Vacation idea

My husband and I are wanting to come and visit Maine. Our plan is to come this month for about 10 days. Our problem is we have not idea where to stay or what to there would be to do this time of the year. When would be the best time for a visit to Maine. We both love nature and the scenery. The did think about staying at a B%26amp;B. The travel would be about 1300 miles if we drive butwe have thought about flying as well just not sure where we would fly into. We have looked into visiting Bar Harbor, and Rockport. All the pictures that we have seen show beautiful scenes. We would love to travel into Nova Scovia there there was time. Any ideas?

Vacation idea

Cathie -- Your request is fairly general, so I%26#39;ll try to cover at least some of it in this post and do my best to follow up if you have particular questions after that.

Late October is getting into one of Maine%26#39;s ';shoulder'; seasons....which doesn%26#39;t mean that it%26#39;s a bad time to come. In fact, you%26#39;re probably going to experience fewer crowds that if you came during the summer or winter tourism seasons. On the other hand, it also means that certain attractions may not be available or operating on only limited hours. For example, few Maine natives would ever consider swimming or other outdoor in-the-water activities this time of year -- temperatures are just getting too cold for that. On the other hand, crips Fall days can be a great time for hiking, although the brightest fall foliage will be disappearing soon -- probably within the next week or two.

Many of the restaurants and hotels/motels in the coastal resorts will also be ';winding down';...some going to reduced hours of operation and others closing for the season. However, there are also others that remain open year-round.

For general guidance about where you might want to stay and what you might want to do, take a look at the website www.Mainetourism.com That can get you started as far as which geographic region of the state may be most interesting, what kinds of activities best fit the season you%26#39;re planning to be here, etc.

As far as flying instead of driving goes, you have several options:

Portland International Jetport is Maine%26#39;s busiest airport with service by many, many major airlines and even some of the discount lines. Service goes from everthing from 757%26#39;s down to twin propeller commuter planes. Check your preferred airline%26#39;s website carefully to be sure you know what size equipment they use on particular flights. Portland would put you about an hour north of the Maine-New Hampshire border, about an hour south of the state capital in Augusta, about an hour southeast of the Western Mountains region and provide easy access to the coastal region between Kittery and Rockland. Portland is also Maine%26#39;s largest metropolitan area, although it%26#39;s still small by ';city'; standards in most other states.

A second option for flying in is to go to Bangor International Airport -- again, service by some of the major carriers, but more smaller planes than serve Portland, so watch for that when you%26#39;re checking on schedules.

Air service is also available to Rockland, Augusta, Bar Harbor, but these are commuter flights on smaller airplanes and generally require connections through Boston.

If you have a dislike for smaller planes, be especially watchful of flights to Maine from Boston, New York City or Washington, DC. Most of the airlines offering service to Maine from those cities have gone to smaller aircraft as a way to cut their costs. On the other hand, if smaller planes don%26#39;t bother you, they can be a great way to get closer to your destination.

Other alternatives include flying into Boston or Manchester,NH and renting a car and driving to Maine. In both cases, you%26#39;re dealing with larger airports than anything in Maine, larger crowds, more congested approach roadways and more time just getting into the state....but it is an option. From Boston, your one and one-half to two hours from the southernmost point in Maine....from Manchester, it%26#39;s about an hour....

Extending your trip into Nova Scotia would add a minimum of a day-and-a-half each way to your trip, depending of course upon where you start in Maine and where you want to go in Nova Scotia.... You may hear or see reference to a high-speed ferry boat between Bar Harbor or Portland, ME and Yarmouth, NS but they cease operation for the winter on October 15, so probably will not be operating when you get here....

Don%26#39;t let any of the above discourage you from coming....most of us who live here think Maine is a special place all year %26#39;round. However, after having lived here for more than 50 years, I%26#39;ve also learned that not everyone understands that we do have four totally different weather seasons and that the green leaves of summer and bright foliage of the fall does, at some point, give way to the bare branches of winter that provide such a beautiful contrast to the clear blue Fall skies and, eventually, white snows of winter.

Again....take a look at the Maine Tourism website for more ideas....then get back to us to see how we can help with more specific information.

Vacation idea

thank you for you insight. it was most helpful. i have read this to my husband and he thinks now that we sould wait until july or august. we want to be there but there is hustle and bustle. would this time be the best time to come?

I was in Southern Maine in early June this year, the first time at that time of year for a while. The weather was beautiful and crowds were few. Kids are still in school so great timing for us. Some places weren%26#39;t open yet for the year so that would be something you should check. Often tourist type places don%26#39;t open until Memorial Day Weekend. I think if you have to do July or August, July would be my preference. I believe August is the busiest summer month by far. I am in southern Maine right now and a lot of places/things will be closing up after this weekend, Columbus Day Weekend.

I should also say that we fly into Boston and it is only 1 hour and 15 minutes to our place in Maine. I have checked other options over many years but always have found the best prices to there from Orlando....just a FYI. It really depends on what you want to see and how far you want to go.

Cathie --

July or August is a great time to visit Maine... daytime temperatures are anywhere from the low 70%26#39;s to low 90%26#39;s (rarely)....humidity is tolerable...and the mosquitos that are so prevalent in May and June aren%26#39;t as thick...

But, as you suggest, it%26#39;s also our second-busiest tourist season....saw a newspaper report yesterday that the Columbus Day weekend, with all the folks up looking at the fall foliage, is our busiest weekend of the year now.

The advantage of July-August is that it%26#39;s some of our best weather if you like warm (and occasionally humid). Virtually all of our warm-weather tourist-related businesses are open. And the driving conditions are better than at other times of the year -- except for the highway construction and reconstruction work, which is concentrated into the tie between May and October because weather conditions the rest of the year are not conducive to that kind of work.

If you%26#39;re coming up here that time of year, I%26#39;d suggest you do some research, decide where you want to go, and make your hotel/motel/bed-and-breakfast reservations as soon as you decide. Many of our more popular destinations fill up early (in many locations, repeat visitors made next year%26#39;s reservations while they were here this year). That%26#39;s not to say that accommodations should be a problem...just to suggest that to be sure you get to stay where you really want to be, early reservations are a good idea.

If you%26#39;re still not sure just where you want to be, you might consider flying into Portland, driving up the coast to the Rockland-Rockport-Camden area and staying there for a couple of days to see that part of the coast and it%26#39;s attractions, then drive further downt he coast for a few days in the Bar Harbor area and Acadia National Park. The Maine Tourism website I gave you earlier should have details about both those areas.

If you want to consider building a jaunt to Nova Scotia into your itinerary, the best way to do that without spending at least two days of straight driving is to look for the 2009 schedule for ';The Cat';, the high-speed ferry from Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The generally announce their sailing schedules in late Spring, so keep checking their website at nfl-bay.com or simply Google ';The Cat';.

While the coastal areas (Rockport and Bar Harbor) are super destinations, you might also want to look at the Maine Tourism info on inland Maine. Some of oru favorite areas for day trips, which would also make great overnight destinations, are the Rangeley and Bethel areas. Combining a couple of days in one of those areas, along with a few days on the coast, would give you a great feel for just how much Maine has to offer.

If you%26#39;re not coming until next summer, you%26#39;ve got some time to do some research before making any final decisions. If I can help with advice on specific areas of the state, don%26#39;t hesitate to post it on the Forum. I%26#39;m definitely not the only Mainer on TA and if I don%26#39;t have a good answer to one of your questions, someone else certainly will....

becca