Self-Guided Driving & Walking Bundle Of Maine Tours

What your day looks like

Your walking tour of Portland begins at the Visit Portland Information Center. As you stroll through Portland’s beautiful Old Port neighborhood, you’ll learn about the city’s unusual founding, uncovering stories of tension and strife. Find out how in 1775, the British launched one of the most devastating attacks in the city’s history. As your journey moves along, you’ll uncover Portland’s role in the Underground Railroad and get to know key figures likeDaniel Colesworthy, who published the first Afro-centric history book! After that, you’ll get the story behind the Great Fire of 1866 and the 10,000 who lost their homes. You’ll even see how the city rebuilt with fireproof brick! While walking through the gorgeously preserved architecture of the city’s downtown, you’ll hear about more of its heroes, like suffragist Augusta Hunt. She didn’t take “no” for an answer! Or Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. You probably know “Paul Revere’s Ride,” but Longfellow also knew twelve languages! After that, you can stop by the Our Lady of Victories statue, a tribute to the Portlanders who perished in the Civil War. Speaking of war, you’ll also revisit the Battle of Portland Harbor, when Confederates launched a major assault on Portland. Relive a tale of deceit and determination. The walking tour concludes in Old Port. The driving portion commences on Commercial Street. You’ll discover how Portland became Canada’s “winter port” for wheat and that the original wharves and waterfront were literally buried in earth! You’ll then pass the Western Cemetery. Among the prominent Portlanders buried there are poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s parents! Heading up the Western Promenade, you’ll proceed past Portland’s most elegant and graceful Victorian-era mansions. Talk about wealth! You’ll also pass the eclectic Arts District, full of galleries and working studios. Then the journey will take you toward views of the Casco Bay islands and an array of lighthouses. One is the Portland Head Light, commissioned by George Washington! Conclude your driving tour to Portland with a visit to Fort Williams Park. Your Acadia tour begins at the Hull’s Cove Visitor Center. As you drive, you’ll hear of devastating fires and uncover the fascinating history behind the park’s foliage Then you’ll proceed to the Cadillac Mountain Overlook for a great view of the mountain you’ll be ascending later in the tour! As the journey continues, you’ll learn about the local fauna, from beavers to peregrine falcons and beyond! The journey will also introduce you to radio-obsessed tycoon Alessandro Fabbri and John D. Rockefeller Jr., as well as what these two have to do with this national park. Finally, you’ll ascend the majestic Cadillac Mountain, rife with geological history, going back to the dinosaurs. Your tour concludes here.