Bar Harbor, Mount Desert Island Maine

Bar Harbor, Mount Desert Island’s largest community, was New England’s premier summer resort in the 19th century. It was home to a maine hotel that was the largest in North America and also to Millionaires’ Row, a line of spectacular summer estates built for America’s most powerful families—Rockefeller, Ford, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Astor and Morgan, to name a few.

Bar Harbor Me. continues to draw visitors by the thousands, but the area’s brilliant fall foliage season has stretched well into October. Some of the mansions now operate as Inns.

Visitors from Nova Scotia can arrive in two and a half hours on the bay ferry high-speed ferry, and U.S. Airways/Colgan Air services the local airport.

Bar Harbor is adjacent to Acadia National Park, home to 1,532-foot Mount Cadillac. The Bar Harbor area possesses a great selection of family activities, including a family nature camp, an oceanarium, a zoo, and a lumberjack show. The recently expanded Abbe Museum showcases the Wabenaki Indians, some of Maine’s earliest residents. Visitors can also indulge in rock climbing, sailing, paddling, brewery tours, boat excursions, and the United States eight oldest golf course which wraps itself between the mountains and the shore.

For the culturally inclined, Bar Harbor offers two celebrated music festivals offering everything from string orchestras, through chamber music, to jazz. As for Bar Harbor nightlife, bars and clubs host a range of bands and solo artists that complete the musical mix. For shoppers, Bar Harbor features a number of top-notch boutiques, many of which showcase the works of area Maine artists and sculptors.

On both sea and land, you can explore the area under your own steam, or let experienced islanders show you their environment. Explore Mount Desert Island’s fascinating coastline, and set sail in search of whales, seals, seabirds and the captain’s stories of an era past under billowing sails. Whichever way you choose, you will be in captivated by the sounds and sights of your vacation in Bar Harbor Maine.