Top Summer Activities

Get Out on the Bay - Take any one or more of a number of cruises offered by Casco Bay Lines, Portland Discovery Land & Sea Tours, Lucky Catch Cruises, Maine Sailing Adventures, Odyssey Whale Watch & Nature Cruises or Portland Schooner Company. Tours range from a 90 Minute Circuit of the harbor and bay to a 3-hour mail boat run to the 6 hours Bailey Island tour or an all day whale watch. You can catch lobsters with Lucky Catch or view whales, seals and/or dolphins with Odyssey. You can also enjoy a 2 hour sail in a vintage schooner from either of the sail or schooner companies. See Portland Harbor and Casco Bay at their best.

Attend a Portland Sea Dogs Game - Portland's AA Affiliate to the Boston Red Sox!  Enjoy a summer afternoon or early evening with America's pastime.

Take a trolley tour of Portland - Portland Discovery Land & Sea Tours offers a 90 minute tour of downtown Portland with a brief stop at Portland Head Light.

Visit the summer exhibits at the Portland Museum of Art or the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland. Both museums have exciting exhibits year-round with a number of works by artists with Maine ties such as the Wyeths and Winslow Homer. These are great activities for the occasional rainy days.

Visit any one of a number of local beaches. Within minutes of Portland are: Crescent Beach State Park in Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough Beach State Park, Higgins Beach, and Pine Point Beach in Scarborough and Old Orchard Beach in the town of the same name.

Visit an Amusement Park - Both Funtown Splashtown in Saco and Palace Playland in Old Orchard Beach are open all summer long with rides for kids of all ages.

Tour a few of Maine's Lighthouses - There are several lighthouse within the greater Portland Area which are accessibly by car. Spring Point Ledge Light and Portland Breakwater Light are both located in South Portland. Spring Point Ledge Light is open to visitors on weekends during the summer and Portland Breakwater Light (Bug Light) is located in a park which used to be a shipyard building Liberty Ships during WWII and has an interesting exhibit. Portland Head Light, one of the oldest continuously operating lighthouses on the Atlantic Coast, is located in Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth. Pack a picnic lunch or pick up a deli sandwich and enjoy the view and the park. Continue to the outer ledges of Cape Elizabeth to see Cape Elizabeth Light (in an area called Two Lights because of an older lighthouse now in private hands).

Enjoy a walking tour of downtown Portland - Sign up with Portland Landmarks at Tommy's Park for a guided tour, Maine Foodie Tours for a culinary view or Portland, or an evening stroll through Portland's ghostly past with Wicked Walking Tours.  Or... simply strike out on your own with the downtown map from our Visitor Guide. Enjoy the shopping in the Old Port Exchange or the scenic views from the Portland Observatory Museum or the Eastern Promenade or just enjoy wandering around.

Take your kids to the Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine - a great rainy day activity or just the way to get a respite from the Beach.

Take a day trip to One of the Following:


Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay Harbor -  A beautiful spot with magnificent gardens, waterfront and woodland trails. 

Maine Wildlife Park in Gray -  Run by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the park has an impressive collection of native Maine wild animals. Many of the animals were brought to the park because they were injured or orphaned or human dependent.

Kennebunkport Village and Ogunquit, Perkins Cove -  Follow Coastal Route 9 from Biddeford south along the coast coming into Kennebunkport and then proceed farther south to Ogunquit.

Join an L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery School Program - Programs are available for kayaking, fly fishing, clay -shooting and archery. There are daily walk-on programs in addition to day-long and weekend programs.

Take in a free evening concert - Many communities in the greater Portland area offer free outdoor concerts. Portland, South Portland, Scarborough and Freeport all have such concerts on different evenings.

Attend a show at the Maine State Music Theatre - This summer's shows include: Annie, Xanadu and The Wiz plus special events and this year's children's show, Beauty and the Beast. The theatre is located at the Pickard Theatre on the Bowdoin College campus in Brunswick.