Outdoor Adventures in Maine

Experience Maine in all its glory, four seasons of the year, when you stay at the Inn at English Meadows. The inn is set on a charming location, with lovely gardens perfect for strolling, and is a short walk to vibrant harbor districts. Other outdoor activities in the area include schooner sails, golfing, kayaking, canoeing, apple picking, leaf peeping and miles and miles of hiking and biking trails. In the winter, there’s skiing, tobogganing, fat biking and snow shoeing. Take a scenic lighthouse tour, go whale-watching or book a cruise to see how lobsters are caught. Visit a winery, a brewery, a nature preserve – or see it all from the air with a “flight-seeing” tour.

Hit the trails, the waterways and the parks of the Bar Harbor area when you establish your Maine vacation headquarters at the beautiful Bluenose Inn. With panoramic ocean views from luxurious suites, oversized rooms and a well-appointed apartment, the inn is a great place to plan your hiking and biking adventures in Acadia National Park as well as kayaking and canoeing trips, whale-watching and other boating excursions, rock-climbing opportunities and walking trails. The inn features heated indoor and outdoor pools, a hot tub and fitness center. Its Looking Glass Restaurant serves up an amazing breakfast with an equally amazing view of Frenchman Bay. Guests enjoy live music in the Great Room and piano bar as well as gatherings by the fire pit.

Toss your everyday routines and stresses to the wind: Book an adventure aboard one of the vessels of the Maine Windjammer Association. It’s like no other vacation you’ve experienced. Take a three-night cruise or sail for a week enjoying delicious homemade meals and the companionship of an expert crew and friendly fellow passengers. Help raise the sails, or sit on the deck and soak in the sun. Watch for porpoises, seals, bald eagles – even the occasional whale or puffin. Explore fishing villages, feast at a lobster bake on an uninhabited island, swim or paddle board – or just join in a game of Hearts around the wood stove. Vessels include 19th century schooners and more modern-day windjammers, all waiting for those seeking seafaring adventures.

Let a hearty, home-cooked breakfast at one of the Bar Harbor Bed and Breakfast Association’s 18 inns start your outdoor adventures in Bar Harbor. Acadia National Park awaits, with miles of scenic hiking trails and carriage roads for biking (and the sunrise from the top of Cadillac Mountain is amazing). If you want a water adventure, there’s kayaking, canoeing, and cruises aboard four-masted schooners. Take an excursion to see lighthouses, whales – and puffins! Go golfing, sit back and enjoy an outdoor concert or stroll through the town’s many boutiques and galleries. You’ll find outside dining everywhere, so don’t forget this is lobster roll territory. End your day at your inn, in a hot tub or with a cocktail by a toasty fire pit.