Must-see attractions in Maine

  • BATH, ME - MARCH 18: A flyer for a past event is seen Friday, March 18, 2016 at the Maine Maritime Museum boat shop in Bath, Maine. (Photo by Joel Page/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

    Maine Maritime Museum

    Midcoast Maine

    There's a palpable mix of reflective nostalgia and horizon-scanning adventure at this wonderful museum, which preserves the Kennebec's long shipbuilding…

  • A view of the sun rise at Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park, Maine

    Cadillac Mountain

    Acadia National Park

    Don't leave the park without driving – or hiking – to the 1530ft summit of Cadillac Mountain. For panoramic views of Frenchman Bay, walk the paved 0.5…

  • Gordon Chibroski, Staff Photographer. Friday, June 14,  2013. .Visitors to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay are surrounded by a multitude of fauna and flora.

    Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

    Midcoast Maine

    These magnificent gardens are one of the state's most popular attractions. The verdant waterfront kingdom has 270 acres, with groomed trails winding…

  • Rockland Harbor Breakwater Lighthouse

    Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse

    Midcoast Maine

    Tackle the rugged stone breakwater that stretches almost 1 mile into Rockland Harbor from Jameson Point at the harbor's northern shore. Made of granite…

  • Cliff rocks by trail by Portland Head Lighthouse in Fort Williams park in Cape, Elizabeth Maine during summer day

    Fort Williams Park

    Portland

    Four miles southeast of Portland on Cape Elizabeth, 90-acre Fort Williams Park is worth visiting simply for the panoramas and picnic possibilities. Stroll…

  • Portland Head Light

    Portland

    Fort Williams Park, on Cape Elizabeth, has rolling lawns dotted with bunkers and gun emplacements. Within the park stands the beloved, and much…

  • ROCKLAND, MAINE, UNITED STATES - 2012/10/12: Farnsworth Art museum. (Photo by John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)

    Farnsworth Art Museum

    Midcoast Maine

    One of the country's best small regional museums, the Farnsworth houses a collection spanning 200 years of American art. Artists who have lived or worked…

  • Sand Beach

    Acadia National Park

    One of Acadia's most surprising features is this beautiful stretch of sandy shoreline tucked between mountains on the east side of Mount Desert Island…

  • La Verna Preserve

    Midcoast Maine

    This forested nature reserve is pretty compact, but within its confines there are 2.5 miles of trails and some 3600ft of shoreline. This waterfront is…

  • Portland Museum of Art

    Portland

    Founded in 1882, this well-respected museum houses an outstanding collection of American artists. Maine artists, including Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper,…

  • Maine, Camden Harbor, Camden Hills State Park, Penobscot Bay, View From Mount Batti. (Photo by: Jeff Greenberg/UIG via Getty Images)

    Camden Hills State Park

    Midcoast Maine

    With more than 30 miles of trails, this densely forested park is a choice place to take in the midcoast's magic. A favorite hike is the 45-minute (half…

  • Jordan Pond

    Acadia National Park

    On clear days, the glassy waters of this 176-acre pond reflect the image of Penobscot Mountain like a mirror. A stroll around the pond and its surrounding…

  • Penobscot Marine Museum

    Midcoast Maine

    The superb Penobscot Marine Museum houses Maine’s biggest collection of mariner art and artifacts, which is spread through a number of historic buildings…

  • United Farmers Market of Maine

    Midcoast Maine

    This excellent, year-round farmers market features lots of prepared foods and a ton of craftspeople, artisans, artists and entertainment. It's basically a…

  • Dodge Point Preserve

    Midcoast Maine

    Some 500 acres of land, once managed as a tree farm, now constitute a lovely slice of preserved red pine woods and breezy riparian shorescapes. Four easy…

  • EPHH8P Portland Breakwater Lighthouse, aka The Bug, South Portland Maine

    Portland Breakwater Light

    Portland

    Portland is graced by a handful of handsome lights, including the 1875 Portland Breakwater Light with its Corinthian columns. Dubbed the 'Bug Light'…

  • BRUNSWICK, ME - AUGUST 6: Six sculptures worth seeing in the midcoast area, including a Joshua Chamberlain statue at the entrance to the Bowdoin campus in Brunswick. (Photo by Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

    Bowdoin College

    Midcoast Maine

    Bowdoin, established in 1794, is one of the oldest colleges in the US and the alma mater of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne and US…

  • A child walking on the boardwalk over natural dune, Popham Beach State Park, Maine. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

    Popham Beach State Park

    Midcoast Maine

    This 6-mile-long sandy stretch is one of the prettiest in the state, with views of offshore islands and the Kennebec and Morse Rivers framing either end…

  • ROCKLAND, ME - DECEMBER 5: Mutated Growth by Jackie Brown of Bath at the Materiality exhibition at CMCA in Rockland Tuesday, December 5, 2017. (Staff photo by Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

    Center for Maine Contemporary Art

    Midcoast Maine

    The CMCA's fabulous home is a clever, glass-enclosed space with a sawtooth roofline, designed by Toshiko Mori. The digs are perfect for featuring…

  • The lighthouse at Pemaquid Point, Maine with cloudy sky above and assorted native foliage in the foreground.

