Take
Tours 3 days Acadia National Park Review
Pros->
-Inexpensive
for smaller group
-Got to see many places
-Decent tour
guide and driver
-Good breaks during the trip (almost every 2
hours)
Cons->
-Very hectic (every day had to be up
before 6am)
-No charging points or wifi on the bus
-One
of the hotels had no microwave or fridge
-some of the
attractions were not much worth the price
-Recommended only if
you have enough energy to sit on the bus for long hours and sleep
less.
-Total cost ($152 for the tour + $123 for service fee &
all attractions)
Details->
Day 1:
The
pick up was at Hong Kong Supermarket at 6:30 AM on Friday of the July
4th long weekend. The guide had preassigned seat numbers
so we didn't have to rush to grab good seats. I could easily find the
tour guide since he had sent me a text previous day introducing
himself. Once everyone boarded the bus, the guide introduced himself
and talked about the general agenda of the trip. His English was not
great but enough for one to understand. We were told about each
attraction that we were to visit and the cost associated with it.
Also there is service charge of $8/person per day (The service charge
was collected on the last day). The guide sat with each group and
collected money for all the attractions (these are all optional) that
the group wished to visit. I had read the agenda listed on the
website when I made the tour reservation and I had read reviews for
all the optional attractions. I chose just the ones with good reviews
and skipped the rest. I instead chose to explore the towns while
other people went to visit the optional attractions (which worked out
great!).
Attraction
1: Boston Harbor Cruise (Not worth visiting)
Our
first stop on Day 1 was Boston Harbor where the first optional
attraction was the harbor cruise. I chose to skip this cruise and
instead explored Quincy Market (4-5 minutes walk from the Harbor) and
surrounding area. This place is very similar to the Chelsae Market in
NYC.
Quincy
Market
Attraction
2: Salem Witch Museum (Not worth visiting)
I
also skipped this museum since it had very average reviews and not
something that interested me. Instead I chose to visit Salem
Maritime National Historic Site which is on water front and is free.
This is around 6 minutes walk from the witch museum. Also there is a
nice park in front of the museum where one can just relax.
Salem
Maritime National Historic Site
Attraction
3: Portland Lighthouse (Worth visiting)
This
attraction is definitely worth visiting and cost me only $2. The view
of the Lighthouse and the ocean is very beautiful.
Dinner:
The
bus stopped at a Buffet styled diner place which is around
$17/person. I chose to walk to a nearby Chipolte (2 minutes walk) for
my dinner which cost less than $10. There are also Chilii's and On
The Border in the same area. But considering the fatser service of
Chipotle, it felt like a better choice.
Hotel:
The
hotel for the night was Best Western which has microwave and fridge.
The rooms are clean and neat. Nothing out of the world but I couldn't
complain either. Before going to the hotel, the guide gave us
instructions about not smoking etc and the time to meet the following
day. We were told that the breakfast at the hotel would cost
$5/person.
Day
2:
We
were asked to assemble by the bus by 7:30 AM. The bus departed on
time and this was the day we were to visit Acadia which is the main
attraction of the tour.
Attraction 4:
Bar Harbor Lobster Cruise and town explore (Worth visiting)
We
were given couple of hours to explore the town and then meet at the
harbor for the Lobster catching cruise. The Bar Harbor town is very
charming full of tourist shops and restaurants. By the harbor there
is a simple map of the place. I found the visitor center (just 2
blocks from the harbor) and grabbed a map of the place. There is a
park in front of the harbor which is nice for relaxing with a great
view of the ocean.
Maine
is known for blueberries and lobsters so do try some blueberry pies
or blueberry soda or lobster rolls/lobster bisque while in the town.
I tried the blueberry pie at the Coffee Hound Coffee Bar and Cadillac
Cooler (blueberry soda + lemonade) which was great!
Coffee
Hound Coffee Bar
The
lobster bisque at the Lazy Lobster tasted good.
The
lobster catching cruise is worth the money. Our guide on the cruise
(not the bus tour guide) was very helpful and patient with people.
They even offered wrist bands for sea sick people. We were shown a
small island which had many seals and bald eagles resting with a
small lighthouse (we were not allowed to go on the island). We were
also shown how lobsters are caught and everyone got to touch the
lobster and click photos with it.
Attraction 5:
Acadia National Park (Mountain view) (Worth visiting)
This
is worth the money ($10). The view from the mountain is very
beautiful and scenic. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day but at least
it didn't rain. Carrying a jacket helped since it was windy.
Dinner:
The
bus stopped at a rest area which had a few takeout places. We were
asked to pack our dinner and eat it on the bus since the hotel was
around 5 hours from the location.
Hotel:
The
hotel for 2nd night was Holiday Inn in Nashua. It has no
microwave or fridge but is otherwise clean and neat. They don't serve
breakfast but there is a McDonald next to the hotel where we could
grab food from.
Day
3:
We
were asked to meet by the bus by 8:20 AM. The bus departed on time.
Attraction 6:
Yorks Wild Kingdom (Not worth visiting)
I
skipped this attraction. It is a small zoo/amusement park and didn't
seem worth the time and the money. Less than 5 minutes walk away
there is York Beach which is free and probably more fun. The York
town is a typical tourist town with many tourist
shops/restaurants/candy and ice-cream places. I explored this town
and the beach while we were given time to visit the Zoo. There are
restrooms outside the zoo and by the beach.
York
Beach
Attraction 7:
Mystic Aquarium (Not worth visiting)
This
was the last attraction of our tour and I chose to skip it. It is a
much smaller Aquarium compared to many other Aquariums that I have
visited. We were given just an hour to explore it and even though
they had some free animal shows, most of them were not scheduled
during our hour long visit.
Instead
I chose to explore the Mystic Village which is again a small tourist
place with various shops and restaurants. I had my lunch here at
Mango Pizza which was decent and explored some interesting shops. The
Mystic village is just next to the aqaurium less than 2 minutes away
by walk.
Old
Mystic Village
http://www.oldemistickvillage.com/
We
reached Hong Kong Supermarket by around 10 PM considering the long
weekend traffic and one rest stop.
Note:
-Carry
enough cash to pay for all the attractions and the service fees (the
guide collects all this money in cash and buys the attraction tickets
for you. They probably get some group discount but you get the
tickets mostly at the regular price.)
-Carry
water or bottle of water that can be refilled since there is no water
on the bus.
-A
portable phone charger will help since there are not charging points
on the bus. I recommend Anker Portable charger from Amazon which can
charge up to 4 full smart phones.
-Before
paying for any attractions, do some research and read reviews on
TripAdvisor.com to avoid wasting money or time.
-Having
3-4 people in a group while booking the tour helps lower the cost
since up to 4 people can share a room.
