Things to do in Boothbay Harbor

A working lobster wharf on Atlantic Avenue where the boats unload a few feet from the picnic tables, a short walk from the inns across the footbridge.

A family-run wharf restaurant beside the Southport swing bridge, with lobster and chowder served at the water's edge.

A waterfront restaurant on Wharf Street with a dock-side deck, a long seafood menu and live music on summer nights.

A small takeout stand on Granary Way that does one thing well, a lobster roll served with a cup of warm butter to pour yourself.

A three-story bistro on the By-Way with a rooftop deck over the harbor and a tapas-style menu that suits sharing.

A raw bar on stilts at Pier 1 with local oysters downstairs and a second-floor room that turns into live music later in the evening.

A northern Italian restaurant on Commercial Street where the pasta is made in house, a good choice when you have had enough lobster.

A breakfast and lunch cafe at 54 Commercial Street with a back deck on the water, known for blueberry pancakes and lobster rolls.

A locally owned coffeehouse on Townsend Avenue with baked goods and a porch that fills early on summer mornings.

A year-round waterfront restaurant on Union Street serving comfort food, seafood and Sunday breakfast, open when many places have closed for the season.

A bar and grill at the foot of the footbridge on Bridge Street with seafood, burgers and seating that looks straight down the harbor.

A waterfront restaurant on Atlantic Avenue with a seaside deck, fire pits and a menu that runs from local seafood to sushi.

A small brewery on the By-Way steps from the footbridge, pouring its own ales in a taproom with harbor views.

A Boothbay Harbor ice cream maker since 1979 with a pier shop on the By-Way and more than sixty homemade flavors.

A village general store in East Boothbay since 1898, handy for breakfast sandwiches and pizza on the way out to Ocean Point.

Runs the harbor tours, the Burnt Island lighthouse trip and the day boat to Monhegan Island from Pier 8, all within a few minutes' walk of our front doors.

Whale watches, puffin trips and lighthouse cruises from Pier 1, the same family running boats out of this harbor for generations.

Two-hour day sails and sunset sails on wooden schooners that leave from the downtown waterfront, with guests welcome to help raise the sails.

Kayak and paddleboard rentals and guided harbor paddles from a downtown shop, with delivery available to the inns.

A boat ride from Pier 6 to a private island where lobsters, clams and corn are cooked over seaweed the old way.

A fishing charter docked at the Tugboat Inn marina downtown, captained by a fisherman who has worked these waters since 1984.

Private fishing and sightseeing charters from 125 Atlantic Avenue for stripers, mackerel and a look at the outer islands.

An 1821 lighthouse on a five-acre island at the harbor mouth, kept by the state and reached by boat for a walk on the trails and a look inside the keeper's house.

The late-June festival when tall ships sail into the harbor, with a street parade, fireworks and a lighted boat parade you can watch from Commercial Street.

The lantern-lit haunted history walk started by Red Cloak Tours, now run by American Ghost Walks, covering the inns and back streets after dark.

An 1894 hall on Townsend Avenue with a year-round calendar of concerts, films and an open mic night, a five-minute walk up from the water.

A summer dinner theater where the servers are the cast, performing musical revues between courses.

The town's nonprofit cinema at the Meadow Mall, showing first-run and independent films year-round.

An eighteen-hole mini golf course on Route 27 with a whale-themed layout and ice cream at the window.

The Chamber's free vintage trolley loops the downtown and out to the gardens and railway village in summer, a sensible way to leave the car at the inn.

The harbor's November and December season of lights, with the tree lighting, a lighted boat parade and Santa arriving by boat.

More than three hundred acres of gardens and shoreline in Boothbay, with the giant wooden trolls, a children's garden and the Gardens Aglow light show in November and December.

The botanical gardens' winter light display, hundreds of thousands of lights along the paths from mid-November into December.

A narrow-gauge steam train circling a recreated village of historic buildings and antique cars, a favorite with children.

The Railway Village's Columbus Day weekend festival with craft vendors, food and train rides under the turning leaves.

The Department of Marine Resources aquarium at McKown Point, with touch tanks and Gulf of Maine species, reopened in 2025 after a long renovation.

A small museum on Oak Street with photographs and artifacts from the region's shipbuilding and fishing past, a few minutes from the inns.

The public library on Oak Street, a quiet stop on a rainy afternoon and the host of the town's April Earth Day Fest.

A member-run gallery at 1 Townsend Avenue showing regional artists, and a stop on the First Friday Art Tour.

The Southport Historical Society's house museum in an 1820 home, open a few days a week in July and August.

The trust that keeps more than thirty miles of free public trails open across the peninsula, with maps for every preserve on its site.

The land trust's headquarters on Hodgdon Cove with an easy shoreline loop, good for a short walk with children or before dinner.

Trails along the narrow tidal channel of the Back River where the current runs hard, with a footbridge linking the two peninsulas.

A shoreline loop on Barters Island through old spruce and past a small beach, reached over the hand-cranked Trevett swing bridge.

Flat, wide trails around a freshwater pond just off Route 27, one of the easiest walks on the peninsula.

Adjoining woodland preserves on Route 96 with trails running down to the Damariscotta River shore.

A land trust preserve at the tip of Linekin Neck near the Ocean Point shore road, where the harbor gives way to open Atlantic.

A land trust island six miles offshore with a seasonal caretaker and walking trails, reached by private boat or kayak.

Thursday mornings on the Boothbay Common from late May to mid-October, with local growers, fishermen and bakers.

The Boothbay Harbor branch of Maine's oldest bookstore chain, on Commercial Street with books, gifts and a good Maine section.

A gallery of American craft, jewelry and art on Commercial Street, part of a small Maine family of shops.

A family clothing store on Townsend Avenue that has outfitted Boothbay Harbor since 1926.

A fine art gallery on Commercial Street representing Maine painters and sculptors.

A candy shop on Commercial Street making fudge and taffy since 1885, a few doors from the inns.

An artists' island ten miles out with cliff trails and no cars, reached on the Balmy Days day boat from Pier 8 with about four hours ashore.

A museum in the old lighthouse keeper's house on Monhegan with work by the painters who summered there.

The 1827 lighthouse on the granite ledges at Pemaquid Point, with a fishermen's museum in the keeper's house, about an hour from the inns.

A late-September festival on the Damariscotta waterfront with local oysters, a shucking contest and music.

The lobster roll stand at the Wiscasset bridge on Route 1, worth the line if you are passing through on the way in or out.

A museum on the Kennebec in Bath on the site of a historic shipyard, with river cruises that include a Burnt Island lighthouse trip, about fifty minutes away.