Top Things to Do in Bar Harbor from May to August 2024
Like many other Maine coastal towns, summer is Bar Harbor’s busiest season – with most of the eastern seaboard looking for cool ocean breezes and lush green hikes. Don’t let the crowds discourage you, because we have the tips and tricks that will let you experience Mount Desert Island like a local, as well as some of the must-see events, from free orchestral performances and fashion shows to fresh seafood and the country’s most famous Fourth of July.
The 2024 Bar Harbor Season is in Full Swing!
ACTIVITIES & ATTRACTIONS
Savor Some Classic Maine Seafood
No trip to Coastal Maine is complete without a smorgasbord of seafood. To get the most out of your meal, avoid the long lines at places in the village of Bar Harbor and head further south to spots like The Docksider in Northeast Harbor. This small restaurant with a homey exterior set within view of the harbor serves scores of all kinds of seafood but may be best known for its fried – yet tender – clam bellies. It also features an ice cream window serving up scoops from favorite local brand, Shain’s of Maine. Don’t want to leave the confines of Bar Harbor? Stewman’s Lobster Pound is an icon overlooking Frenchman Bay and famous for a meal called The Downeast Lobster Experience: clam chowder, a 20-ounce steamed Maine lobster, mussels, buttered sweet corn and potatoes, and finally, homemade blueberry pie for dessert. To avoid the crowds, make the trip either for a late lunch or early dinner between the times of 2:30 to 5 p.m.
Time Your Park Loop Drive Just Right
The months of July and August are the peak season for Acadia National Park, which means a congested Park Loop Road – the 27-mile main artery that runs through park – and its equally busy pull-off observation points. And since doing a circuit of this two-lane loop road is a must during any visit to take in granite ledges melting into the steel-blue sea, we suggest heading out as early as 8 a.m. or after 5 p.m. (as the crowds descend at 10 a.m. and don’t start to let up until 4 p.m.). Remember, if you are planning to bring a vehicle up Cadillac Mountain’s famous Summit Road, you’ll need more than just a park pass, but an advance vehicle reservation.
See a Free Seaside Show
Every Wednesday through July and August, the town of Bar Harbor hosts an outdoor movie series in Agamont Park (sponsored by The Harborside Hotel, Spa & Marina), right on the edge of the water. The movies start at dusk (approximately 8 p.m.), but you should plan to spread out your blanket early to save your spot (we suggest around 4 p.m.). Grab a to-go dinner from West Street Hotel’s Paddy’s or Harborside Hotel’s La Bella Vita to enjoy while the sun sets, followed by complimentary popcorn when the 16-foot silver screen lights up.
Sightsee through the Quiet Side of Acadia
Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park are obviously two of the most beautiful – and, therefore most popular – locations in Maine. But there are plenty of other scenic hidden gems worth checking out, including what’s known as the “Quiet Side of Acadia,” which comprises the areas of Mount Desert, Tremont, and Southwest Harbor, and their respective villages just west of Somes Sound. Unlike the eastern side’s Bar Harbor and Northeast Harbor, there are no major downtowns here, but rather a high concentration of what true Down East Maine is about: tiny fishing villages where the daily return of lobster boats is like a celebratory parade, main streets devoid of chain stores, and weathered cottages seemingly preserved in time from the salty air.
Take an Evening Hike up Cadillac
It’s unlikely that you would start a hike after dinner. But since Cadillac Mountain is the tallest mountain on the eastern coast of the US, rising 1,530 feet above sea level, it’s still light at the summit until 9 p.m. at the height of summer, making 5 p.m. an acceptable time to start your 2.2-mile trek up (especially as most hikers have finished their longer routes for the day, leaving the trails empty). From the Park Loop Road, you’ll take the North Ridge Trail, which travels along the mountain’s north ridge with a few steep sections broken up by level sections, before hitting the summit, which affords views of the Porcupine Islands and Bar Harbor.
Take A Boat Tour to A Nineteenth-Century Island Homestead
While Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co. – Maine’s largest boating tour company – may be best known for its whale watches (it is, after all, a part of the name), don’t let that lead you to believe that it’s the only type of tour offered. In fact, The Baker Island Tour is actually one of the company’s most unique offerings. Led by an Acadia park ranger, this exclusive excursion travels nine miles off the coast to Baker Island, a remote, mostly uninhabited isle home to a 200-year-old family farmstead that feels like it’s frozen in time. Guests disembark and get to explore the island while learning what nineteenth-century life on this remote isle was like.
2024 FESTIVALS & EVENTS
Acadia Birding Festival, 6/1
This annual festival features guided kayaking trips to see puffins, visits to active peregrine breeding sites to watch them make their famous 180-mile-per-hour dives, and more bird-oriented activities across Mt. Desert Island.
Abbe Museum Dawnland Festival of Arts and Ideas, 6/12–14
Held at the College of the Atlantic (COA), this unique multi-day event is an evolution of the popular Abbe Museum Indian Market (AMIM) and Native American Festival that featured invitation-only Native arts markets and performances. While those those elements will remain, the event will also spotlight conversations by Wabanaki and other Indigenous leaders on some of the biggest questions of our time, including climate, democracy, and food systems.
Bar Harbor Music Festival, 7/10–8/7
For the past 58 years, this music festival has kick-started the careers of hundreds of young classical musicians, vocalists, and composers. For the month of July (and even into August), Bar Harbor becomes a haven for music lovers, with events ranging from jazz Sundays to full opera productions to recitals by the world piano competition winner, Alexandra Beliakovich.
Fourth of July, 7/4
It has been said that Bar Harbor has the best Independence Day celebration in the country. It’s no wonder, considering the day starts off with a community-wide blueberry pancake breakfast followed by races (for both humans and lobsters), a craft fair, a seafood festival, a parade, live music all day, and a giant fireworks display.
Downeast Seabird & Lighthouse Cruise, 7/20
Led by expert guides Bob Duchesne and Zack Klyver, this special cruise with the Bar Harbor Whale Watch Co. will take folks on an adventure to see some of the U.S.’s most remote lighthouses and rare seabird species.
Bar Harbor Fine Arts Festival, 8/16–18
This invitational fine arts festival includes some of the country’s best jewelry makers, painters, potters, and photographers in a juried exhibition right in downtown Bar Harbor.
Where to Stay Harborside Hotel, Spa & Marina | West Street Hotel
