From what I’m hearing, even the shoulder seasons are crowded.
One year, before kids, my husband and I went up on April 7. There was a beautiful snowfall and we built a snowman in front of the Jordan Pond building. There was not another soul around. That’s my favorite memory of Acadia.
This is the inn in Bar Harbor we like: http://www.seacroftinn.com/
They are pretty much booked through October, but keep it in mind for next year. The most expensive room is $169. The owner told me she tries to keep prices as low as possible. They have a two-bedroom “suite” (two rooms connected by a hallway) that goes for the same price as a single room. We’ve used that several times over the last few years.
Oh, my goodness, the tourists are here in droves. A request from a local: If you visit here, PLEASE walk and drive carefully! I’m seeing such poor behavior from out-of-staters. It’s really scary.
That’s everywhere…clueless bad drivers !!!
Amazing how popular Maine is. I missed that. I told my wife we gotta get cracking. Stuff is filling up. The place on your previous link…all full.
My daughter and I flew into Boston last September instead of Portland to save $$. Never again! We fly out of Baltimore all the time and I really like the airport. I understand the hassle of a connection but the Boston traffic and rental car hassle, in my opinion, will be worse.
At Boston, you have to take a shuttle to get to the rental car pickup place. It took forever as you stop at the T-stop first.
Pro-tip - join whatever car rental club you can so you can miss the front desk (40 people in line) and head straight to the garage (only 5 people in line). We rented from Budget and got a Fastbreak membership for free.
The drive up from Boston is not memorable and the traffic could be horrible!
We flew into Portland in April and rented a car. Portland is a small, friendly airport. We were upgraded to a SUV (Budget again) that only had 40 miles on it.
We stayed in Freeport (visiting Bowdoin) at the Hampton Inn which is older but clean with good service. On our last day, we drove up to Acadia. We drove up I-95 and back Rt 1. All you see on I-95 is lots of trees. It is a really boring drive. Rt 1 is gorgeous but could have bad traffic in the summer.
In September when we visited Bowdoin, we drove up Rt 1 and had a long traffic jam entering Wiscasset from both sides. There must be a really good lobster roll place (Red’s Eats) as the line was down the street.
Acadia in April was gorgeous. We lucked out on the weather and had a sunny day in the 60s. The town is very small and was crowded in April. I can’t imagine what it must be like in the summer. A friend of mine said that they rent bikes and take the tram everywhere so they don’t have to worry about parking. Probably depends on your level of patience…
I think lots of Maine coastline is just as beautiful as Acadia. Acadia is beautiful but I don’t think it would be worth dealing with crowds if you can see similar scenery without them. (Unfortunately I don’t know if this is true). My daughter and I enjoyed the challenging beehive trail hike and Jordan Lake was pretty. And while the view from Cadillac mountain was impressive, I wouldn’t do it again.
In South Portland, we drove to 3 lighthouses, Bug, Spring Point Ledge, and Portland Head light in Fort Williams Park which were all amazing and different.
Maine is a big state with amazing and diverse scenery from the mountains in the west, lakes in the center, and the beautiful coastline. Have fun!
One of my former students just got married at Acadia. The pictures are stunning! I was there many years ago, and I think it’s time to plan another trip.
Thanks.
I have National Executive Aisle. It’s just like the commercials. Pick your car and go. No line worse than a rental car line. You are right about that !!
Will check airfare to Portland. My wife prefers non stops (as do I) and we couldn’t beat the $220 non stop Nashville to Boston on southwest.
We flew into Bangor many years ago. You could check that too. We wanted to see Acadia, Bar Harbor and get into New Brunswick as well.
+1 on checking flights into Bangor. If you want to start at the top and work your way down.
Otherwise…I’d say Portland is your best bet. It is more centrally located in the state making it easy to fly in and out of one airport. And as noted above…it’s not huge…and the hotels in the airport vicinity are not as costly as IN downtown Portland but close enough to see everything!
We are southwest. So Portland works but not Bangor. But I got the air on points…but the cost was just over $200. But will discuss with the mrs and check Portland again. She’s happier to drive 1.5 more hours than stop tho.
Sat night hotels are pricey.
After reading the thread she’s talking about skipping ogunquit and hitting towns further up. I like the hints about the coast outside of Acadia may be just as good. Will see what she says.
She read the thread last night and said she took some messages into her trip file. Thanks to all.
Yes, @thumper , that’s what we did. Flew into Bangor, explored Acadia , NB, then made our way South and flew out of Portland. Great trip.
Enjoy Maine, @tsbna44 ! Either Boston or Portland for air sounds like it would work, depending on your driving preferences.
@tsbna44 if you have never driven out of Logan Airport, please listen to the folks who have. It’s not the best drive on the planet. Actually…it’s a pretty awful drive in my opinion.
And make sure you bring easy pass with you. The tolls all take that…and yes there are tolls if you fly into Boston.
I have several times.
I’ll check the fares to Portland. But when u have a non stop for free ($230 of points) and a rental car at $31 a day…hopefully on a Saturday it’ll be ok.
The thing I remember about Logan…correctly or incorrectly…is a tunnel to get there. It’s been at least 5 years if not longer since I was there.
And my wife who doesn’t love flying…the non stop was her preference.
But will check fares to Portland.
Thx
I’m a big fan of non-stop. I don’t find Logan that bad to drive in & out of - not like JFK, for example! And you’re out of it pretty quickly. The only question is whether you’ll hit traffic on 495 or 95 - and that’s just a matter of timing (and luck). But personally I agree that non-stop to Logan would be the winner for me.
And Waze to get you there.
I looked at our dates again…on southwest…we are baked flightwise.
I regularly drive. Sometimes 6-7 hrs so we’ll be fine. Tomorrow 3 hrs to bham alabama.
I like our current plan…to Bangor first night but only bcuz I got a towneplace for 20k points. The other option was Augusta 18k points. Portland prices drop during the week. Then we have to work on cities surrounding the park for a few nights. And break the bank!! I need to start looking at the inns u all recommended.
Yes…you need to book lodging asap. The fall is a gorgeous time to be in Maine, and tourists know it. In Bangor, you might even see some leaves changing colors. Really…lots of folks make their reservations very very far in advance.
So…I would suggest you figure out your itinerary and make lodging and even dinner reservations as soon as possible.
Ok just don’t judge Maine based on Bangor! 
It’s a cheap bed to launch. I’ll see if she’ll let me stop and walk a campus or two. Bowdoin. Hated. Colby. Even U Maine since we’ll be close
Just picked up and dropped off a rental car at Logan. Shuttle took forever and was PACKED. Nearly an hour from deplaning to being in the rental car. Lots of traffic through the tunnel.
There’s almost always traffic in the Sumner Tunnel. It’s hard to avoid–driving anywhere from Boston Logan unless it’s late at night or very early in the morning, you’ll need to deal with traffic. Fact of life.