Bar Harbor, where we visited today, is a picturesque, seaside town with tonnes of restaurants, boutique shops and art galleries offering its many visitors a range of activities to enjoy.

Whale watching tours are popular as are boat trips to watch Puffins at a nearby colony, sadly, we are too late in the year to see them. A century ago, puffins were nearly eliminated from the state of Maine as the colourful birds were prized for their feathers and their eggs were gathered for the dinner table. In 1973, Puffin Project was established in an attempt to bring them back to their historical range. Although the project has been a resounding success, major threats such as overfishing, climate change and habitat elimination continue to offer challenges to these cuties. Puffin watching is already on my hit-list should we return to this area again!

The town of Bar Harbor also enjoys the benefits of having the Acadia National Park as a close neighbour. The Park is one of the most popular destinations in the US with over two million visitors descending on the area between May and October each year.

The Town encompasses the entire northern section of Mount Desert Island. Its land makes-up 114 square miles and is, ironically, shaped like a lobster claw! 

Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to Bar Harbor each year by sea – this is a prized cruise ship port destination for large and small cruise ships!