A 7-day Road Trip Along Maine’s Coast

Maine has a reputation problem: Everyone comes for the lobster. The lighthouses! The rugged coastline! We did too, both times we've visited. But on this one-week Maine road trip, which was built around our three-night sailing aboard the historic schooner Grace Bailey, something else kept pulling at us: Maine's gorgeous coastline, seen in the way only a road trip can provide.

We stayed at three beautiful hotels in distinct locations, all within two hours or less from the Portland, Maine, airport. Rent a car, as we did, and follow our easy-to-book itinerary.

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Our One-Week Road Trip Overview

Listen to our podcast episode on Small Ship Cruise Talk about our one-week Coastal Maine trip:

You'll find our road trip details further down in our article, here, and read about the hotels in depth here.

Renting a Car in Maine

If you're renting a car and arriving at the Portland airport, book your rental at the airport, not in a surrounding area. Car rental options that appear cheaper often require an Uber, Lyft, or a taxi to get to an off-site lot, which ends up costing more time and money.

The airport is very easy to navigate, and the car rental spot is across the crosswalk when you exit the terminal building.

We rented with Avis because they had competitive prices. One detail worth noting: Avis charges by the hour if you go even over your scheduled return time, and those fees escalate fast. If you have to return your car by 1:30 pm the day you're departing, be mindful of the flight you book. We originally booked an evening flight, but when we realized we had to return the car by 2:30 pm, we changed our flight to depart earlier.

Allow yourself multiple days on either end of your cruise. Maine rewards slow travel! The towns are quaint, and the drives between them are scenic. There are genuinely so many charming shops, galleries, lobster pounds, restaurants, and the like. It's too much to rush!

The unhurried vibe of Maine is part of what makes a vacation there so enjoyable.

If you are visiting during summer, as most people do, do not delay securing a rental car. While it's unlikely there will be no cars available, the longer you wait, the fewer options you'll have. We like searching on Booking.com for competitive prices.

Book Your Coastal Maine Hotels First

Once you have your dates figured out, which in our case was anchored by our Maine Windjammer cruise, book your hotels.

We booked three hotels for our trip, all of which were non-chain hotels. They matched the independent and charming vibe of coastal Maine; it was exactly what we wanted:

• Inn at Ocean's Edge, in Lincolnville (near Camden and Belfast)
• 250 Main Hotel, in Rockland, Maine, where we boarded our Maine Windjammer cruise on schooner Grace Bailey
• Higgins Beach Inn, in Scarborough, Maine, right next to the Portland airport

Our first stop was the Inn at Ocean's Edge in Lincolnville, a small residential stretch just north of Camden. We did not want to leave!

The ocean views are the obvious draw, but the inn's thoughtful charm is what got us. There was a fireplace in our room (it was gas and worked with the flip of a switch), Adirondack chairs on the small hill looking out to the water, a pool, a hot tub, a sauna, plenty of free parking, two o'clock cookie time in the lobby, and a complimentary and delicious breakfast that takes the morning slowly.

Though some hotels look like they might be on the water in this area, they are not. That's why the Inn at Ocean's Edge is a gem!!!!! Not only is there a view of the ocean, but you can walk down to the shore on the property.

Meals at the Inn at Ocean's Edge

The inn serves breakfast and offers a rather large menu, including a rotating plate of the day. They also have coffee and tea available most of the day, which is complimentary.

An afternoon cookie tray near the inn's entrance (which is right in front of the restaurant) appears daily just when you need a sugar rush!

Though they do not offer lunch or dinner, we brought dinner in one evening and ate it at one of the public tables overlooking the grand lawn that leads to the water. It was lovely!

The Hotel's Location Along Coastal Maine

Lincolnville is a small residential area between Belfast and Camden. Lincolnville doesn't have a lot besides hotels and a shop here or there (including a local bakery and maybe a restaurant or two), but it's just a 10-minute drive from Camden, a bustling, quaint city with “small town” vibes and charm, and Belfast, which is similar but has a more bohemian, artsy vibe.

Both are great towns to visit, and being in Lincolnville conveniently places you between the two.

Perfectly situated in Downtown Rockland, our next accommodation was 250 Main Hotel, with an urban yet comfy vibe. This design-forward boutique hotel in Rockland's downtown area was our speed and aesthetic.

