Getting Around Maine

The Short Answer

You need a car. The coast does not have a connecting transit system, the distances between regions are real, and the places worth visiting tend to sit at the end of peninsulas that require a dedicated trip out and back. The main exception is Acadia National Park, where the free Island Explorer shuttle does meaningful work during the summer season. Beyond that, plan on driving.

Route 1 is the coastal spine, running from the New Hampshire border at Kittery north through Portland, Rockland, and Camden toward the Downeast shore. Between Portland and Bar Harbor, that covers roughly 200 miles, and in summer the run can stretch to four or five hours on a Friday afternoon once traffic backs up through Brunswick, Rockport, and the Camden Hills stretch. The Maine Turnpike (I-95) parallels Route 1 from the New Hampshire line to the Gardiner area and provides a faster corridor to Bangor, saving 30 to 45 minutes on that segment in peak season. Before you commit to a home base, read through Where to Stay in Maine to understand which region makes sense for the things you want to do. Basing yourself in Portland to cover both Acadia and the southern beaches in a single week is doable, but it means a lot of driving in both directions.

Route 1 and the Summer Coast

Route 1 is scenic and slow. Through the southern coast towns of Ogunquit, Wells, and Kennebunk, it passes traffic lights, lobster stands, and seasonal crossings that back up on summer afternoons. The same pattern holds through Brunswick and into the MidCoast, where the road follows the shore through small harbors and crosses multiple drawbridges. Budget roughly two hours for the 85 miles between Portland and Rockland in summer, more on weekends in July and August.

The most efficient approach for a coast trip is to use I-95 for the sections where Route 1 runs inland and parallel, then drop down to Route 1 for the scenic portions near specific towns. For a trip from the southern coast to the MidCoast, taking the Turnpike from the Kennebunk exit north to Brunswick and then picking up Route 1 there saves real time without cutting out any coast worth seeing. The same logic applies heading Downeast: take I-95 to Bangor, then Route 1A to Ellsworth, then Route 3 to Bar Harbor. That run from Portland clocks in around 3 hours in moderate traffic rather than the 4 to 5 hours Route 1 demands on a summer Friday. For the The Maine Beaches region closest to the New Hampshire line, entering from I-95 at the Kittery exit and heading north on Route 1 through York and Ogunquit is how most visitors arrive, with the drive from Portsmouth, New Hampshire running about 25 minutes to the first Maine beach towns.

Acadia and Mount Desert Island

Acadia is the one place in Maine where leaving the car parked is not just possible but often the better choice during summer. The free Island Explorer shuttle runs from late June through Columbus Day, connecting Bar Harbor, the village of Southwest Harbor, and most of the major park destinations including Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Jordan Pond, and the carriage road network. The shuttle is funded by the park entrance fee and runs frequently enough in summer that you can reach all the main stops without timing your day around a schedule.

Driving up to the Cadillac Mountain summit requires a separate timed vehicle reservation from late May through late October, booked at recreation.gov. Reservations open in two batches: 90 days in advance and again two days out. Summer dates fill fast, and July mornings at the summit often sell out within minutes of the two-day release window. The full system, including how to book and what to do if you miss the reservation window, is covered in detail at Acadia Reservations and Cadillac Mountain. Hiking to the summit on the Cadillac North Ridge Trail is an alternative that does not require a vehicle reservation, though it adds significant elevation and takes most hikers two to three hours.

Parking inside the park at Sand Beach and Thunder Hole fills before 9 a.m. on summer mornings. The Island Explorer route from downtown Bar Harbor to Sand Beach runs frequently enough that leaving the car at your lodging and riding the shuttle is practical and saves considerable frustration. If Acadia is the primary reason for the trip, lodging in Bar Harbor within walking distance of the town pier puts the shuttle system and most of the park within easy reach.

Getting Into the Interior

Once you leave the coast, the driving calculus changes. Bangor sits about 2 hours north of Portland on I-95 and functions as the practical hub for the interior regions. From Bangor, Moosehead Lake and Greenville are about 70 miles north on Route 15, a roughly 90-minute drive on roads that narrow and slow as you get into the North Woods. Baxter State Park and Mount Katahdin require another 90 minutes or more from Bangor on Route 11 to Millinocket, and the park's access roads are unpaved. There are no services inside Baxter: no gas stations, no cell service on most trails, and no stores. Fill the tank and bring what you need before you enter.

The western mountains, including Sunday River near Bethel and Sugarloaf near Carrabassett Valley, are most easily reached from Portland via Route 2 west to Bethel, about 70 miles and roughly 90 minutes. Sugarloaf is farther, about 120 miles from Portland and roughly 2.5 hours. Neither mountain is close to the coast, so combining ski days with a coastal trip works best when you build a dedicated night or two in each area rather than day-tripping between them. For a sense of what each season means in terms of which roads and parks are open, the Best Time to Visit Maine page covers conditions month by month, including the spring mud-season closures that affect Baxter and interior logging roads through late April.

Going Without a Car

The Amtrak Downeaster runs five times daily between Boston's North Station and Brunswick, Maine, with stops in Wells, Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Portland, and Freeport along the way. Boston to Portland takes roughly 2.5 hours on the train. The Downeaster is a legitimate option for a Portland-focused trip or a southern coast trip where you plan to stay in one place and not range widely. It does not reach the MidCoast, Acadia, or the North Woods, and there is no connecting rail or scheduled bus from Brunswick to Bar Harbor. If the Old Port and Portland neighborhoods are your only destination, the train works well and sidesteps the I-95 drive and the parking fees. If you want anything north of Freeport, you need a car.

For the Casco Bay islands, Casco Bay Lines runs year-round ferry service from 56 Commercial Street on Portland's working waterfront to Peaks Island, Chebeague Island, Long Island, and others. Peaks Island is a 20-minute crossing and easily done as a half-day trip without a car. Round-trip fares run approximately $8 to $12 per adult. Inside Acadia, the Island Explorer shuttle covers most of what visitors need from late June through Columbus Day. For every other destination in Maine, including the MidCoast harbors, the Downeast coast, the western mountains, and the North Woods, a rental car is the practical answer. Car rental agencies operate at Portland International Jetport (PWM) and in downtown Portland, with Bangor International (BGR) also having on-site rentals for travelers flying closer to Acadia.