Take Tours(chinese tour) 3 days Acadia National Park Review

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 4^th 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

http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/info/visitorinformation

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

http://www.nps.gov/sama/index.htm

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

http://www.coffeehoundcoffeebar.com/

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 2^nd 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

http://www.yorkbeachme.com/York_Beach_Maine/Welcome.html

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.