Things to Do in Augusta, Maine: A Ranked Guide

The ranking below uses one measure applied across our Maine places dataset: average rating multiplied by review volume. It rewards places that are both well liked and genuinely visited. Ratings and review counts are cited as recorded and will move over time. One caveat on the arithmetic: the Augusta Civic Center posts the highest raw score in the city, but it is an events venue rather than something you visit for its own sake, so the list below leads with the places that are.

Getting oriented

The Kennebec River splits the city. The west bank holds State Street, Capitol Park, the State House complex and Western Avenue's retail sprawl. The east bank has Water Street: the historic downtown, and where the restaurants and the small independent businesses are. The interstate exits dump you onto Western Avenue and Civic Center Drive, which is chain retail and looks like chain retail anywhere. Cross the river to Water Street before you form an opinion of the city.

The best things to do in Augusta, ranked

1. Viles Arboretum

4.7 from 521 reviews: the highest combined score of any actual attraction in the city, and free to enter. A large arboretum at 153 Hospital St with several miles of easy, well-marked trails through meadow and woodland, plus botanical collections laid out along them. It's flat, it's open year-round, and it is used constantly by locals for walking, skiing and snowshoeing. If you have ninety minutes in Augusta and want to spend them outdoors, this is the answer. vilesarboretum.org.

2. Maine State Museum

4.7 from 480 reviews, at 230 State St in the State House complex. The state's history and natural history collection, and the strongest indoor attraction in the capital by a wide margin, it scores higher than every Augusta site except Viles and the Civic Center. The collection runs from Ice Age geology through the state's industrial century, with full-scale reconstructions of a water-powered mill and a quarry face that are genuinely impressive rather than dutiful. It came through a long closure for building work, so confirm current opening days on the state's site before you build a morning around it. mainestatemuseum.org.

3. Augusta Civic Center

4.3 from 809 reviews at 76 Community Dr. The highest raw score in the city, and the reason it is worth explaining rather than ignoring. It's the arena and convention hall for central Maine, and its review volume reflects the concerts, trade shows and high school tournaments that fill it rather than any particular architectural merit. Not somewhere you visit for its own sake, but worth checking augustaciviccenter.org if you're overnighting; a lot of what happens in Augusta happens here.

4. Capitol Park

4.5 from 447 reviews, at 33 Union St. The long green between the State House and the Kennebec, laid out in the 19th century with mature trees and formal walks. It's the best place to photograph the capitol from and a genuinely pleasant piece of civic landscape. The Maine Vietnam Veterans Memorial sits within it and is recorded separately at 4.9 from 14 reviews: a modest count for one of the more affecting memorials in the state.

5. Old Fort Western

4.7 from 382 reviews, at 16 Cony St on the east bank of the Kennebec. A 1754 fortified trading post and the oldest surviving wooden fort in New England, operated as a museum by the city with costumed interpretation. It rates as well as anything in Augusta and is the site with the strongest claim to being genuinely unusual rather than merely pleasant. There is no other building like it in the region. The season is short and firmly summer-weighted, so check the city's page at augustamaine.gov/oldfortwestern before you plan around it. It is a ten-minute walk from Water Street, which makes it the easy pairing with lunch downtown.

6. Mill Park

4.3 from 320 reviews, on Route 104 north of downtown. A riverside park with open ground, a boat launch and summer concerts. It's a working city park rather than a destination, but it's the easiest place to get to the water's edge.

7. Kennebec River Rail Trail

4.7 from 175 reviews. This is the underrated one. A paved, flat, car-free path running roughly six miles along the Kennebec from Augusta south through Hallowell to Gardiner, following the old rail bed. It's the best thing in the capital area for cycling, running or a long walk, and it delivers you straight into Hallowell's Water Street, which is the reason to do it. Walk or ride south, eat in Hallowell, come back. kennebecriverrailtrail.org.

8. East Side Boat Landing and the riverfront parks

The East Side Boat Landing Playground rates 4.4 from 213 reviews at 50 Howard St, and Waterfront Park on Front St rates 4.7 from 18. Small, functional riverside spaces on the east bank, useful if you're downtown with children or want ten minutes by the water after dinner. Williams Park (4.4 from 170 reviews) at 59 Bangor St and McCall's Park (4.7 from 35) at 6 Congress St round out the city's neighborhood green space.