    Pemaquid Lighthouse Park

    Midcoast Maine

    Perched dramatically on top of the rocks in Pemaquid Lighthouse Park is the 11,000-candlepower Pemaquid Point Light, built in 1827, which was featured on…

  • Victoria Mansion

    Portland

    This Italianate palace, whose exterior would work well in a Tim Burton movie, dates back to 1860. Inside it's sumptuously decorated with rich furniture,…

  • Reid State Park

    Midcoast Maine

    The highlights of this forested park include the rocky promontory of Griffith Head, and the long, windswept stretch of Mile and Half Mile Beaches – rare…

  • Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine

    Portland

    Kids aged zero to 10 years shriek and squeal as they haul traps aboard a replica lobster boat, milk a fake cow on a model farm, operate a sound studio, or…

  • Thunder Hole

    Acadia National Park

    Waves rush into a natural opening carved into the rocks to create a thunderous splash, reaching high into the air when conditions are right. Steps from…

  • Bonyun Preserve

    Midcoast Maine

    Squeezed between the Sheepscot and Sasanoa Rivers, about 13 miles south of Wiscasset, this preserve contains in its compact dimensions no less than six…

  • Camden Public Library

    Midcoast Maine

    This gorgeous example of stately redbrick New England architecture is on the National Register of Historic Places. A library has occupied this building…

  • Tate House Museum

    Portland

    This home preserves the Colonial residence of George Tate, Maine's last British 'mast agent' (mast agents procured New England white pine trees as…

  • Echo Lake

    Acadia National Park

    Ringed with lush forests and nestled between the slopes of two mountains, Echo Lake makes for a lovely escape from the crowds on the busier eastern side…

  • Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site

    Midcoast Maine

    If you or your kids are into history, make sure to pop by this state park, where experts have rebuilt the Fort William Henry (c 1692), and an on-site…

  • Somes Sound

    Acadia National Park

    This fjord-like embayment is one of the most striking natural features in Acadia. It was formed by glaciers and makes for a picturesque backdrop to a…

  • Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum

    Midcoast Maine

    This small but fascinating campus museum holds memorabilia from the expeditions of Robert Peary and Donald MacMillan, Bowdoin alumni who were among the…

  • Main Library

    Portland

    The main branch of the Portland Public Library is located within the 83,000-sq-ft Baxter Building, an architectural gem that cleverly utilizes vast glass…

  • Bowdoin College Museum of Art

    Midcoast Maine

    Set in a 19th-century building with a dramatic glass entrance pavilion, this campus art museum is small but impressive. The 20,000-piece collection is…

  • Sears Island

    Midcoast Maine

    You can (and should) explore Sears Island on foot. This uninhabited, 940-acre conservation area is connected by causeway to the mainland north of…

  • Linekin & Burley Preserves

    Midcoast Maine

    These two adjacent protected spaces encompass some 140 acres of forested Maine prettiness, situated on a windy stretch of lovely, gravel-studded…

  • Rockport Marine Park

    Midcoast Maine

    Tiny Rockport's harbor is justifiably famous across the region as one of the most beautiful in New England. The all-encompassing park space area includes…

  • Joshua L Chamberlain Museum

    Midcoast Maine

    This house museum exhibits artifacts from the late owner, who led one of the USA's great, eventful lives – first a college professor, then Civil War hero,…

  • Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park

    Midcoast Maine

    Just outside Freeport, this park has 5 miles of easy hiking trails, including a scenic shoreline walk that skirts Casco Bay. To reach the park, take Bow…

  • Portland, ME, USA - September 17, 2013: Wadsworth-Longfellow House, Portland, Maine, New England, USA. The Wadsworth-Longfellow House is Maine's first house museum. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was a commanding figure in the cultural life of nineteenth-century America. Born in Portland, Maine, in 1807, he became a national literary figure by the 1850s, and a world- famous personality by the time of his death in 1882. Red brick colonial house, gates, green front yard with trees, bushes and grass and blue sky are in the image.
Longfellow House

    Longfellow House

    Portland

    The revered American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) grew up in this Federal-style house, built in 1785 by his Revolutionary War–hero…

  • USA, Maine, Portland, Portland Observatory

    Portland Observatory

    Portland

    Built in 1807 atop Munjoy Hill, this seven-story brick tower was originally used to alert shipowners when their ships were heading for home. Now restored,…