Maine is a fun state with awesome things to do both on the coast and in the woods. Enjoy the coastal views and lighthouses and dine on delicious lobster. Acadia National Park is also a popular attraction with many beautiful views and hikes. Experience my favorite attractions during a whirlwind weekend with these three things to do during a weekend in Maine.
Fun note for dog lovers: One of the things I love about Maine is that it is incredibly dog friendly. While we flew and left our favorite furry travel companion at home, I would love to visit again with our dog. The shops and restaurants in Portland were very dog friendly, and Acadia is one of the most dog-friendly national parks. While many national parks only allow dogs on paved trials, Acadia allows leashed dogs to hike on most hiking trails.
Top 3 activities during a weekend in Maine
- Visit the beaches and check out the famous lighthouses.
- Enjoy lobster on the pier and visit Portland.
- Catch the sunrise and hike at Acadia National Park.
1. Visit the beaches and lighthouses.
We started our trip in Maine by visiting various beaches and lighthouses during our drive up the coast to Portland. While these locations tend to be busy, they serve as a fun opportunity to experience the unique landscape of Maine. We visited Old Orchard Beach and walked the pier. Higgins Beach is another option that is less busy than Old Orchard Beach.
While working our way towards Portland, we visited Portland Head Light at Fort Williams Park. This was a fun location to get out and walk around and take pictures of the lighthouse. Other noteworthy lighthouses include Spring Point and Bug Light. Driving along the coast and making our way to Portland was a fun way to start our trip.
2. Enjoy lobster in Portland and visit the many shops in Maine.
Portland is filled with shops and delicious restaurants. I browsed a handful of kitchen, dog, and clothing shops along Commercial street. The streets and buildings were beautiful and historic. Our favorite part of Portland was enjoying fresh lobster. There are a variety of good restaurants to choose from. It is especially fun to check out the view of the water while enjoying lobster on the pier.
We enjoyed a full lobster dinner and lobster roll at Luke’s Lobster, which is known for their Maine-style seafood. This restaurant had delicious food and drinks plus really good views. There is outdoor seating on the pier, seating in a tent and, a beautiful view from the taproom. Other highly recommended restaurants for good lobster include Highroller, Portland Lobster Co. and DeMillos on the water.
Maine is also known for the location where the L.L. Bean store and boots originated. Visit the L.L. Bean flagship store in Freeport, Maine where you can shop for outdoor gear, home decor, and more. We visited the L.L. Bean store while driving from Portland to Acadia and it was a fun stop to break up the drive.
3. Visit Acadia National Park
What to know before visiting Acadia
A park pass or day pass is required to enter the park. At the time of my trip, these passes could only be purchased online in advance and printed or purchased at one specific gate. A day pass was necessary to drive to Cadillac Summit or sand beach. While we did not visit the beach, we did drive to Cadillac mountain for sunrise. Plan ahead and order the necessary passes in advance or purchase an annual state park pass. Find out more information here.
Sunrise at Acadia
Catching the sunrise at Cadillac mountain was such a unique experience as we were able to be the first people in the US to see the sunrise. I use the weather app to track the time of sunrise. Plan to arrive 30-45 minutes before sunrise to ensure your parking space and to truly enjoy watching the sunrise. The time that is reported for the sunrise is the time when the sun is over the horizon and often times the most beautiful colors occur substantially before the sun rises. It was chilly and windy when we visited in October, so I’d recommend grabbing a warm sleeping bag or blanket and a thermos of coffee. Find yourself a cozy spot away from the crowd and sit back and enjoy.
The other perk of arriving early for sunrise is that you are basically guaranteed convenient parking at your next destination in the park. Parking tends to fill up quickly so being in the park early ensures more options for trailhead parking.
Hiking at Acadia
We drove to Jordan Lake right after sunrise and did the Jordan Cliffs hike to Penobscot. This was a 3 mile loop with a 1,033 ft elevation hike. Additional information and maps can be found within the AllTrails app. This hike has beautiful views. The trail had a few locations where rebar ladders were added to the trial on Jordan cliffs. This is a fairly quick hike that I would highly recommend for good views. Additional hiking trails that were recommended when I visited included the hike to Precipice as well as South Bubble. AllTrails is a great resource to browse the difficulty and length of various hikes.
Enjoy a weekend in Maine
Enjoy a weekend in Maine exploring the coast with these three recommendations.
- Visit the beaches and check out the famous lighthouses.
- Enjoy lobster on the pier and visit Portland.
- Catch the sunrise and hike at Acadia National Park.
In addition to enjoying our weekend in Portland and visiting Acadia, we headed north to check out Baxter State Park. We planned a couple of nights of camping with the goal of hiking to the top of Mount Katahdin. Stay tuned for more information about visiting Baxter State Park and our experience summiting Mount Katahdin. For additional blog posts about travel, check out this post about four magical places to spend the night in Norway.
Have you visited Maine? I’d love to hear what your favorite activities were!