We walked in during a rainstorm, saw the fireplace, and were grateful for the coziness. Even in June, it can be cold along coastal Maine, especially when it rains and the sun is hiding. The lobby's fireplace, the lobster gummy snacks (a subtle yet adorable touch), and the coffee and tea, available even in the afternoon, were welcoming and warmed our hearts and bodies.

A lovely breakfast of local pastries and yogurt was available in the morning, and around 5:00 pm, there was wine and cheese as a thank you to anyone who booked with them directly.

Small personalized touches like that go a long way and are often the difference between staying at smaller boutique hotels rather than big chains.

There is free parking at a lot across the street and down a small hill. That parking lot is right by the Rockland Yacht Club building; there are also several delicious food trucks in that area during summer that are a wonderful option for breakfast or lunch. We ate lunch from one of the food trucks at one of the picnic tables there one afternoon so we could enjoy the weather and the surprising view in the harbor: an American Cruise Lines ship!

You can unload your luggage curbside, directly next to the hotel, before moving your vehicle to the lot. Though the hotel doesn't have amenities like a pool or sauna, you can't beat the location.

After our sailing on Grace Bailey ended Monday morning, we drove south from Rockland to Scarborough. We checked into the Higgins Beach Inn — a beach community hotel that genuinely felt like part of the neighborhood rather than visitor accommodations.

The inn sits a few blocks from the beach in a residential area. It's filled with residents and several vacation rental homes. Surfboards lean against the porches of neighboring homes, and body boards/boogie boards are available for guests to use on the inn's porch.

The front desk chalkboard lists high and low tide times each day along with the weather forecast. There are beach towels and chairs available to borrow. We walked to the beach with our insulated coffee mugs and sweatshirts on, and watched surfers ride small swells in the misty morning. It was bliss.

Complimentary cookie time happens here, too — chocolate chip this time — along with self-serve coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.

The hotel serves a buffet breakfast in the morning, and grab-n-go complimentary fresh pastries; thankfully, blueberry muffins made one more appearance before we headed home! The breakfast dining area is a restaurant called Shades, which is open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday, from 4:00 to 9:00 pm during the season, from mid-May through summer.

Road Trip Stops Along Coastal Maine: Belfast, Camden, Pemaquid Peninsula, Damariscotta, Rockland, And Scarborough

This was our second time road-tripping in coastal Maine for one week. The first time, we stopped in Bar Harbor, Boothbay Harbor, Camden, Rockland, and Portland. Though Rockland and Camden overlapped our trip this time, we were happy to have some new stops in the mix.

No matter if you visit some or all of these destinations, you'll be thrilled! Bar Harbor is a favorite, as is Belfast and Camden.

Reminder that our road-trip path is laid out here.

After our delicious meal, we drove to the main area of Belfast just a few minutes away to wander in and out of shops: a pottery store with an artist throwing clay as we chatted about the town, a used bookstore with vintage clothes, an art store where we picked up some sketchbook supplies for our Maine Windjammer cruise, gem stores and more. We ducked into Wild Cow Creamery for ice cream made in-house (get the blueberry) and stopped at a co-op to pick up dinner to eat later at the Inn at Ocean's Edge.

We walked off our ice cream calories along Belfast's lovely Harbor Walk, with a paved path that weaves along the shipyard waterfront. We ended up going back to Belfast Clay Studio after our walk; I couldn't stop thinking about a small mug that doubled as a vase and matched our new coffee bar at home perfectly. It's now proudly displayed there, and brings me back to our fabulous Maine road trip every time I look at it.

Maine's food story is well-told elsewhere (we have a full article on what to eat in Maine), but Belfast is where we started to notice the less-told story that would really pronounce itself in Rockland: the creative energy woven into these small towns. Artists live here and show their work in small storefronts and galleries. It didn't announce itself, but it accumulated with each town we visited.

Camden: A Slice of New England Americana

Camden has varied views to choose from. There is a wharf on one side of the waterfront with modern restaurants and bars. On the other side is a town center with many shops and additional restaurants. There is even a small area of waterfalls on the backside of Main Street, called Meguntacook Falls.

