The best hikes from bus stations in Maine

This memorial celebrates Portland's founder, George Cleeves, and his partner Richard Tucker, who landed at the historic Portland Waterfront in 1633. From here you get sweeping views out across Casco Bay and the Eastern Promenade. This was the first public monument erected in Portland, two hundred and fifty years after the first colonial landing, in 1883.

Nestled on the wharf, Scales specializes in classic New England seafood. If you are looking for the finest plates of lobster, octopus, or oysters, this is it! You will need a reservation weeks in advance, which you can find on their website here: https://www.scalesrestaurant.com.

The Criterion Theatre is a historic venue on Cottage Street. It was built in 1932 in the Art Deco style. Since 2014, the theatre has been owned by a non-profit organization; after a renovation, it reopened in May 2015. In 1980, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criterion_Theatre_(Bar_Harbor,_Maine)

The historic building of the United States Postal Service on Cottage Street was built in 1909 from granite stone. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1986. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Post_Office-Bar_Harbor_Main

The land bridge to Bar Island is dry at low tide and should be hiked 1.5 hours before and 1.5 hours after low tide. The trail leads to a hill in the interior of the island, where you have a good view of the town and the land bridge. However, there is a less traveled trail along the coast around the entire island. https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/hike-bar-island-trail.htm

The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum has maintained a narrow gauge railway since 1993, which runs approximately 2.4 km along the coast of the Portland Peninsula and parallel to the Eastern Promenade Trail. The railway tracks date from a time when the Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railroad and later the Grand Trunk Railroad ran from Portland to Montreal. After the East End Rail Bridge was badly damaged by fire in 1984 and was not repaired for economic reasons, the railway line was no longer used. This led to the founding of the non-profit organization with the aim of preserving the railway and making its history unforgettable. https://mainenarrowgauge.org/

The gigantic military fortress Battery Steele was built during World War II to house heavy guns to protect the North Atlantic fleet. After the war, the site came into the possession of the Casco Bay Island Development Association and later the Star Foundation, a non-profit organization, became the owner of the fortress. When Battery Steele was put up for sale again, a grassroots campaign was launched by a group of islanders. In 1995, the group bought the 5.5-hectare property to preserve it as a recreational and historical site. This is how Peaks Island Land Preserve, a volunteer organization, was created. In 2005, Battery Steele was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Walking through the more than 100-meter-long dark tunnel inside Battery Steele creates indescribable impressions. The walls are covered in graffiti, many of which unfortunately do not claim to be classified as ‘street art’. https://www.peaksislandlandpreserve.org/battery-steele

The Atlantic bay off Portland is called 'Casco Bay'. The approximately 520 sq km bay is part of the Gulf of Maine and lies between Cape Elizabeth south of Portland and Cape Small, a peninsula in eastern Maine that extends far into the Atlantic. Six inhabited islands lie in the bay and can be reached by ferry all year round. You can find detailed information about the bay on the website of the 'Friends of Casco Bay - Casco BAYKEEPER'. https://www.cascobay.org/casco-bay/