The Way Life Should Be: 4-hr, Private Guided Tour of Acadia NP.
By ACADIA DRIVING TOURS LLC
9.89.8 out of 10
Exceptional
Free cancellation available
includes taxes & fees
per traveller*
*Get a lower price by selecting multiple travellers
Features
- Free cancellation available
- 4h 15m
- Mobile voucher
- Instant confirmation
- Selective hotel pickup
Overview
An excellent tour is so much more than a checklist of stops or stories. We will create a meaningful experience you'll cherish as we explore Acadia and the many hidden gems just outside of the national park on a half-day adventure tailored specifically to your group.
No rush, no crowded bus. Just you, riding in comfort with guides who never tire of sharing our island.
We'll handle the passes and driving, leaving you free to really enjoy Acadia. We know the secrets to escaping the press of crowded areas, while ensuring you don't miss a thing.
Our guides thrive on adjusting tours to match your group's interests and abilities.
A great tour leaves you brim-full of the magic of this lovely place. Sure, there are stories, tour guide puns, pictures to take, history and trivia you might forget.. but mainly, that feeling of really experiencing this place in a special way. You will leave, knowing you saw and felt more, with less stress, than anyone choosing to explore without a local expert.
Activity location
- Eagle Lake Acadia National Park
- Bar Harbor, Maine, United States
Meeting/Redemption Point
- Hulls Cove Visitor Center
- 25 Visitor Center Road
- 04609, Bar Harbor, Maine, United States
Multiple meeting/redemption points available, see location information for full list
Check availability
The Way Life Should Be: 4-hr, Private Guided Tour of Acadia NP.
- 4h 15m
- English
Pickup included
Language options: English
Price details
€681.61 x 1 Traveller€681.61
Total
includes taxes & fees
*Get lower prices by selecting more than 2 adults
Until Sun, 26 Jul
What's included, what's not
- I only share the kind of snacks I would offer to my best friends.
- Private transport
- Bottled water
- Cadillac Mountain entrance pass
- All Fees and Taxes
- Free pick-up and drop-off
- National Park Passes
- Stress over missing anything amazing.
Know before you book
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transport options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Folding Wheelchairs and other mobility aids which fit into a minivan are welcome.
- There will be opportunities to walk or hike short distances, but none of those are required. Acadia's roads were purpose built to showcase the views without leaving your vehicle.
- In accordance with EU regulations about consumer rights, activities services are not subject to the right of withdrawal. Supplier cancellation policy will apply.
Activity itinerary
Bar Harbor (Pass by)
We will briefly tour Bar Harbour, making sure to see some of the "cottages" left from the Gilded Age summer residents who made such a lasting impact on this island. Much of old Millionaire's Row burned when fire swept the island in 1947, but the fire stopped before destroying the town. Many of today's most picturesque inns and hotels, once served as holiday homes for high society families from further down the coast.
Park Loop Road (Pass by)
Acadia National Park is really just a few minutes' drive from the centre of Bar Harbour. Let me show you some of the reasons they once called this area, Eden.
Eagle Lake Acadia National Park
- 5m
- Admission ticket included
There are many long, deep lakes across Mount Desert Island. Eagle Lake, which we will see as we head towards Cadillac Mountain, is one of the most picturesque.
Cadillac Mountain
- 45m
- Admission ticket included
The highest point on the island. The first place a new dawn touches the United States for much of the year. Cadillac Mountain provides sweeping views of nearly the entire outline of MDI. We can see Bar Harbour and the cruise ships in Frenchman Bay from one side, and a beautiful view of the open ocean and many of the small islands that dot the coastline between here and Portland. After taking some time to explore the summit, I'll point out a few of the landmarks we are about to investigate from closer up as we continue our journey around the Park Loop roads.
Wild Gardens of Acadia
- 20m
- Admission ticket included
One of the oldest sections of the park, the first area to change colour the past few years in autumn, and a beautiful place to begin a hike up Dorr Mountain, or to take a leisurely stroll along the lovely Jessup Path boardwalk. With the ocean waiting just around the next mountain, we won't be able to spend hours here, but I'll be sure to tell you why I return here so often and give you reasons to come explore further on your own if you can.
Sand Beach (Pass by)
I will point out the trailhead for the famous (and harrowing) Precipice and Beehive trails. Then, show you one of the only sandy beaches for miles. From here, groups eager to get a few steps in, can walk along the gorgeous Ocean Path, stepping out whenever you like onto the great slabs of granite which slope down into the restless waves. If you choose to walk, I will let you enjoy some time by the ocean without me, while I find a place to pull over further down the road near Thunder Hole, then meet you along the path to point out some of my favourite places.
Ocean Path
- 30m
- Admission ticket included
Grand, sweeping views of the ocean, and the chance to walk along one of Acadia's most beautiful coastal trails. You will have the option to walk part of the Ocean Path, or to drive and stop a few times for photos at the best overlooks. This is often one of the busier parts of Acadia National Park, but I know the hidden pathways where we can see the best views and enjoy the ocean without tripping over tourists.
