in the beginning of the month my boyfriend austin and i decided to spend the weekend in bar harbor, maine. for those that don’t know, i live in new hampshire so maine isn’t too far for a getaway - it’s about 4 hours to bar harbor from where i live but the drive was worth it. i’ve always wanted to go to bar harbor + acadia national park and we couldn’t have chosen a better weekend to go - the weather was perfect. we stayed for 2 nights and spent a lot of time eating, sightseeing and sitting by the pool.

we stayed at the west street hotel right downtown - a super nice hotel in a great location. our room had a little balcony that overlooked the water which was amazing. and even better, this hotel had a rooftop infinity pool that served drinks all day. the hotel itself was super clean + i felt safe staying there - i would definitely recommend the west street hotel especially while traveling during COVID.

the first night we were in bar harbor, we swam in the pool, walked around downtown and got dinner at paddy’s. downtown was so cute - there are so many small shops and a big green space on a hill overlooking the water. my favorite store that we went into was cool as a moose - there were lots of cute touristy shirts and sweatshirts.

the next morning we got breakfast at jordan’s - a recommendation from a friend that did not disappoint. it was a small breakfast place with very yummy blueberry pancakes. once we ate, we headed off to acadia national park. we decided to do the park loop road because it seemed like that’s how we would get to see the most landmarks in the shortest amount of time.

to enter the park you need to purchase a pass online - for one car it costs $30 but it is valid for the whole week. most of park loop road is one way and we ended up in quite a bit of traffic near the beach. i think we spent about 3 hours driving around + stopping to take in the views. i definitely recommend picking up a map before driving around - it was helpful to know when / where to stop.

park loop road is 27 miles and has a lot of places to pull over and sightsee or hike. first, we drove up cadillac mountain - while it is only 1,530 and we could have easily hiked, we decided it would be better to save our energy and drive up. the road was paved and very safe and there was a parking lot at the top for those who decided to drive. i would definitely like to go back one day to hike this mountain. from the top, you can see bar harbor + a few other islands in the distance.

during our drive, we stopped at a number of places including jordan pond, thunder hole and little hunter’s beach. from jordan pond, you can see what they call ‘the bubbles’ - pictured below. jordan pond was quiet with walking trails all along the water. unfortunately while we were there, the jordan pond house was closed but i heard it’s a great brunch spot that overlooks the water.

thunder hole was definitely a must see. for those that don’t know, thunder hole is known for making thunder noises when waves crash into the inlet. unfortunately while we were there, the waves were too calm to hear anything. however, this was still one of my favorite places we stopped. we spent a lot of time just sitting on the rocks, watching the waves and taking in the views.

lastly, we visited little hunter’s beach. this was a little bit more hidden with only a small amount of people. the beach is covered in rocks + stones which makes it a little tough to walk across but again - the views from the top of the rocks were beautiful. like i said before, the weather was great + this was the perfect way to end our day at acadia.

we were exhausted after our day trip to acadia but when we got back to the hotel we managed to grab some food and enjoy the rooftop pool a little more. after relaxing, we took another walk downtown. we got the most amazing blueberry soft serve ice cream from CJ’s (a must if you’re visiting bar harbor) and ate it in the little green space by the water while the sun was setting.

for those wondering how it was traveling during COVID, mostly everyone wore masks while walking downtown and while at acadia national park. masks were required in all the stores downtown and some only allowed a certain amount of people inside at a time.

i was so so sad to leave - we had the best time exploring bar harbor. i would definitely recommend checking out this small town in maine. if you have children, this would make for a great family vaca location!

and of course a quick shoutout to my boyfriend for the most amazing time ♡ keep scrolling for some more photos from our little weekend trip!

a stop on the drive up cadillac mountain.

weekend trip to bar harbor, maine