Acadia national park and Quebec city vacation ideas

[String&stick]

After getting great results inquiring about an Alaska vacation a couple of years ago I'm back again!

My wife and I are planning on heading east this year to celebrate our 15th anniversary and my wife completing her educational specialist degree (between a masters and doctorate). So I'm here for tips, advice, and can't miss stops!

Our plan is to fly out to Boston (most likely), and then spend 8 to 10 days traveling up to Quebec city and back down. We know we want see Acadia and my wife wants to spend at least a full day in Quebec city. Outside of that we want to see the sights, eat some sea food, and enjoy ourselves.

So if this is something you've done, or if you live in the area please let me know some of the can't miss sights, things to do, places to eat, etc!

 

[BBob]

Quebec City: Walk Old Quebec. There are many old famous beautiful buildings. Visit the fort Citadelle de Quebec. Take the ferry ride to the other side of the river. If it’s berry season you can take the ferry over and pick fresh berries at the farms. Visit Montmorency Falls. There are other waterfalls too but those (Montmorency) are right near downtown.

There’s a large impressive zoo in Grandby. The back road from Magog that passes the lake to Sherbrooke is a nice drive. Sherbrooke is a nice city but can’t think of anything too memorable. Montreal is fantastic but that may be out of your way? Tons of old architecture. Great French style farmers market on the weekend. The market is open all week long but on the weekend you get outside vendors that come in. I’ll add if I think of more.

 

[String&stick]

Quebec City: Walk Old Quebec. There are many old famous beautiful buildings. Visit the fort Citadelle de Quebec. Take the ferry ride to the other side of the river. If it’s berry season you can take the ferry over and pick fresh berries at the farms. Visit Montmorency Falls. There are other waterfalls too but those are right near downtown.

There’s a large impressive zoo in Grandby. The back road from Magog that passes the lake to Sherbrooke is a nice drive. Sherbrooke is a nice city but can’t think of anything too memorable. Montreal is fantastic but that may be out of your way? Tons of old architecture. Great French style farmers market on the weekend. I’ll add if I think of more.

Appreciate it BBob! My wife will probably put french style farmers market at the top of her list!

 

[BowTrout]

So we are in the south east of the US and done Maine a few years back. Cadillac mountain has awesome views and is supposed to have spectacular however when we were there it was foggy all morning and the sunrise was non existent. Bar harbor is a very cool place to check out as well.

 

[Desk Jockey]

+for bar harbor.

Cadillac mountain sunrise is worth it IMO. There are some nice hikes in the park too. A boat tour of the coast is interesting.

we also liked castine and a few other spots around there for day trips.

old orchard beach was fun but loaded with pale canadian sun seekers when we were there in August.

 

[207-12A]

Are you driving? If you are in the summer or fall, I’d recommend re-entering the U.S at the St Zacherie checkpoint at the Quebec-Maine border. The Golden Road is a pretty magical east-west cut across the state, and you get beautiful views of Katahdin. Once you hit Millinocket you can turn south to Bar Harbor

 

[String&stick]

Are you driving? If you are in the summer or fall, I’d recommend re-entering the U.S at the St Zacherie checkpoint at the Quebec-Maine border. The Golden Road is a pretty magical east-west cut across the state, and you get beautiful views of Katahdin. Once you hit Millinocket you can turn south to Bar Harbor

We will fly to Boston and then drive from there is the current plan. We haven't nailed down if we are heading to Acadia first or Quebec city first. Thanks for the advice!

 

[roosterdown]

Agreed on the Old City...if you can, stay in the Chateau Frontenac.

Bar Harbor is great - but be prepared for crowds. Still worth it. If you like historic mansions, take the shoreline path past the old grand homes.

Camden is another town that might make your ME list...and there are others.

Enjoy!