Thunder Hole
- 10m
- Admission ticket included
A unique rock formation where the waves can crash with a thunderous boom when the conditions are right. Even at times when the thunder is lacking, this area, lined with harbour roses, asters, and other small, lovely things which peek out from among the harsh granite, is such a breathtaking example of all that is best about Maine's dramatic coastline.
Otter Cliff
- 15m
- Admission ticket included
The Ocean Path runs from Sand Beach, past Thunder Hole, and all the way to Otter Cliffs and beyond. The entire way boasts some of the most amazing coastline, and lovely sections of pine forest with incredible moss and lichen. Otter Cliff is one of my favourite places to return to in the evenings. Especially to watch a moon rise from the ocean. We will pass the castle-like section of roadway, enjoy the view that so often fools travellers into thinking they've seen a whale, and hear how it surprised the very first visitors who came across the Atlantic to explore this island.
This longer tour has the option to stop here. I love the way the trail winds through the woods just before opening onto one of the best ocean views in Acadia.
Little Hunters Beach
- 10m
- Admission ticket included
I will share this beautiful, secretive cove where the rocks add their own music to each crashing wave.
Jordan Pond
- 15m
- Admission ticket included
Jordan "Pond" is a very deep, very clear, glacially carved lake. You have probably already seen photos of the iconic bubbe hills or the "Bubble Rock" which seems to balance so precariously from the side of one of them.
We will decide, as we finish enjoying the Ocean, whether to complete the last bit of the Park Loop Road and stop by Jordan Pond, or, if we will drive to one of my favourite Rockefeller bridges, then out along the edge of the Park to explore upscale areas of our modern summer residents, to see gardens and an extended scenic drive along Sommes Sound before wrapping up the tour at one of my favourite out of the way places where nature and history meet in a peaceful setting. Either way, you won't be disappointed with your choice.
Stanley Brook Bridge
- 10m
- Admission ticket included
A lovely drive along a winding road and a stop to enjoy one of the most impressive and lovely of the Rockefeller bridges. If we choose to head this way, rather than visiting Jordan Pond, we will continue out of the park to see some of the larger summer homes in affluent areas along the edges of Acadia. Perhaps a stop at a beautiful garden, or a part of the Rockefeller's old estate, before driving along the only fjord on the eastern seaboard of the United States.
Little Long Pond
- 20m
We have the option to explore a place that still echoes with the history of the family who did so much to build Acadia as we know it. A beautiful pond, with paths to explore, wildflowers, and the sound of Loons calling.
This is one of many stops your guide might choose to include, time permitting.
Northeast Harbor
- 10m
For a short time in summer, so many pleasure craft, fancy yachts, and a few lobster boats standing out like workmen at a garden party, fill the harbour, one might almost skip right across from one to another. In Autumn, as the summer residents flee south for warmer weather, this town, and the busy harbour, begin to empty. I like to stop here for a clean washroom if anyone needs. It's also a pretty place to take a short stroll, photograph a picturesque harbour, and to take a look at a few lobster traps which make for a great show and tell moment to talk about our hard-working lobstermen.
Asticou Azalea Garden
- 15m
- Admission ticket included
A lovely garden we can walk through. There is a deep history to this place and even a storied past to some of the plants here. Sometimes though, it is best enjoyed without a guide filling the air with stories. Just a quiet stroll and some pictures together with gorgeous blooms all around.
This is one of many stops your guide might choose to include, time permitting.
Somes Sound (Pass by)
Scenic drive along the only Fjord (fjard??) on the east coast of the US.
It is possible to spot eagles, osprey, and even a seal or harbour purpose breaking the surface of the water as we drive along this beautiful, deep inlet where the ocean cuts our island nearly in half.
Duck Brook Bridge
- 15m
- Admission ticket included
The carriage road bridges grew increasingly beautiful with each subsequent project. This tri-arched granite faced bridge spans a rocky stream in one of my favourite settings in all of Acadia.
This is one of many stops your guide might choose to include, time permitting.
Acadia National Park (Pass by)
Depending upon the weather conditions, and partially on how quickly you want to move between locations, I will adjust our route to showcase the areas that will be most beautiful that day, and which I believe your group will find most impactful. There are many areas this list does not mention, which I love to showcase whenever I can. A tour with a local guide should be an experience you wouldn't find by exploring alone. I get to live here. My advice before you visit is this. Enjoy fully whatever you are able to see while you're here. Think less of seeing everything (checking stops from a list) and more about fully experiencing this place in all the unique light and magic of waves and wind that moved a generation to create the only national park to be made up entirely of gifted land individuals deemed too special to keep to themselves. Then, plan another visit!
Location
Activity location
- Eagle Lake Acadia National Park
- Bar Harbor, Maine, United States
Meeting/Redemption Point
- Hulls Cove Visitor Center
- 25 Visitor Center Road
- 04609, Bar Harbor, Maine, United States
- Agamont Fountain
- 27b Main Street
- 04609, Bar Harbor, Maine, United States
- Village Green
- 9 Firefly Lane
- 04609, Bar Harbor, Maine, United States
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