Explorer shuttle runs routes around the island in season, and the carriage roads and Park Loop are better on a bike. Parking at the popular trailheads is full by mid-morning in October.
Areas & nearby villages
Downtown Bar Harbor
The compact grid of shops, restaurants and inns, with the Shore Path along the water.
The Park Loop side
East and south of town — Sand Beach, Thunder Hole and Otter Cliff, all on the one-way loop road.
Northeast Harbor
Quieter and smarter, on the other side of Somes Sound, with excellent public gardens.
Southwest Harbor & Bass Harbor
The island's working-fishing side — less polished, cheaper beds, and the Bass Harbor Head Light.
Schoodic Peninsula
The mainland piece of Acadia, an hour round the bay. Far fewer people, same granite coast.
Things to do
- Cadillac Mountain — The highest point on the eastern seaboard. Driving up needs a timed vehicle reservation booked in advance — see below
- The Park Loop Road — 27 miles taking in Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Otter Cliff and Jordan Pond — the park in one drive
- The carriage roads — 45 miles of crushed stone with 17 stone bridges, built by John D. Rockefeller Jr. and closed to cars — walk or hire a bike
- Jordan Pond House — Popovers and tea on the lawn with the Bubbles behind; a genuine institution, and it books up
- The Shore Path & Bar Island — A clifftop town walk, and a sandbar you can cross to the island at low tide — check the tide table, people get caught
- Schoodic Peninsula — The quiet third of Acadia, an hour away and worth a half day if the Loop Road is heaving
A few perfect days
- Day 1Arrive up the coast
The Route 1 drive from Portland is most of the day. Arrive late afternoon, walk the Shore Path, eat in town.
- Day 2The park proper
Cadillac at sunrise if you secured a reservation, then the Park Loop Road with stops, and popovers at Jordan Pond.
- Day 3Carriage roads or Schoodic
Hire bikes for the carriage roads, or drive round to Schoodic for the same coast with a tenth of the people.
Eat & drink
- Lobster, straight off the boat, cheaper and better than anywhere further south
- Popovers with butter and strawberry jam at Jordan Pond House — a hundred-year-old habit
- Blueberry everything: Maine's wild blueberries are a genuinely different fruit from the cultivated kind
- Book dinner in October. The town has more visitors than covers and closes early in shoulder season
Know before you go
- Driving the Cadillac Summit Road requires a timed vehicle reservation, sold only on Recreation.gov and never at the gate. Around 30% of slots are released 90 days ahead; the remaining 70% go on sale two days before at 10am US Eastern, which is 3pm UK. Walking or cycling up needs no reservation.
- A park entrance pass is required in addition to the summit reservation, and must be displayed in the windscreen.
- Vehicles over 21 feet, RVs and trailers are barred from the Summit Road.
Road trips through Bar Harbor
National parks & day trips
Where to stay
Compare hotels and rentals across Bar Harbor.
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