 

[DooleyVT]

Definitely check for flights into/ out of Montreal or Quebec as it’s often much less expensive. Helpful if you can speak or understand a little French. Manchester NH has an obviously smaller airport than Logan International but it’s great and we fly in and out of it often to avoid Boston if possible. Portland ME has some really excellent restaurants but there’s lots of great places along the rural central Maine coast to visit with some great scenery and local food aka lobstah. LL Bean is touristy but cool to visit. Enjoy!

 

[String&stick]

Definitely check for flights into/ out of Montreal or Quebec as it’s often much less expensive. Helpful if you can speak or understand a little French. Manchester NH has an obviously smaller airport than Logan International but it’s great and we fly in and out of it often to avoid Boston if possible. Portland ME has some really excellent restaurants but there’s lots of great places along the rural central Maine coast to visit with some great scenery and local food aka lobstah. LL Bean is touristy but cool to visit. Enjoy!

Thanks for the advice! We will look at that! I plan on eating almost exclusively lobster or seafood while we are along the coast!

 

[orspeedgoat]

Lobster roll at McLoons on Sprucehead Island. You will not be disappointed.

 

[Don Qui Puncher]

I live North of Boston and strongly recommend checking out Cape Ann, Gloucester is Americas oldest seaport rich with maritime history. Rockport is an excellent town to visit as well, on your way out of Cape Ann stop in Essex for some fried clams and check out the Essex shipbuilding museum.
Coastal Maine is beautiful, Acadia is amazing. I proposed to my wife at Pretty Marsh in Acadia. Before kids we would take a few days exploring on our way up to Acadia and try to stop at all the small harbors and boat builders along the way. My favorite part of Acadia is the Schoodic peninsula, we always felt we had the entire place to ourselves. My wife does tours of Boston and I’m a Cape Ann Native, PM me if you have any questions.

 

[ghostrider272]

When going to Acadia, plan you r visit to Cadillac Mtn early. They require tickets to the ftop for cars. Only so many vehicles allowed up. Mid day tickets are easily had. Sunrise and sunset are the ones in high demand.

 

[summs]

If you have any questions about Acadia, ask away. I worked/lived there for 2 years.

It's a great place if you love hiking or bike riding, 49 miles of carriage roads and over 100 miles of hiking trails. Bar harbor itself is very tiny, not many shops that stand out.

Beehive trail, precipice trail parking lots fill up fast on sunny days. Acadia wild gardens usually gets skipped, make a stop there. Bar island sand bridge at low tide is great and easy access. Cadillac does have a ticket system, it's the best thing that's ever happened (biased as I was a part of the install team). But it made it much more enjoyable and SAFER. Don't want a reservation, hike up the Cadillac north ridge trail. 1000' elevation and 4.4 miles round trip. Pick fresh blue berries and soak in the view.

There's an LL bean outlet in Ellsworth, inventory changes everyday, don't skip there. Lots of great deals.

Look into the ranger led programs, Stars over sand beach is a must do. Just bring a blanket and dress warm.

Places to eat : CJ's ice cream, their cookie dough chunks are the size of golf balls. Thirsty whale tavern, good food no tourist tax. Also Atlantic brewing has really good food and very reasonable prices. Side street cafe is good, but busy and a bit touristy.
When going through Bangor, stop at Las palapas mexican food. Some of the best I ever had anywhere (NY, Chicago, Boston, etc).

If things get to crowded on the east of MDI, go to the west half or even more remote, go to Schoodic peninsula. An hour drive to down east MDI. Gem of a dive called the pickled wrinkle there.

All lobster is cold with mayo on a warm bun, I think that's gross. The local Hannaford's was $4.99/lb when I was there. Lobster lunch was cheaper than a burger most months.

I used to shoot grouse behind the walmart in ellsworth. Best tasting birds I ever had were those ditch chickens. Wish I made an effort to do some duck hunting when I was there. Killer sea duck hunting that I missed out on. Fishing is mostly native brookies, 4-7 inches long.