Seeing the boats in the harbor is part of the experience. Plan to get a drink in Camden, at the very least, and spend a few hours walking around, including stopping at The Smiling Cow (with the red and white-striped awning), which has a great assortment of Maine souvenirs.

Rockland: Where the Art Story Intensifies

Within hours of checking into 250 Main Hotel, we were at two very different cultural institutions that together did something unexpected during our trip: they made us want to create things. Even if you aren't artistically inclined, it's worthwhile to visit CMCA and Farnsworth Art Museum.

CMCA

Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) is housed in an 11,500 square foot glass building designed by renowned Japanese architect, Toshiko Mori. Rather than a permanent collection, exhibits rotate throughout the year. When we visited, there were four exhibits within its 5,500 square feet of exhibition space. Our favorite was Bianca Beck's installation called “Eyes.”

The visit took about thirty minutes and continued our art inspiration in Maine.

Not to Miss: Farnsworth Art Museum

The next day, we prepared for our anticipated Farnsworth Art Museum visit! (Did we mention how much we loved that everything was within walking distance of 250 Main Hotel?)

Dan had been wanting to come here since we missed it on a previous trip to Rockland, and we timed our day to catch the 2:00 pm guided tour.

Our guide, Carter (who was also a gaffer, as it turned out), walked us through the museum's collection with the kind of passion that makes art accessible without dumbing it down.

The thread through the Farnsworth is Maine — the coast, the countryside, the light. We absolutely loved seeing the beauty of the area through the artists' eyes. It especially drove home the serenity of the shoreline. However, the reason for our visit, for Dan really, was the Wyeth family.

N.C. Wyeth illustrated the books that gave us our mental images of pirates and adventure (Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson), and in doing so shaped American visual culture in ways most people don't realize.

His son, Andrew, painted Maine and Pennsylvania landscapes that feel simultaneously still and haunted. Christina's World is arguably his most famous work and hangs at MoMA in NYC, but the Farnsworth Art Museum is where you can see the breadth of his collection. There were also one or two works from N.C.'s grandson, Jamie (Andrew's son). A truly talented family!

Even Andrew's wife, Betsy, who was very prominent in the museum, had a presence there. We were tickled to find out that her father helped start the American Arts & Crafts movement in East Aurora, New York, a city we frequent when we visit Dan's family in Buffalo. But I digress.

Dan passionately shares his love for the Wyeth family and how it inspires his own artistic journey in our Maine Road Trip podcast episode.

Seeing their sketches alongside finished paintings was phenomenal. Dan absolutely loved being able to dissect their process, as an artist himself.

We went in having packed a sketchbook and a travel watercolor set. We came out motivated to use them on our schooner trip. Dan even bought a biography on Andrew Wyeth and revisited his Andrew Wyeth: The Helga Pictures book upon our return home.

Guided tours at Farnsworth Art Museum are included with admission and occur at 11:00 am and 2:00 pm during the summer, starting in May. Check operating hours ahead of time, as the museum closes for major holidays and on Tuesdays, but is open weekly year-round.

Rockland's Main Street

A visit to Rockland wouldn't be complete without strolling along its pedestrian-friendly Main Street. There are galleries at almost every turn. Even a quick walk reveals work in media from woodcarving to textiles. We always enjoy popping into a Sea Bags shop when we see one, and there's certainly one here, as well as in Belfast. (And Bar Harbor! And Portland. They're everywhere!)

There are several places to stop for photos with cool street art murals, to have a drink, or grab food at one of the many local restaurants. After we had dinner that night, we enjoyed drinks at The Lemon Bar on Main Street, near the hotel. We highly recommend a nightcap there!

From Rockland to the Ocean: Three Days Sailing on Grace Bailey

Friday afternoon, after our hours at Farnsworth Art Museum, we boarded our historic schooner with Maine Windjammer at the Windjammer Wharf. It was just about two blocks over from Main Street.

The beautiful day gave way to a stunning late afternoon. As the sun continued to sink towards the horizon to end a wonderful day in Maine, we took a glorious walk around the waterfront. The night sky was starting to reveal itself with periwinkle, peach, and purple hues. Truly spectacular and photo-worthy.

