trip to Acadia

[baileyjo1]

Hello folks--This is my first post on this forum. I just ran across it yesterday when I started to plan for our spring vacation to Acadia National Park. This forum seems to have everything. We live about 80 miles north of Pittsburgh, and are planning a 2 week trip up to Acadia and would like some tips on points of interest, places to eat,, lodging etc. We would like to drive fairly straight up then more of a sightseeing route back home. Also we have our labradoodle travelling with us. We live in the country, so Interstates do not mean that much to us. Any info would be appreciated. Thanx

[glc]

Welcome to RTA!

How many travel days do you want to take? The absolute fastest you can get there is a day and a half, and it's almost all on Interstates and involves substantial tolls. To get there in 2 days, it would still be primarily Interstate and there will be some tolls.

The 2 day route would be:

Best way from your location to I-86
I-86 to Binghamton
I-88 to Albany area
I-90 to I-87 to NY-7
NY-7 to Vermont
NH-9/NH-101 to I-95
I-95/I-295 to Brunswick
US-1 to Ellsworth

I would try to make it at least as far as Brattleboro the first day. There's plenty of lodging there as it's right on I-91.

[DonnaR57]

In the Acadia area, there are lots of mom-and-pop lodging places as well as the usual chain places. What I noticed, in planning our 2012 trip to the area, was that a lot of mom-and-pop places were closed until the beginning of May. There were a few places that opened in April, and most of the chains were open year-round. You could stay in Bar Harbor, or in Trenton which is right across the bridge from Mount Desert Island.

I highly recommend US 1 from Brunswick to Ellsworth -- absolutely beautiful drive! We also took parts of US-1 around Wells Beach and Wells, which was also lovely.

In the Acadia area, looking around the Bar Harbor area shows you some very quaint homes and businesses. The Maine Sea Coast Mission is a beautiful building -- unfortunately, we were there on a weekend when it wasn't open. I would have loved to go inside. Instead, we walked around the back of it where there was a picturesque cove.


Donna

[AZBuck]

It is, of course, possible to get from approximately Meadville PA (80 miles north of Pittsburgh) to Bar Harbor ME (outside Acadia National Park) while minimizing Interstates in general and toll roads in particular. It would take about two days of steady driving, plus whatever time you'd like to spend at attractions along the way, so certainly with three days, you could do it in a very relaxed manner. Basically, you'd take PA-77 to US-6 across northern Pennsylvania to just west of Towanda and then use US-220 up to NY-17/I-86 across southern New York to Binghamton. A short jog north on I-81 would put you on I-88 north, one of the most scenic Interstates in the east, and one that passes Cooperstown on its way to the Albany area. Getting through Albany requires a short toll segment on I-90 (the New York State Thruway), but then I-87 north is free to NY-7 east. Once past Troy on NY-7, your trip on back roads through New England starts. NY-7 takes you past Bennington Battlefield and then becomes VT-9. On the eastern side of Vermont a short drive north on US-5 along the Connecticut River will let you hook up with NH-9 which merges with US-202 which will take you into Concord and then continue on into Maine. At Gorham ME, leave US-202 and take ME-25 down into Portland. Explore the waterfront and the Eastern Promenade and then leave town on I-295 past Freeport to US-1 at Brunswick. US-1 will take you Down East along the Maine Coast to Ellsworth from which ME-3 will make the final jaunt to Bar Harbor.

As I say, that's a good two days of solid driving at a minimum. If you plan to stop at some of the places en route you should plan on a third day. There are many more possibilities for interesting stops than I've listed, but further recommendations would depend on how much time you have and what your interests are, as would suggestions for places to stop for the night(s).

AZBuck

[baileyjo1]

Thank you everybody for the tips on our trip. We both just retired this year and are looking forward to exploring our great country. All help is greatly appreciated. Thank you again.

[baileyjo1]

I guess I should have added on my last post that we are in no hurry to get back to PA, Anything we find interesting along the way can delay our trip coming or going. I might add that any tips on good places to stay would be great. Sorry about the rambling, just really looking forward to our trip.