Almost every list of things to do in Bar Harbor, Maine is really a list of things to do in Acadia National Park, and that is fair. The park surrounds the town on three sides. But Bar Harbor has a genuine town of its own, with a tidal path to an island, a shore walk, a 1932 movie house and the best restaurant density in eastern Maine. This ranking covers both.
How this list is ranked
Everything below is scored on rating multiplied by review volume from our Bar Harbor places data. That combination is more honest than rating alone: a 4.9 from thirty people is a nice signal, a 4.9 from fifteen hundred is a verdict. It also explains why a few famous stops sit lower than you might expect, a place that disappoints a fraction of the enormous crowd it draws will still rank high on volume and take a hit on score.
The 15 best things to do in Bar Harbor
1. Thunder Hole, 4.6 from 3,222 reviews
The most-visited pullout on the Park Loop Road, where a wave compresses air in a rock chamber and blows it back out with a bang. The catch is that it only performs on a rising tide with real swell behind it; at slack water it is a quiet crack in the granite. The 4.6 is the sound of several thousand people arriving at the wrong hour.
2. Hulls Cove Visitor Center, 4.5 from 2,546 reviews
25 Visitor Center Road. The main Acadia National Park entrance station north of town, with the relief map, the rangers and the current conditions board. Worth twenty minutes at the start of a first visit and skippable on a second.
3. Agamont Park, 4.7 from 1,775 reviews
Newport Drive. The green above the town pier, looking out over Frenchman Bay and the moored boats. It is small and it is the heart of the town: everyone passes through it, and the sunrise over the bay from the top of the lawn is free.
4. Cadillac Mountain, 4.9 from 1,528 reviews
The highest point on the eastern seaboard and the highest-rated large attraction on the island. A timed vehicle reservation is required for the summit road during the busy season, released on a rolling window through the national recreation booking site. Plan for it rather than driving up and hoping. Full detail in our Cadillac Mountain guide.
5. Village Green, 4.6 from 1,177 reviews
9 Firefly Lane. The square in the middle of town, and more usefully the hub of the free seasonal Island Explorer shuttle. If you are going to leave the car anywhere, leave it near here.
6. Sand Beach, 4.8 from 970 reviews
A pocket of coarse shell-and-quartz sand between granite headlands on the Park Loop Road. The water sits somewhere in the fifties through the summer, so most people wade to the knee and retreat. The lot fills early; the shuttle does not care. See our Acadia beaches guide.
7. Wild Gardens of Acadia, 4.6 from 725 reviews
At Sieur de Monts. A compact botanical garden laid out by habitat, with the plant communities of the island represented in miniature. Half an hour, and the best shade on a hot afternoon.
8. Beehive Trail, 4.9 from 583 reviews
The iron-rung climb above Sand Beach, and one of the two highest-rated things on this list. It is exposed, it involves ladder rungs bolted into a cliff, and it is genuinely not for anyone uneasy with heights or wet rock. Go up only. It is one-way for good reason.
9. Bar Island Land Bridge, 4.8 from 553 reviews
Bar Island Trail. A gravel bar that emerges from the harbor at low tide and lets you walk out to Bar Island from the end of Bridge Street. The window is roughly ninety minutes either side of low tide, and people do get stranded every summer. Check the tide table, then check your watch.
10. Ocean Path Trailhead, 4.8 from 484 reviews
The flat shoreline path running from Sand Beach past Thunder Hole to Otter Cliff. Wide, easy, and the best value-per-effort walk in the park. Do it in the morning before the loop road traffic thickens.
11. Bar Harbor Shore Path, 4.8 from 474 reviews
48–52 Hancock Street. A short gravel path along the waterfront below the old cottages, from the town pier around to Wayman Lane. Twenty minutes, flat, and the best thing in town that costs nothing.
12. 1932 Criterion Theatre, 4.7 from 293 reviews
35 Cottage Street, criteriontheatre.org. An art deco theater from the 1930s, restored and running films and live music. The obvious wet-weather move and a genuinely good room.
