Acadia National Park Itinerary
Overall vibe of Acadia National Park:
Acadia National Park is an absolutely stunning park on the coastline of Maine!! The aquamarine ocean is surrounded by rocky beaches and majestic cliffs. It’s a magical place for hiking and adventuring. The weather is perfect in the summer (sunny, 70s, crisp air) and I’ve heard it’s also amazing in the fall for the fall foliage. Bar Harbor is a popular town near Acadia on the bayside with shops and restaurants.
We didn’t really know what to expect since we hadn’t spent much time in the northeast US but it far exceeded our expectations. If you’re planning a trip, I’m so excited to share our favorite things we did!
Ocean Path
Quick Guide to Acadia National Park:
Overall vibe: hiking and nature, majestic coastline cliffs, aquamarine ocean, lighthouses
How long to stay: 3-4 nights
Where to stay: Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor or Northeast Harbor
Getting around: rent a car
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Acadia National Park Itinerary
Fly into Portland, Maine and spend 2 nights in there or drive strait to Acadia National Park. See my Portland guide here.
Drive from Portland, Maine to Acadia National Park (2 hours 45 minutes)
Stay 1 night in Camden or just stop by (it’s half way between Portland and Acadia)
Spend 3-4 nights near Acadia National Park
Here’s a solid itinerary you can follow or if you prefer to go with the flow based on what you’re in the mood for each day, you can scroll down and pick and choose from our recommendations.
Day 1: walk Ocean path in the morning, lunch at Aloha Poke, walk around Bar Harbor, walk Jordan Pond in the afternoon, cook/take-out for dinner
Day 2: hike "Beehive, Gorham Mountain and Ocean Path Loop, lunch at Thirsty Whale Tavern in Bar Harbor, Sand Beach, dinner at Copita
Day 3: hike Cadillac South Ridge Trail, lunch in Bar Harbor, Echo Beach, see Bass Lighthouse then get happy hour and dinner at Little Fern
Drive back to Portland to fly home
Where to stay in Acadia
One of the BEST luxury hotels near Acadia Maine is the Claremont in Southwest Harbor. It’s the WHOLE vibe - on the water, nice outdoor pool, outdoor fire pits, amazing waterfront restaurant and stunning design/aesthetics. We got dinner here one night after hearing about it from a local and definitely will stay here next time.
Claremont Hotel
We stayed at this Airbnb in Northeast Harbor. Northeast Harbor is A LOT quieter and more residential than Bar Harbor which we loved. It’s a great area to stay if you’re focused mostly on enjoying the nature (vs exploring the town Bar Harbor).
Getting to Acadia National Park
You can fly into Portland or Bangor, Maine. We usually use Kayak to find the best flights.
We flew to Portland and stayed there a few nights, rented a car, then drove to Acadia National Park (2 hours 45 min). We LOVED Portland…I’d highly recommend making it part of your trip (and stopping in Camden which is half way between Portland and Acadia). This link will take you to my Portland guide with everything we did there :)
We planned to fly out of Bangor (1 hour from Acadia National Park) but our flight was cancelled so we ended up driving back to Portland to fly home. Our Uber driver said there’s cancellations all the time from Bangor so it might be best to fly into and out of Portland.
In case you need a hotel right by Bangor airport (we had to stay an extra night because of our cancelled flight), the Residence Inn is great and has a good restaurant.
Best restaurants near Acadia National Park
Aloha Poke: great, casual spot for poke bowls in Bar Harbor.
Thirsty Whale Tavern: pretty good lunch spot in Bar Harbor for American food.
Thrive Juice Bar (@thriveinbarharbor): we wanted to try this smoothie place but it never flowed. It looks really good!
Little Fern: amazing restaurant (one of my favorites ever) with beautiful waterfront views in the stunning Claremont Hotel, on Southwest Harbor. The food and cocktails are SO good. Make a reservation on the patio!
Little Fern
Copita (@copitamaine): we didn’t go here but it was highly recommended by locals. It’s a cute, Italian restaurant on Northeast Harbor (right by the Airbnb we stayed at).
What to do Acadia National Park
Sand Beach: stunning beach with aquamarine water. It was chilly with the ocean breeze even in July so I’d bring a sweater. It’s really crowded (for good reason) but you can climb up on the rocks on the far side for a quiet place to sit and enjoy the views.
Sand Beach
Echo Lake Beach: really pretty lake with clear, cool water that you can swim in with a decent size beach you can lounge on.
Bass Light House: lighthouse on Southeast Harbor with incredible, magical views of the ocean.
Bass Lighthouse Lookout Point
Walk Along Ocean Path: amazing place to go for a walk along the cliffside of the ocean. There’s also really beautiful lookout points every few minutes along the path. We started our walk from Sand Beach and headed towards Gorham Trail.
Ocean Path
Walk around Bar Harbor: there’s a lot of souvenir shops and it’s a cute little town to walk around. It’s a bit touristy and cheesy though, FYI.
Day trip to Camden, Maine (or stay for a night): Camden is a really adorable, small town on the water between Portland and Bar Harbor (1.5 hours from Bar Harbor or Portland) with lots of cute restaurants, hotels, shops and places on the water. Walk around, shop and eat on the main street (I loved the store Jessie Toabias) and drive up to the Mount Battie lookout point.
Best hikes in Acadia National Park
Jordan Pond: flat 3 mile loop around a beautiful, serene pond.
Cadillac South Ridge Trail: 6.7 mi (1,548 ft elevation) moderate hike with beautiful views at the top of the oceans (nearly 360 views of ocean all around).
Cadillac South Ridge Trail
Beehive, Gorham Mountain and Ocean Path Loop: amazing, super fun, diverse 3.5 mi (784 ft elevation) hike. The bee hive portion of the hike is pretty scary - you basically climb a ladder up the cliffside so I’d skip this one if you’re afraid of heights. The walk along the coastline at the end is super beautiful!
Beehive, Gorham Mountain and Ocean Path Loop
Ocean Path: amazing place to go for a walk along the cliffside of the ocean. There’s also really beautiful lookout points every few minutes along the path. We started our walk from Sand Beach and headed towards Gorham Trail.
Google Map of All Acadia National Park Recommendations
I saved all of my recommendations for you in the map below to make it super easy to get around! Here’s the full link so you can save it: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/3/edit?mid=10o36LattdyxMoxYzXElFOZkHh55dz98&usp=sharing.
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