 

[String&stick]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I'll be sending some PMs in the coming days with more questions for some of you. My wife makes fun of my time spend on rokslide. But after our Alaskan vacation planned almost exclusively from tips here, the first thing she said when we started thinking about this trip was "get on rokslide and find out what all we should go do and see!"

Keep the tips coming!

 

[grossklw]

If you have any questions about Acadia, ask away. I worked/lived there for 2 years.

It's a great place if you love hiking or bike riding, 49 miles of carriage roads and over 100 miles of hiking trails. Bar harbor itself is very tiny, not many shops that stand out.

Beehive trail, precipice trail parking lots fill up fast on sunny days. Acadia wild gardens usually gets skipped, make a stop there. Bar island sand bridge at low tide is great and easy access. Cadillac does have a ticket system, it's the best thing that's ever happened (biased as I was a part of the install team). But it made it much more enjoyable and SAFER. Don't want a reservation, hike up the Cadillac north ridge trail. 1000' elevation and 4.4 miles round trip. Pick fresh blue berries and soak in the view.

There's an LL bean outlet in Ellsworth, inventory changes everyday, don't skip there. Lots of great deals.

Look into the ranger led programs, Stars over sand beach is a must do. Just bring a blanket and dress warm.

Places to eat : CJ's ice cream, their cookie dough chunks are the size of golf balls. Thirsty whale tavern, good food no tourist tax. Also Atlantic brewing has really good food and very reasonable prices. Side street cafe is good, but busy and a bit touristy.
When going through Bangor, stop at Las palapas mexican food. Some of the best I ever had anywhere (NY, Chicago, Boston, etc).

If things get to crowded on the east of MDI, go to the west half or even more remote, go to Schoodic peninsula. An hour drive to down east MDI. Gem of a dive called the pickled wrinkle there.

All lobster is cold with mayo on a warm bun, I think that's gross. The local Hannaford's was $4.99/lb when I was there. Lobster lunch was cheaper than a burger most months.

I used to shoot grouse behind the walmart in ellsworth. Best tasting birds I ever had were those ditch chickens. Wish I made an effort to do some duck hunting when I was there. Killer sea duck hunting that I missed out on. Fishing is mostly native brookies, 4-7 inches long.

Second this dude. I lived in Ellsworth for a year fresh out of grad school and it was one of the greatest years of my life doing travel PT. He hit it right on with all his recommendations. One more I’d recommend that probably isn’t on your list is the bold coast which is further east from Ellsworth. Unbelievable views and little to no people compared to how busy Acadia and MDI can get. Don’t overlook the peninsula of Acadia as well, the park isn’t just on MDI, some great hikes are on the Schoodic peninsula as well.

You can only do the precipice certain times of year, they close it down for nesting falcons, lots of exposed edges but it was my favorite hike (along with beehive and ladders).

Trenton Bridge lobster pound is another great local joint I’d eat at as well. We still get a few lobsters shipped from them every year fresh. Never was a fan of the blueberry beer, but other than that I loved everything Maine had to offer.

Few pics from Acadia and the Bold Coast (1st pic is Gold Coast, rest are Acadia)

 

[Belleau]

Hope your trip is not over but, if you guys like discovering restaurants, Spending only a day in Quebec will go fast, but I would definitly not missed out on eating at one of the great restaurants we have in town. The guys at L'Affaire Est Ketchup are also owner of Patente Et Machin and Albacore which are some of the best tables in the city. There's also pricier gastronomic restaurants like saint-amour, Arvi, JJaques, Lauri raphael, la légende and those are phenomenal. There's also a very very good texas style barbecue at bicep bbq, it's difficult to get a table though but they sometimes have cancelation. Other than that, if you want to see other stuff around the city, there's great national parcs all around the province. Near Quebec there's parc la jacques cartier and reserve faunique des laurentides. Have a look at sepaq.com. If you have any questions let me know, I'm a resident so I could help you!