Maine Town Guides
Everything you need to plan your visit. Outdoor activities, where to eat, where to stay, events, and local tips for Maine's best towns.
Bar Harbor
Gateway to Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island. World-class hiking, coastal scenery, and a walkable downtown with great food.
Bath
Shipbuilding capital of Maine. A working waterfront city with the Maine Maritime Museum, a revitalized downtown, and the Kennebec River running to the sea.
Belfast
Artsy harbor town on Penobscot Bay. An eclectic mix of galleries, co-ops, craft breweries, and waterfront parks with stunning bay views and a fiercely independent spirit.
Bethel
Gateway to Sunday River and Grafton Notch. A year-round outdoor town with skiing, hiking, and a walkable village in the western Maine mountains.
Biddeford
Maine's mill city reborn. A once-quiet textile town now buzzing with galleries, craft breweries, a vibrant restaurant scene, and Biddeford Pool's hidden beach community.
Blue Hill
A creative hub on the Downeast coast. Pottery studios, organic farms, Kneisel Hall chamber music, and a mountain with panoramic bay views in one small town.
Boothbay Harbor
Midcoast harbor village with boat tours, whale watching, Botanical Gardens, and a waterfront lined with lobster shacks and galleries.
Bridgton
Lakes Region hub with Highland Lake, Long Lake, Pleasant Mountain skiing, and a revitalized downtown serving as the gateway to western Maine's lake country.
Brunswick
College town charm meets coastal Maine. Home to Bowdoin College, a walkable downtown, the Androscoggin River bike path, and the gateway to the Harpswell peninsulas.
Bucksport
River town with the best bridge view in Maine. Home to the Penobscot Narrows Observatory, historic Fort Knox, a revitalized waterfront, and affordable Penobscot River charm.
Camden
Where the mountains meet the sea. A picturesque harbor full of windjammers, 30 miles of hiking trails, and a vibrant downtown on Penobscot Bay.
Carrabassett Valley
Home to Sugarloaf. A year-round mountain town with alpine skiing, hut-to-hut hiking on Maine Huts & Trails, Bigelow Range summits, and the Narrow Gauge Pathway for biking.
Castine
A storybook village on Penobscot Bay. Revolutionary War history, Maine Maritime Academy, Federal-era architecture, and a peaceful waterfront that time seems to have overlooked.
Damariscotta
Maine's oyster capital. Twin villages on the Damariscotta River with world-class oyster farms, ancient shell middens, farm-to-table dining, and a walkable Main Street.
Deer Isle
Island of artists and lobstermen. A quiet, bridge-connected island with the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, granite quarry swimming holes, lobster boats, and galleries around every bend.
Eastport
America's easternmost city on Passamaquoddy Bay with 24-foot tides, the Old Sow whirlpool, sardine heritage, and a reviving arts scene in Washington County.
Ellsworth
Gateway to Acadia. A practical and increasingly charming stopover city with a historic downtown, the Union River, and the last full-service shopping before Mount Desert Island.
Freeport
Home to L.L. Bean, outlet shopping, Wolfe's Neck trails, and the Desert of Maine. A perfect blend of retail and outdoors.
Greenville
Gateway to Moosehead Lake. World-class fishing, seaplane rides, hiking at Gulf Hagas, and moose watching in the heart of the Maine Highlands.
Jackman
Gateway to Moose Alley. Remote wilderness town known for moose watching on Route 201, Attean Pond canoeing, the Moose River bow trip, and hundreds of miles of snowmobile and ATV trails.
Kennebunkport
Classic coastal village with Dock Square shops, Goose Rocks Beach, the Bush compound, and some of the finest dining in southern Maine.
Lincolnville
Beachside gateway to Islesboro.
Lubec
Easternmost town in the US. Home to West Quoddy Head Lighthouse, the bridge to Campobello Island, and quiet Downeast charm.
Machias
Blueberry Capital and Bold Coast gateway.
Millinocket
Gateway to Katahdin and Baxter State Park. A mill town reborn as an outdoor hub at the edge of Maine's wildest backcountry.
Monhegan
Artist colony on the edge of the Atlantic. A car-free island 12 miles out to sea with 150-foot headland cliffs, a historic lighthouse, wildflower meadows, and a century of artistic inspiration.
Naples
Lake country at its finest. A summer resort town on Sebago Lake and Long Lake with sandy beaches, the Songo River Queen, family camps, and the bustling Causeway village.
Ogunquit
Art colony and beach town with the famous Marginal Way cliff walk, charming Perkins Cove, and three miles of sandy shoreline on the southern Maine coast.
Portland
A walkable waterfront city where award-winning restaurants, craft breweries, and cobblestone streets meet island-studded Casco Bay.
Rangeley
A remote mountain-lake village offering year-round outdoor adventure, from Saddleback skiing and AT hiking to legendary brook trout fishing on six pristine lakes.
Rockland
A gritty working waterfront meets a thriving arts scene, farm-to-table dining, and island ferries on Penobscot Bay.
Saco
Where the Saco River meets the sea. A family-friendly city with Camp Ellis Beach, the rare Saco Heath peatland, riverside trails, and Funtown Splashtown for the kids.
Searsport
Antique Capital and sea captains' town. Home to the Penobscot Marine Museum, a legendary stretch of antique shops on Route 1, and a deep-water port with maritime heritage.
Skowhegan
River town reimagined. Home to the Skowhegan Indian sculpture, a cutting-edge art residency, the Run of River gorge park, and gateway to the western mountains.
Southwest Harbor
The quiet side of Acadia. A genuine fishing village on Mount Desert Island's western shore with world-class boat building, harbor lobster pounds, and trails to Beech Mountain and beyond.
Stonington
Working fishing village on Deer Isle with Maine's largest lobster fleet, granite heritage, Haystack craft school, and the boat to Isle au Haut's wild Acadia trails.
Vinalhaven
Maine's largest island. A lobstering community in Penobscot Bay with flooded granite quarries for swimming, stunning shore trails, and the authentic rhythms of year-round island life.
Wells
Seven miles of sand and salt marshes.
Winter Harbor
Acadia's best-kept secret. A small fishing village on the Schoodic Peninsula with a spectacular section of Acadia National Park, crashing surf on granite shores, and an annual lobster festival.
Winterport
Step back in time on the Penobscot. A sleepy river village with Federal-era homes, antique shops, local farms, and the unhurried charm of inland Maine.
Wiscasset
Self-proclaimed Prettiest Village in Maine with grand historic homes, Red's Eats lobster rolls, and a scenic Sheepscot River setting in the Midcoast.
York
Southern Maine's complete coastal town. Home to Nubble Lighthouse, miles of sandy beaches, colonial-era history, and family attractions from the Wild Kingdom to cliff walks.