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Travel guide
Portland, Maine
5 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: June to October
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Welcome
Portland, Maine, in a few days
A fishing port of 68,000 people on a peninsula in Casco Bay, rebuilt in red brick after the fire of 1866, whose wharves still land lobsters and fish right below the restaurants. Twenty minutes away lie Maine's oldest lighthouse, islands served by ferry and a rocky coastline dotted with beaches and fishing villages.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- D5 Day 5 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Old Port free · half a dayThe harbour district rebuilt in brick and granite after the great fire of 1866, with cobbled streets, Victorian warehouses full of shops and restaurants, and working wharves where lobster boats unload.
- Late afternoon · Portland Museum of Art · about 2 hMaine's oldest public art museum, founded in 1882, with a building by I. M. Pei's firm and a major collection of Winslow Homer, alongside Andrew Wyeth and the painters of the Maine coast.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hampton Inn Portland Downtown-Waterfront ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€230 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Portland Observatory · about 45 minA 26-metre wooden signal tower built in 1807 on Munjoy Hill to spot approaching ships, the last of its kind in the United States, with views over the whole bay from the top.
- Afternoon · Eastern Promenade free · about 1 h 30A 28-hectare park on the slopes of Munjoy Hill whose lawns run down to Casco Bay, with a waterside trail to East End Beach and the best view of the islands from Fort Allen Park.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hampton Inn Portland Downtown-Waterfront ↗€230 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Peaks Island · half a dayThe inhabited island closest to Portland, 20 minutes by ferry, with a village of clapboard houses, a 6 km coast road and old Second World War batteries hidden in the woods.
- Late afternoon · Portland Head Light · about 1 h 30Maine's oldest lighthouse, first lit in 1791, a 24-metre white tower on the rocks of Cape Elizabeth inside Fort Williams Park, with a small museum in the keeper's house.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hampton Inn Portland Downtown-Waterfront ↗€230 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Freeport free · half a dayA small town 30 km north of Portland built around the L.L.Bean flagship store, founded in 1912, with its giant boot, trout pond and outdoor school, plus dozens of outlet shops.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hampton Inn Portland Downtown-Waterfront ↗€230 a night
D5
Day 5
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Kennebunkport free · half a dayA former shipbuilding port turned summer resort, with sea captains' houses, galleries and Dock Square, and Ocean Avenue running along the rocky coast to the Bush family's Walker's Point.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €185 a day, mid-range
Best seasonJune to October
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/portland-maine
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.