One Day in Portland in June on a cruise, what to see?

We will be in Portland in early June on a cruise stop for one day. Do you recommend renting a car to see outlying areas or a tour or just stay in town for the day? We are 2 couples in our early 60%26#39;s. Thanks.

One Day in Portland in June on a cruise, what to see?

I%26#39;d stay right in Portland, in the Old Port section. Great walking, shops, restaurants, cafes, people watching. Casco Bay Lines has ferry service to the islands. Easy to do for part of your day. Check out the Portland forum topic ';Cruise port to town';. The same basic question was asked by another cruiser. You%26#39;ll get your answers there. Post if you have some other questions, too. DId I say that Portland is great? You%26#39;ll love it.

One Day in Portland in June on a cruise, what to see?

u can also look at the mainetoday.com site on travel cuz it can give u a preview...

http://travel.mainetoday.com/regions/gp/

Thanks to both of you for your advice. We will be in Portland on a Sunday so will the ferry be running and will all the shops be open? If not, what is there to do?

Everything will be open %26amp; running. In addition to being a lovely ride for visitors, the ferry is a lifeline for the islanders, so it runs 365 days a year.

What are your tour options? And how long is your stop?

The ship arrives at 8am and leaves at 7pm so we will be on land from 9am-5pm.

The gals in the group could probably make a day of shopping in the Old Port, but the guys might be bored to tears. I don%26#39;t think downtown Portland on foot is enough to fill the entire day unless you mix it with a lot of sitting in restaurants and coffee houses.

If you rented a car, you could check out Portland and go north to Freeport (LL Bean where the guys might like the hunting/fishing stores). You could eat Lobster for lunch at the Harraseekeet Lunch %26amp; Lobster, see frommers.com/destinations/…D47372.html and hike (actually a very leisurely walk) at Wolfe%26#39;s Neck State Park.

You could do the Old Port for a few hours, then go eat lunch in Cape Elizabeth Lobster Shack. lobstershack-twolights.com/areainfo.htm Then you can drive back via the Portland Head Light.

Or, you could go south to Kennebunkport, again shop, but also cruise streets lined with lovely old ship captain%26#39;s mansions, drive by the Bush compound at Walker Point, keep on that road to lovely little Cape Porpoise and eat lobster at the The Cape Pier Chowder House Deck, www.capeporpoiselobster.com/info.php… if the weather is good, or inside at Noonan%26#39;s if it%26#39;s not. tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g40694-i618-k62682…

My only concern would be that the car rental places aren%26#39;t so near the ship docking area, so you%26#39;d have to leave sufficient time to have the car brought to you and picked back up.

Thanks for the advice. It being a Sunday when we are there, I am waiting to hear from Enterprise at the Portland airport if they will pick us up and if we can leave the car at the dock.

ooh, Sunday, I don%26#39;t know what that means for Old Port shopping. Shouldn%26#39;t interfere with LLBean (open 24 hours a day) or the Portland Head LIght or sightseeing in Kennebunkport.

Have a great trip!

Check out the Portland Museum of Art on Congress Square - http://www.portlandmuseum.org/visit/

Also on Munjoy Hill is the Portland Observatory, looks like a lighthouse, but was used to fly signal flags when ships were arriving during the heyday of trading vessels.

…about.com/cs/mainehistory/a/Observatory.htm

Maine has a 5% sales tax on goods and 7% on food. I wouldn%26#39;t bother with the outlets, my personal opinion, but you can shop any day of the week and there are much more interesting things to see and do, things that you won%26#39;t find where you live.

A car would be useful to get to Portland Headlight and Twin Lights state park in Cape Elizabeth but between Casco Bay Ferry which is right next to where the cruise ships dock and the museum and observatory your day will be full.

Be advised lobster prices are sky high at the moment. I usually eat at Gilbert%26#39;s Chowder House, a little hole in the wall about a block from the dock, that features great mussels and chowders.