How many days 2 or 3 in Bar Harbor?

My husband, 8 yr old and I will be in Bar harbor in early August. From there we head to Boston. We like to keep active. So because I am getting mixed reviews here is my question ..is 3 days too many days to keep busy? Our option is 2 or 3 days. Thanks for any help.

How many days 2 or 3 in Bar Harbor?

You%26#39;re getting mixed reviews!? We%26#39;ve been going to Bar Harbor for the last 9 years. Each trip we add more and more time to our stay. Now we stay 10 days and it%26#39;s *still* not enough time! Each year we find something new to do. There are tons of things to do in Bar Harbor and if you are active you will enjoy your visit.

If those two are the only options you have...3 days.

How many days 2 or 3 in Bar Harbor?

Mixed reviews? Keep active? Lots of people on this forum have been coming back to Bar Harbor for ten years and more and haven%26#39;t yet done all the things they would like to do.

I was a tourist here for 20 years and have now lived here for eleven. I still haven%26#39;t hiked all the trails in Acadia National Park, although I have walked all the carriage roads.

And I%26#39;ve rented kayaks, biked on the carriage roads, taken the Park-sponsored cruise to Baker Island, gone on a whale watch, sailed on a four-masted schooner, and eaten at a lot of great restaurants.

I would still love to do the Lulu Lobster boat, get out to the Cranberry Islands, go see Swans Island, see a puffin, and any number of other things.

Three days is not enough.

I%26#39;ll just repeat what other people said here, just so you have more opinions. If you%26#39;re active, you could truly spend two weeks in BH, no problem. I spent a week every year there growing up and we always had new trails to hike and areas to explore.

Which is WHY I asked TripAdvisor members! I knew not to believe the people that were telling me the opposite! Thank you so much for affirming my thoughts! I%26#39;m really excited now. Soooo, what%26#39;s a ';must do'; in those 3 days. Thanks again.

With an 8 year old...hike the Wonderland Trail at low tide. It%26#39;s easy, interesting and there are great tidal pools at the end for kids (and adults) to explore. I was just there with my 80 year old parents and 22 year old daughter and we spent 3 hours there just walking around and exploring. Eat at a lobster pound...we like Thurstons but there are a few on/just off the island. Swim...at Sand Beach if you can stand the ocean. Echo Lake, Long Pond or Little Long Pond if you want warm water. Better yet rent a canoe from Ntl Park Canoe Rentals in Somesville and explore Long Pond. Best place on the island to swim. We used to take our daughter out on a working lobster boat and she loved it. Touristy but great when it%26#39;s crashing is Thunderhole. Check the tide tables. Crossing over to Bar Island at low tide. Picking blueberries on any of the trails. Be sure to bring a ziploc bag! If you%26#39;re there during the summer on Mon/Thur there are concerts on the green downtown. Kids love them! Ice cream at Ben and Bill%26#39;s Chocolate Emporium! Best selection in town and you can actually get lobster ice cream! The other posts are right...3 days is not enough. We%26#39;ve been coming here for over 27 years and every time we come we discover places/things we%26#39;ve never seen.

Be sure to stop at the Jordan Pond house, in Acadia, for tea (or lemonade) and popovers out on the lawn overlooking the pond and the Bubbles (rock formation). The butter and strawberry jam on the hot-from-the-oven pastsries taste especially good if you%26#39;ve biked or hiked to the spot.

Hi JT!

I%26#39;m going to be the responsible spokesman for the opposing viewpoint here!

I think two nights in Bar Harbor is plenty. If I had unlimited time to travel, I might spend three nights, or even longer as many seem to be telling you. But I don%26#39;t have unlimited time. And you don%26#39;t. And there are many other places to see.

You can see Bar Harbor town in an afternoon. It%26#39;s mostly shopping and the walks along the harbor. You%26#39;ll doubtless be there for meals too (although I would not want to say that too categorically because there are many nooks and crannies among the smaller towns on Mount Desert Island, like Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor).

Acadia National Park has a great many places to explore. My question is, do you really want to discover each and every one in a single trip? Or might you be happier running out of time and coming back again?

Even if I had a lot more time, I%26#39;d still stay for the shorter period. Earlier this month, we spent two nights in Bar Harbor. It wasn%26#39;t our first trip, and it won%26#39;t be our last. I think two nights is the perfect amount of time because I leave with the feeling that Acadia and Mount Desert Island are bigger than I thought, and that even though I saw a lot there will be still more for another day. If I%26#39;d stayed longer, I might get Bar-Harbored-out, feeling that I%26#39;ve seen everything and that there%26#39;s nothing more to come again for.

Have you thought about Old Orchard Beach/Kennebunkport? (Presidents Bush like that part of the Maine coast very much.) Freeport? Boothbay Harbor? What about Washington County to the east, places like Machias? How about Campobello Island, still further east in Canada? (President Franklin Roosevelt liked Campobello Island so much that he built his 37-room summer ';cottage'; there.)

Happy travels, and let me know if I can help further!

David

capetien10@gmail.com

Oh boy, here we go. Two nights in BH town proper, maybe ok. Two nights to explore MDI=extreme frustration. We%26#39;ve been coming here for 20 years and have yet to do everything that we want to do. We have now extended our annual stay to two weeks, (as a matter of fact, we are here now and in our second week ) and once again feeling the ';time crunch'; of prioritizing what we want to do with the little time left to us. Driving home each year we make a list of ideas for the next year, I sit with the trail maps while the trails are fresh in my mind, and imagine the fun we%26#39;ll have next year.

Everyone has their own ideas of how to spend their vacation time, it would be wonderful to have unlimited time and resources to ';play'; in the area of your choice until you felt ready to move on. In all our years here, we%26#39;re still not ready. We do spend weeks of time in other areas of the country, but this time is reserved for MDI and will be for a (hopefully) long time to come.

Every response has enlightened me that much more. I have no worries that I too will be a repeat visitor whether I say 2 or 10 days. It doesn%26#39;t take much to entertain us. Every trip turns out to be an adventure.