13. Gorham Mountain Trailhead, 4.9 from 274 reviews
Park Loop Road. A moderate, mostly open climb with continuous ocean views and none of the exposure of the Beehive. If the Beehive is too much, this is the hike to do instead. More options in our Acadia hiking guide.
14. Grant Park, 4.7 from 246 reviews
21 Albert Meadow. A small clifftop park off the Shore Path with benches, a playground and a direct view across Frenchman Bay. Locals call it Albert Meadow.
15. Sieur de Monts Nature Center, 4.5 from 239 reviews
2 Sieur de Monts Road. The spring, the nature center and the Wild Gardens in one place, at the inland end of the park near the Jesup Path boardwalk. Quiet, shaded and largely bypassed by traffic heading for the coast.
Where to eat
Bar Harbor has more restaurants per resident than anywhere else in eastern Maine, and in August every one of them has a line. These are the highest-volume rooms in town with their ratings:
- Side Street Cafe, 49 Rodick Street, 4.4 from 4,678 reviews. The most-reviewed restaurant on the island.
- Geddy's, 19 Main Street, 4.4 from 4,455 reviews. Loud, central, family-proof.
- Jordan's Restaurant, 80 Cottage Street, 4.6 from 3,009 reviews. Breakfast, blueberry pancakes, and a queue out the door by seven.
- Cafe This Way, 14 Mount Desert Street, 4.7 from 2,065 reviews. The best-rated of the high-volume restaurants in town.
- The Travelin Lobster, 1569 Route 102, 4.8 from 1,945 reviews. Out of the village on the way to the western side of the island, and the highest-rated place with real volume behind it.
- Havana, 318 Main Street, 4.6 from 1,388 reviews. The dinner reservation worth making in advance.
For the full-tablecloth-on-the-shore version, see our guide to lobster bakes in Bar Harbor.
Getting around without losing the day
The single best decision in Bar Harbor is to stop driving. The free Island Explorer shuttle runs from the Village Green to Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Jordan Pond and most of the trailheads through the warm months, and it removes the parking problem entirely. Park lots on the loop road fill by mid-morning in July and August and stay full until late afternoon.
Two other timing notes. Cruise ships anchor in Frenchman Bay through the season and tender passengers into the town pier, which doubles the population of the village center for a few hours at a stretch. Check the port schedule if you want a quiet morning in town. And whale and puffin boats leave from the same pier; our Bar Harbor whale watching guide covers which trips are worth the crossing.
Shoulder season is the honest recommendation. Late September and early October have the foliage, open restaurants, an operating shuttle and perhaps a third of the August crowd.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need in Bar Harbor?
Three is the sweet spot: one for the Park Loop Road and the coastal stops, one for a hike and Cadillac Mountain, one for the town, the Shore Path and a boat trip. Two works if you skip the boats. One day means the loop road and nothing else, which is still worth doing but leaves the best of Acadia untouched.
What is the best free thing to do in Bar Harbor?
Walking out to Bar Island across the land bridge at low tide, which rates 4.8 from 553 reviews and costs nothing but attention to the tide table. The Bar Harbor Shore Path (4.8 from 474 reviews) and Agamont Park (4.7 from 1,775 reviews) are the other two, and all three start within a few minutes of the town pier.
Do you need a car in Bar Harbor?
You need one to get there, and then you are better off leaving it parked. The free Island Explorer shuttle covers the Village Green, the Park Loop Road stops and most trailheads through the summer season, and the lots at Sand Beach and Thunder Hole are full from mid-morning. A car is only genuinely necessary for the quiet western side of Mount Desert Island.
What is there to do in Bar Harbor when it rains?
The 1932 Criterion Theatre on Cottage Street (4.7 from 293 reviews) is the best indoor room in town. The Wild Gardens of Acadia and the Sieur de Monts Nature Center are both worth an hour in light rain, and the Ocean Path is arguably better in fog than in sun. Thunder Hole also performs best in the kind of weather that keeps everyone else indoors.
