Boothbay Harbor, Maine: Things to Do, Stay & Eat

Boothbay Harbor is a harbor town in the most literal sense. The water comes into the middle of it, and almost everything worth doing here involves getting onto that water or looking at it. A wooden footbridge crosses the inner harbor, which tells you something about the scale.

It is one of the busiest small towns on the Midcoast in July and August, and it earns that with a genuinely deep bench of boat trips: puffins, whales, seals, lighthouses, sunset sails and the mailboat to Monhegan.

What Boothbay Harbor is known for

Boats and gardens. Cap'n Fish's Cruises (4.7 across 2,887 Google reviews) runs the widest range of trips out of the inner harbor, from puffin watching to lighthouse tours. The scale of the operation is the point, on most summer days something is leaving within the hour.

The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (4.8 from 7,005 reviews) is the other reason people come, and it has grown into one of the largest botanical gardens in New England. It is a few minutes north in Boothbay proper, sits on 300 acres along the Back River, and needs at least half a day.

Things to do

Take a boat. Beyond that, the harbor itself rewards a walk, around the footbridge, out along the eastern side toward the lighthouse at Burnt Island, and up into the shops on Commercial Street. The Boothbay Railway Village to the north runs narrow-gauge steam.

Good eating clusters around the water. HarborSide 1901 Bar and Grill (4.6 from 1,180 reviews) is central; Five Islands Lobster Co (4.7 from 1,259 reviews) is a working wharf south of Bath and one of the best lobster shacks in the state if you are willing to drive for it.

Getting here and when to go

Boothbay Harbor is at the end of Route 27, a fifteen-mile peninsula run south from Route 1 at Wiscasset. That single road is the only way in and out, and it backs up badly on summer weekends. The Wiscasset bottleneck on Route 1 is notorious.

July and August are peak. Late September is the better trip: the gardens are still open, boat trips still run, and the peninsula road is clear. Most of the town closes from late October.

Common questions

Are the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens worth visiting?

Yes.

The gardens are in Boothbay, just outside the harbor village, and they cover enough ground that a real visit takes several hours rather than a quick loop.

Go early in the day if you would rather have the paths to yourself.

Can you take a boat trip from Boothbay Harbor?

Yes, and for many visitors it is the whole reason to come.

Cap'n Fish's Cruises runs puffin and whale watching trips out of the inner harbor, and other boats leave for Monhegan Island and shorter harbor tours.

Sailings are seasonal and weather-dependent, so book ahead in summer and expect fog cancellations.

Is there a beach in Boothbay Harbor?

Not a real sand beach.

The harbor shoreline is rock, dock and boatyard, with only small pocket beaches scattered around the peninsula.

For sand you drive: Reid State Park in Georgetown is the nearest proper beach, and the trip takes longer than the map suggests because each of these is a separate peninsula.

Is Boothbay Harbor walkable?

Yes, it is one of the most walkable harbor villages in Maine.

The town wraps around the inner harbor and a long wooden footbridge cuts straight across it, joining the two sides on foot instead of by a long drive around.

Park once and leave the car; summer traffic through the village crawls anyway.

Are the botanical gardens in Boothbay Harbor?

They are in the neighboring town of Boothbay. Plan the journey from the harbor and allow a substantial visit; the gardens are not part of the downtown footbridge walk.

Is Boothbay Harbor mainly a beach destination?

Its appeal is the harbor, boating and nearby gardens. If a long sand beach is central to your holiday, compare southern Maine beach towns or plan a separate, correctly located beach excursion.