Things To Do in Boothbay Harbor

Aside from enjoying Wiscasset's handsome architecture and general quaintness, you can find several quirky, low-key attractions good for a break while traveling up along the coast, including the famed Red's Eats (see above). You’ll also find a handful of worthwhile antiques shops and eateries, as well as the excellent Wiscasset Bay Gallery (67 Main Street), displaying a trove of Monhegan Island landscape painters.

Boothbay Harbor was just another fishing village until it was "discovered" by wealthy city folks who built imposing seaside homes here. Once it embraced the tourist dollar, the village never really looked back, and in recent years it has emerged as a premier destination for tourists in search of classic coastal Maine; the village is often a mandatory stop on bus tours, which have in turn attracted kitsch, but some of the outlying areas remain beautiful.

Summer parking in the town requires either great persistence or forking over a few dollars. A popular local attraction is the long, narrow footbridge across the harbor, built in 1901. It's more of a destination than a link -- other than a few restaurants and motels, there's not much on the other side. The winding streets that weave through town are filled with souvenir shops purveying the usual trinkets.

In good weather, stop by a Boothbay-region information center and request a free guide to the holdings of the Boothbay Region Land Trust (tel. 207/633-4818). More than a dozen of its properties dot the peninsula, most with quiet, lightly traveled trails good for a stroll or a picnic. Among the best: the Linekin Preserve, a 95-acre parcel en route to Ocean Point with 600 feet of riverfront. A hike around the loop trail (about 2 miles) occupies a pleasant hour. To find the preserve, drive south from Route 1 in Boothbay Harbor along Route 96 for about 3 3/4 miles, and look for the parking area on the left.

Boothbay Harbor is overrun with summer visitors, but at nearby Ocean Point, you can leave most of the crowds behind by following a picturesque lane that twists along the rocky shore past a colony of vintage summer homes. Follow Route 96 southward from just outside Boothbay Harbor and you'll pass through the sleepy village of East Boothbay before continuing on to the point. The narrow road runs through piney forests before arriving at the rocky finger. It's one of a handful of Maine peninsulas with a road edging its perimeter, allowing you fine ocean views. Colorful Victorian-era summer cottages bloom along the roadside like wildflowers. Ocean Point makes for a good bike loop, too; mountain-bike rentals are available from the Tidal Transit folks.

Boat Excursions

The best way to see the Maine coast around Boothbay is on a boat tour. Nearly two dozen tour boats berth at the harbor or nearby. Balmy Days Cruises (tel. 800/298-2284 or 207/633-2284), for instance, runs a half-dozen hour-long trips daily around the harbor in summertime (mid-June to mid-September) from Pier 8 on Commercial St. for $26 per adult, $13 per child age 3 to 11. If you’d rather be sailing, ask about the five or so 90-minute harbor cruises daily from the same outfit aboard the Friendship sloop the Bay Lady ($42 for adults, $32 for children age 3–11). Schedules are reduced in spring and fall; call ahead for reservations. Balmy Day also runs trips out to Burnt Island ($35 for adults, $25 age 3–11), where Maine’s Department of Marine Resources leads lighthouse tours and hikes around the island. It’s a 15-minute boat trip that gives you 2.5 hours on the island.

The most personal way to see the harbor is via sea kayak. Tidal Transit Kayak Co. (tel. 207/633-7140) rents kayaks for $65 per day. Tandem kayaks and stand-up paddleboards available too, and staffers give some basic instructions before turning renters loose in the harbor. The shop is open daily in summer (except when it rains heavily), and is actually located on a dock at 18 Granary Way.