Sailing around the Gulf of Maine aboard Grace Bailey was phenomenal. If you have any inclination to do it, don't hesitate to book. They do combinations of three- to six-night cruises, so even if you just want to try a “quickie,” as we did from Friday to Monday morning, it's doable.

Visiting the small islands that are a part of the state truly helps encapsulate a part of the Maine experience that most other visitors don't get to take advantage of. When we visited Maine years ago, on our other road trip, we were grateful to understand the state on a deeper level than our day trip to Bar Harbor during our Holland America Line New England cruise from Boston to Canada.

Yet, we feel that one can only understand the seafaring view of Maine if they go and have a firsthand perspective. The culmination of the two is what makes the trip.

Don't miss the chance to cruise with Maine Windjammer as part of your road trip.

Pemaquid Peninsula Detour

After our cruise, on the recommendation of local Mainers who were on the ship with us, we decided to take the long route to get to Scarborough. That's the beauty of having a slowcation and a rental car, right?

So we drove to the Pemaquid Peninsula to discover its lighthouse, stopping at the picturesque Rachel Carson Salt Pond Preserve on the way, and for a blueberry-flavored beer, too, at Shaw's Fish and Lobster Wharf. Waterfront views abound in coastal Maine; take advantage of them.

Since we were feeling adventurous, we stopped in Downtown Damariscotta, Maine, which also has a great “Main St.” along Route-1. If you're into beads and jewelry making, they have a great bead store called Aboca that I couldn't resist spending too much time in and making a purchase. We were also impressed by the store “Wildings.” It was beautiful, smelled great inside, and was well-curated.

For lunch, we loved our meal at The Lobster Haul just off Route-1. The food was fresh, seafood was well-priced, and the blueberry bread pudding was yum!

Scarborough: Where Coastal Inspiration Persists

Continuing on the drive south from Rockland, via our detour, we reached Scarborough. (The drive from Rockland directly to Scarborough is approximately an hour and a half.) The location was appealing because it's 20 minutes from the Portland airport, where we would be flying out of the next day.

Higgins Beach Inn has an ideal location, a walk away from the ocean. The nice thing about the neighborhood where the inn sits is that it's quiet and there isn't much to do…but relax. Scarborough, as a city, however, is sizeable and bustling. While the inn is tucked away in a quiet community, there is plenty nearby, like any sprawling suburban area has, including grocery stores, shopping strips, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, restaurants, and such.

For our final night, it was raining, so we cozied up in our lovely hotel room except for getting dinner at Jojo's Thai Kitchen, a small restaurant in a nearby shopping center that was exactly the comfort food we wanted after a few days at sea.

The next morning, our final day in Maine, inspiration continued to strike as we walked to the water, warm coffee in hand, and listened to the waves. Surfers were out that morning, and we liked imagining being a part of the Scarborough beach community, if only for a few hours.

We headed to the airport area after check-out and were grateful to have an hour to pop over to Portland first to take a stroll around and see what's changed, if anything, from the last time we were there a few years ago. That's the nice thing about Scarborough; it's so close to Portland, yet you can retreat away from the urban environment if you like.

Before You Go: A Few Things Worth Noting

Flying in: The airport, Portland Jetport (PWM), is easy and relatively small. There's no Priority Pass or credit card lounge there to wait for your return trip, but it's an easy airport to fly in and out of. Boston Logan is an option if it fits your routing, but adds drive time north. When you look up flights, make sure you're searching Portland, MAINE, because there is a Portland, Oregon, that comes up first.

Pacing: We were there Tuesday to Tuesday. Three nights pre-cruise, three nights on Grace Bailey, one night post-cruise. We could have filled ten days without repeating ourselves! If you want to extend to 10-14 days for your Maine Road trip, be sure to check out our road trip itinerary from a few years ago. You can sprinkle places in like Bar Harbor (the gateway to Acadia National Park), Boothbay Harbor, and spend extended time in Portland. They're all fabulous and have their own charm and personality.

Bugs: They're out and about! Be sure to pack The Bug Bite Thing or Beurer BiteX, which I swear by.

Art supplies: Honestly, bring something! Even a sketchbook and a ballpoint pen. Maine will give you reasons to use it. If you're inclined to sketch at all, do it! We love a travel watercolor set! They're fun.