Maine Coast: Kittery to Bar Harbor

Take US 1 instead of the interstate and you get a string of working harbours: Ogunquit's cliff walk, Portland Head Light, Pemaquid Point, Rockland and Camden. Each stretch has a short side road to a point or harbour worth the detour. It suits food-led travellers, lighthouse hunters and anyone building a New England trip that ends in Acadia National Park.

The stops

1. Start

   Kittery, ME

2. Town

   Ogunquit

   Marginal Way is a short cliff walk along the shore.

3. Lighthouse

   Portland Head Light

   Lighthouse on a rocky point in Fort Williams Park; one of Maine's oldest.

4. Town · Overnight

   Portland

   Good food city and a handy overnight on the way.

5. Lighthouse

   Pemaquid Point Light

   Lighthouse on layered rock ledges, with a small fishermen's museum.

6. Viewpoint

   Rockland Breakwater

   Walk the long granite breakwater to a lighthouse; Farnsworth Art Museum is in town.

7. Hike

   Camden Hills State Park

   Drive or hike up Mount Battie for a harbour view.

8. Town · Overnight

   Camden

   Harbour town with windjammer cruises.

9. Town

   Bar Harbor

   Gateway to Acadia National Park.

10. Finish

    Bar Harbor, ME

Where to stay

• Night 1

  Portland

  Hotels in the Old Port · Wolfe's Neck Oceanfront Campground area

• Night 2

  Rockland / Camden

  Camden Hills State Park campground · Harbour inns

• Night 3

  Bar Harbor

  Blackwoods Campground (Acadia) · Bar Harbor inns

• Night 4

  Bar Harbor

  Seawall Campground (Acadia) · Bar Harbor inns

When to go

Late Jun–Oct; early fall is quieter with good light

On the road

US 1 is slow through towns in summer weekends. Many seafood shacks are seasonal and close after Columbus Day.