9. Water Street's independents

Two of the highest-rated businesses in Augusta are small Water Street operations. Merkaba Sol & The Chocolate Shoppe at 223 Water St rates 4.9 from 65 reviews, and The Village at 190 Water St rates 4.9 from 47. Neither is a tourist attraction; both are the sort of place that tells you a downtown is alive rather than merely standing. An hour walking Water Street costs nothing and is the most pleasant hour in the city.

10. Blaine House

4.5 from 32 reviews, at 192 State St, directly across from the State House. The official residence of Maine's governor, and one of relatively few governors' mansions in the country that offers public tours. Access is limited, scheduled and subject to the residence being in use. Check blainehouse.org rather than turning up. It's a genuinely handsome 1830s house and the tour is short.

11. First Amendment Museum at the Gannett House

4.6 from 17 reviews, at 184 State St. A young museum in the former home of the newspaper publisher Guy Gannett, dedicated to the five freedoms of the First Amendment. It is small and still developing, and its opening arrangements are limited. Confirm at firstamendmentmuseum.org. Worth knowing about because the subject matter is unusual and the house is right on the State Street corridor with everything else.

12. The Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine

4.4 from 24 reviews, at 46 University Dr on the University of Maine at Augusta campus. Exhibitions and an education program, with a sculpture and memorial garden outside. Quiet, serious, and free.

13. Bond Brook Recreation Area and the Greenway

Bond Brook Recreation Area rates 4.4 from 30 reviews at 21-25 Bond Brook Rd: a city-managed trail network used hard by mountain bikers and, in winter, by fat bikers and skiers. The Augusta Greenway Trail (4.7 from 7 reviews) off Arsenal St adds more riverside walking. Combined with Viles and the rail trail, Augusta has more free trail mileage than most visitors expect from a capital city.

The State House itself

The capitol on State Street is the one Augusta landmark carried in our dataset without a rating attached. It is listed, but no review score is recorded against it, so there is no number to quote here. That is a quirk of how a working government building gets reviewed, not a judgment on the place.

What matters practically is access. The building was originally designed by Charles Bulfinch and has been much enlarged since; the legislature's schedule governs public access, and security screening applies. Guided tours are offered through the state, and arrangements change with the legislative calendar. Look up current information before you go rather than turning up hopefully. The exterior and the view of it from Capitol Park are available to anyone at any time, and for most visitors that is the version of the State House they actually want.

The two other state-adjacent sites people ask about are covered above and both carry strong numbers: the Maine State Museum at 4.7 from 480 reviews and Old Fort Western, city-operated, at 4.7 from 382. Between them and the Blaine House at 4.5 from 32, the capital's institutional sights hold up better on the numbers than their reputation suggests.

Where to eat in Augusta

Most of Augusta's highest-volume restaurants are national chains on Western Avenue and Civic Center Drive, which the list below sets aside in favor of the local ones. Same measure: rating times review volume.

Restaurant	Rating	Reviews	Note
The Red Barn	4.7	3,943	455 Riverside Dr; the most-reviewed restaurant in the city by far
Cushnoc Brewing Co.	4.6	1,993	243 Water St; brewery and wood-fired pizza, the downtown anchor
Augusta House of Pancakes	4.5	1,069	100 Western Ave; breakfast, and busy for it
Riverfront Barbeque & Grille	4.3	865	300 Water St
Two Maine Guys Augusta	4.5	789	18 Bridge St
State Lunch	4.7	613	217 Water St; downtown, unpretentious, well liked
The Hott Dogg House	4.7	475	170 Mt Vernon Ave
Wander Pizza Co.	4.8	414	256 State St
Downtown Diner	4.7	358	204 Water St
Pinto Thai to go	4.9	317	294 State St; highest average rating in the city
The Oak Table & Bar	4.7	231	233 Water St

The Red Barn deserves its own note. It's an order-window operation on Riverside Drive with picnic tables, it has almost 4,000 reviews at 4.7, and it is locally famous as much for the amount of money it raises for charity as for the fried food. It is not a refined meal and does not pretend to be. If you eat one thing in Augusta, most locals would send you here. If you want to eat well and sit down, Cushnoc on Water Street is the answer.

