Ultimate Guide to 4 Days in Maine

No one really thinks of Maine when thinking of places to visit. But this blog is going to convince you of why Maine is the perfect 4 day getaway and should not be overlooked. Maine really is a hidden gem. I will be the first to say that I was going through my list of states that I have not been to yet and when coming across Maine, I was not sold. I thought "what is there even to do in Maine?". Then, I took to Google and was blown away by the amount of scenic views, activities, and hikes that were offered within the state! Maine was the perfect destination for my brothers and I's annual trip. Keep reading for the perfect guide to spending 4 days exploring Maine and how to make the most of it. All pictures from the trip will be below at the end!

Day 1:

We flew into Portland, Maine and rented a car through Enterprise. We spent Day 1 exploring everything Portland had offer (which was A LOT). We grabbed Coffee at Coffee By Design and I highly recommend. We visited Maine in March and at this point in time, they had a "Devil Wears Prada" specialty coffee. SO GOOD. After grabbing coffee we went thrifting downtown, which is all completely walkable and in good distance. A really cool thrift was "Material Objects" and they had great prices too. After this we went to eat at High Rollers, which came highly recommended and did not disappoint. The lobster rolls here were to die for. We walked off our food by walking up and down Congress Street which was neat because you can see City hall and on one end is the waterfront and the other end is a beautiful park. We also went to the local art museum, which is free on Fridays, and this was so neat to see. After this, we drove to the Portland Head Light Lighthouse. This was just 20 minutes away from where we were at and this is a MUST. I had never seen a lighthouse up close and everything in this area looked to be straight out of a movie. It was gorgeous. Bring a light sweater because this is by the water and it gets a bit chilly. You can easily spend 1 hour or more in this location just walking around and even going on the rocks and sitting there to take in the beauty of the nature around you. This is also a great place for pictures.

Day 2 - 4:

Days 2 - 4 are being grouped together because they all took place in Bar Harbor, Maine and in Acadia National Park. On the morning of Day 2, my brothers and I drove to Bar Harbor, Maine. This was a 3 hour drive but WELL worth it. Once getting here, we stayed at Acadia Hotel Downtown. Throughout the duration of being on the island, we visited local island shops, ate at all the restaurants the island had to offer. We also did a lot of walking, since the island is not big, most everything is walking distance. We did a TON of sight seeing. We walked down to the pier and sat out there. There are signs everywhere that warn you of whale sightings since the whales are very common to make appearances out there. We drove into Acadia National Park and saw their White Sands Beach, which looked like the beach straight out of Twilight. We were able to see Thunder Hole, which is a gorgeous area of the park where the waves crash into this opening in the rocks and makes a loud thunder noise. Be prepared to see wildlife! We saw deer and turkeys but you could even see moose and whales (if you are by the water). We also did a few of their hikes and got to see so many of their super clear/reflective lakes and mountains. There is definitely not a shortage of things to do on the island. Acadia National Park can easily take up 2 of your days. Be prepared to walk a lot. Driving around alone, or walking around, just gives you so much to do and much nature to take in. I also might add that it is so relaxing to be secluded on an island. It seems like an escape from reality. Don't worry about signal on the island, because the signal is great. You will be blown away with the scenery and the community on the island. So many cute coffee shops, and aesthetic locations. There is even a vintage style movie theatre on the island that was really cool to snap some pictures in front of.

Recommendations:

• Highly recommend staying at Acadia Hotel Downtown. They have so many amenities and recommendations of things you can do on the island. This hotel also offers free bikes you can rent out and ride around the island.

• Highly recommend renting a car so you can drive around and see so much more!

• Highly recommend going to visit Bar Harbor, Maine AFTER April 15th. We didn't know this, but apparently there are "seasons" on the island and when we visited (in March), half of all shops/restaurants/things to do were still closed for the season and the season starts back up mid April to where everything on the island will be open again.

• Highly recommend planning to have dinner early because all restaurants on the island close by 8/9 pm.

• Highly recommend buying groceries or gassing up before getting on the island. Since it is an island, all gas prices and groceries will be 100x more expensive.