montreal to bar harbor

Does anyone know the best way to drive from Montreal to Bar Harbor? Thanks.

montreal to bar harbor

Did you Mapquest it, yet? I looked at my paper maps and could not see a logical route, so I Mapquested, out of curiosity. Their route was not even one that I considered, but may actually be the best (I don%26#39;t always assume that MapQuest gives the best route). I am not going to list off the route because there are a lot of road changes. But go to mapquest.com and put in Montreal, QC to Bar Harbor, ME.

montreal to bar harbor

I have made the trip to Montreal and back twice in past 5 years from here (near Bar Harbor) I always try to travel a different route in each direction just to see different things. The following is just a summary of the main points of the routes and I also suggest you MapQuest it or use some sorty of mapping.

The shortest and probably quickest route is to take Canada 10 east to its in near Sherbrooke. Then take a combination of routes (112 to PR253 to PR212 to 161) to the Woburn/Coburn Core border crossing into Maine. From there is it a combination of two lane highways down I-95 (hwy 27 to 16 to 8 to 148 to 201 to I-95). Then up to Bangor then RT1A to Ellsworth and RT3 to Bar Harbor. This is what NextStopls meant by there being many road changes. It sounds kind of overwhelming but I dont think it is as difficult as it seems. I would be a cheap 2007 Rand Mcnally map a Walmart and trace it out on that. This route will take you through some very scenic country in NW Maine mountains. The are just after you enter Maine at Coburn Gore down to the ski area is very beautiful.

The other route I would consider you would take Canada 10 to Canada 55 south which will become I-91 once you cross the border into Vermont. Continue south on I-91 to Route 2 and then take RT 2 east all the way through NH and western Maine to I-95 at Newport, ME head north on I-95 to Bangor and then to Bar Harbor as described above....or you could continue south on I-91 to I-93 take that south into NH to RT302 and take that all the way through NH and down to Portland, ME then head north on I-95 from there.

Either of these involve a very scenic drive through parts of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. There are of course other routes that involve other 2 lane highways but the ones I listed are the ';main'; routes. Unfortunately there is no easy to follow all interstate highway routes that would not involve traveling way off course from the most direct route.

Hope this helps and doesn%26#39;t confuse.

Thanks for the replies.

I have two routes, Mapquest, which says it takes 7 1/2 hours and another (the #55, I-91) which says it takes only 7 hours!

Would the one that goes through Portland be longer?

We would like to divide our drive into two and sleep over. But I am having difficulty finding a town on either route which has name brand accomodations.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Any proposed route that would take you through Portland is considerably out-of-the-way. We travelled the first route that County Mounty described, i.e., with the border crossing at Woburn/Coburn Gore, but in the opposite direction. I don%26#39;t remember how long it took us to get to Montreal, but I know that we had a comfortable and interesting drive and spent the night between Montreal and Toronto.

According to Mapquest, the route CountyMounty described was just over 330 miles and should take just under 3.5 hrs. You dont go anywhere near Portland, do you by chance mean Bangor?

CORRECTION!!

I meant just under 7.5 hrs instead of 3.5 hrs. I swear I am losing my mind today. Sorry.

I WISH it were under 3 1/2 hours!

The second route he mentioned went all the way to Portland and back, taking the super highways.

If we take the mapquest route and want to stop and stay somewhere about 5 hours out of Montreal, what would you suggest?

Thanks

I always use the ';Delorme Street Atlas'; program for route planning and I have found it to be very reliable in its calculations (times are based on traveling the speed limits and normal traffic).

The first route I describe is the shortest and quickest at about 7.5 hrs and 334miles.

The second route that involves coming into US in VT on I-91 then taking RT 2 is about 8.5 hrs and 399miles. This is if you do as I first describe and come across RT2 instead of continuing south to 302 and coming into Portland that way would add close to 100 miles but in theory only about 1/2hr in time because you spend more time on larger highways. I am not sure what mapquest route could possible be less than the first one I described. Note the second route I described DOES NOT involve going down to Portland unless you chose to continue south if you reread my description you will see that as I said ';or....';

Going the first route (the shortest one that crosses at Coburn Gore you will not find any ';brand name'; hotels in the middle not until you reach I-95 in Maine. In about 5 1/2 to 6 hrs you could make it to Waterville, ME where there are several brand name hotels but at this point your only 1 1/2 from Bar Harbor.

Going the other way using I-91 you will have the same issue once you leave the interstate and take RT2 across NH and western Maine. Again there will be no ';brand name hotels'; until you reach I-95 in Maine.

Taking the variation to route 2 that takes you farther south and uses RT302 you would come to North Conway, NH in about 4 hrs. North Conway is a very great town and has a few chain hotels but they will be very expensive in the summer. Also going this route you would not actually have to go all the way into Portland as you can cut across to I-95 in Windham if you wanted to.

Unfortunately there are so many slight variations to the routes that to explain them would probably just confuse. Personally I would come route #1 and go back route #2 or vice versa just because they are both scenic drives and you will get to see different things. Unfortunately neither of these routes will have ';brand name'; hotels in the middle portion. There are several small non chain hotels that you could stay at though.

If you want to tell me when you are coming and what you want for a hotel (just a cheap place to sleep, or something a little more expensive) I will look to see what may be available for you.

Thank you for all your helpful information. I will check with the Driver (My husband) which route he prefers. We know North Conway and do not have to go out of our way to go there. (I don%26#39;t want to get side-tracked by the shops!!!)

As soon as we decide, I will post and perhaps you can guide us. We find that 71/2 hours is long and if we leave a day ahead and sleep over, we can arrive in Bar Harbor early and have the whole day. Same in the reverse.

How close is Bangor to Bar Harbor? Is it more than an hour?

It looked as though Waterville was out of the way.

I noticed a place called Skowhegan. Maybe that would be a good stop-off point. Do you know where I mean?

Thanks again.

Waterville would be slightly out of the way from the most direct route which is RT2 east from Skowhegan. It would add maybe 15-20 minutes to the drive to go down into Waterville instead of going RT2 East. It would be an option if you really wanted to stay in a chain hotel, there is a Holiday Inn, Best Western, Comfort Suites, Hampton and an Econo Lodge.

Skowhegan would be a little over 2 hrs from Bar Harbor and 5 to 5 1/2 hrs from your start. It has no ';chain hotels'; but there are a couple of locally owned ones. We stay at the Belmont Motel there every year for the fair and that is fine. Nothing fancy but it is clean and the staff is really wonderful. There isn%26#39;t a whole lot to do there but you would just probably be wanting a place to get some rest. There are a handful of restaraunts and a WALMART within a short distance of that Motel. If by some chance you are traveling In August during the time of the fair you would have to book now to get a room.

Bangor is just a little over an hour from Bar Harbor with normal traffic. There are many chain hotels there and it is a fairly large city (by Maine standards) with tons of restaraunts and stores.