Nearby: Hallowell

Two miles south on Water Street (reachable on foot or by bike on the rail trail) Hallowell is a small former granite port with a dense, intact 19th-century main street of restaurants, bars and antique shops. Several of its businesses score higher than anything comparable in Augusta: Hallowell Seafood & Produce at 4.7 from 561 reviews, Forbidden Fruit Gallery at 4.9 from 311, and Granite City Park on the waterfront at 4.8 from 200. Vaughan Woods (4.8 from 109 reviews) has quiet trails, stone bridges and a brook, and is a short walk up from the street.

If you are visiting the capital area for a day, the honest recommendation is to do Augusta's outdoors and state sites in daylight and eat dinner in Hallowell.

A one-day plan

• Morning. Viles Arboretum, then across to Capitol Park and the State House exterior.
• Late morning. The Maine State Museum in the State House complex. An hour and a half is about right, and it is the best use of bad weather in the city.
• Midday. Old Fort Western on the east bank if the season is right, and lunch on Water Street a few minutes away.
• Afternoon. Ride or walk the Kennebec River Rail Trail south to Hallowell. Allow two hours round trip on foot, less by bike.
• Evening. Dinner in Hallowell, or Cushnoc back in Augusta.

Augusta as a base

The strongest practical case for Augusta is position. It sits on I-95 roughly halfway between Portland and Bangor, about an hour to either. The Belgrade Lakes are twenty minutes northwest, Waterville is twenty minutes north, and the midcoast is under an hour east. Rooms are cheaper than anywhere on the coast and easier to book at short notice.

The trade-off, stated plainly: Augusta is not a destination that will fill three days, and visitors who treat it as one leave underwhelmed. Treat it as a well-placed, inexpensive overnight with a good arboretum, a genuinely strong state museum, a decent downtown and an interesting fort, and it does that job well. Our Augusta town page has hotels and restaurants, our Maine lakes guide covers the Belgrades, and the guide to Maine's cities puts the capital in context.

Frequently asked questions

Is Augusta, Maine worth visiting?

For a day, or as an overnight between the coast and the north woods, yes. Viles Arboretum (4.7 from 521 reviews), the Maine State Museum (4.7 from 480), Old Fort Western (4.7 from 382) and the Kennebec River Rail Trail (4.7 from 175) are all genuinely good, and Water Street has become a real downtown again. It is not a resort town and does not compete with the coast for a week's holiday. Set expectations at "an interesting small capital with cheap rooms" and it delivers.

What is the best museum in Augusta, Maine?

The Maine State Museum, at 4.7 from 480 reviews: the state's history and natural history collection, in the State House complex on State Street, and the highest-rated indoor attraction in the city. Old Fort Western (4.7 from 382) is the better visit if you want something you cannot see anywhere else: a 1754 wooden fort with costumed interpretation, though its season is short. The First Amendment Museum at the Gannett House (4.6 from 17) is smaller and still developing.

Can you tour the Maine State House?

Yes. Guided tours of the capitol are offered through the state, though the building carries no review score in our dataset, so we quote no rating for it. The Blaine House across the street (4.5 from 32 reviews) also opens to the public on a limited schedule as the governor's official residence, and the Maine State Museum (4.7 from 480) is in the same complex and keeps more predictable hours than either. All are governed by the legislative calendar and by security screening, and all change their arrangements, so check current information before you build a day around them.

What is there to do outdoors in Augusta?

More than most visitors expect. Viles Arboretum has miles of flat, free, year-round trails. The Kennebec River Rail Trail runs roughly six paved, car-free miles south to Gardiner through Hallowell. Bond Brook Recreation Area has a mountain bike network. Capitol Park, Mill Park and the riverfront parks cover the shorter options, and the Belgrade Lakes are twenty minutes away for swimming and paddling.

What is the best restaurant in Augusta, Maine?

It depends what you want. The Red Barn at 455 Riverside Dr is the local institution, 4.7 from 3,943 reviews, more than any other restaurant in the city, but it's an order-window fried-food operation with picnic tables. For a proper sit-down evening, Cushnoc Brewing Co. on Water Street (4.6 from 1,993 reviews) is the downtown anchor. Pinto Thai to go holds the highest average rating in the city at 4.9 from 317 reviews.