Free
Portland Head Light and Fort Williams Park
The famous lighthouse on the rocks, with a park, trails and fort ruins. The museum has its own hours.
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Casco Bay, Maine
Portland, Maine
A small, lively port city: the cobbled Old Port, ferries to the islands of Casco Bay, and Portland Head Light on the rocks just south of town.
Photo: Portland Head Light, Rapidfire, CC BY-SA 3.0
Portland's Old Port is a waterfront of 19th-century brick warehouses turned into shops and restaurants, with working fishing piers right alongside. Follow your nose to the harbour.
Portland Head Light, one of America's best-known lighthouses, stands in Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, about 15 minutes away.
Outdoors and nature
Trails, lookouts, waterfalls, beaches and time on the water come first.
Free
Eastern Promenade
A hillside park and trail above the bay, with a small beach.
Sights and attractions
Museums, landmarks and the places people come here for.
Paid
Portland Museum of Art
Maine's largest art museum, including work by Winslow Homer.
Paid
Portland Observatory
An 1807 maritime signal tower with views over the harbour.
Season Seasonal, check official site.
Paid
Wadsworth-Longfellow House
The boyhood home of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Markets, shops and festivals
Main streets, markets and the dates worth planning around.
Free
Portland Farmers' Market
A long-running farmers' market at Deering Oaks Park in season.
Book a tour or activity
Cruises, tours and experiences people book here. Each one goes to the operator's official page, and you can still add it to your trip.
Casco Bay Lines island ferries
Ferries and the mailboat run to the islands.
Season Runs year-round; winter and summer schedules differ (check before you go).
Lucky Catch lobstering cruises
Haul lobster traps on a working boat.
Season Runs from the first weekend of May to the last weekend of Oct (check before you go).
Maine Foodie Tours
Walking food tours of the Old Port.
Also bookable, listed above
These are in the lists above, so we don't repeat them here.
- Portland Museum of Art Tickets
Part of our Maine and New Hampshire seacoast guides.
Make it a weekend
Why stay the night
- Casco Bay Lines ferries make an island day trip easy.
- The Eastern Promenade is best at sunrise over the bay.
- The lighthouses of Cape Elizabeth deserve their own morning.
Nearby and worth the drive
Portsmouth, NHabout 55 min · Guide ↗
A harbour city of colonial streets.
Kennebunkportabout 40 min · Guide ↗A seaside village with beaches.
Bar Harborabout 3 h · Guide ↗Acadia National Park.
Ready-made trips with Portland, Maine
Good to know
- Tourism: visitportland.com and visitmaine.com.
- We list only places we can check against an official source. Hours, seasons and prices change, so confirm before you go.
Photos on this page
Photo: Portland Head Light, Rapidfire, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Casco Bay from the Eastern Promenade, Photo by Aude., CC BY-SA 2.5
Photo: The rocky shore at Two Lights State Park, GregMcCollum, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Wharves of the Old Port, Portland, Daderot, Public domain