Where To Stay Near Acadia: Bar Harbor + 4 Alternatives

Figuring out exactly where to stay near Acadia is one of the biggest challenges you’ll face when planning your trip to Maine’s awesome national park, but it’s important to know you have solid options. Back when we visited Acadia in October 2020 we remember discussing whether it was worth paying over the odds to stay in Bar Harbor versus staying other nearby areas like North Mt Desert Island, Northeast Harbor, Southwest Harbor and Ellsworth – which we knew would provide better value for money.

We were half way through a New England fall foliage road trip, booking hotels last minute so we had flexibility over our itinerary. It worked okay in some quieter places, but it gave us a headache for Acadia because hotel availability near the park was scarce, and the only ones left had eye-watering price tags. We ended up booking the cheapest hotel we could find in Bar Harbor (which was still very expensive!), and all things considered we thought it was definitely worth paying over the odds to be closer to the park’s attractions and hikes.

Our research led us to two reasons for choosing Bar Harbor. First, it was clearly the most convenient place to stay for accessing the park and our main goals were to hike and take photos. Second, the actual town of Bar Harbor looked lovely and had lots of highly rated places to eat out within walking distance of all the lodging options. We stayed at the Anchorage Motel, which still cost us well over $600 for 3 nights despite being the cheapest hotel we could find in town. It was okay, but next time we’d book further in advance and stay somewhere nicer.

Now, we knew Bar Harbor was the best place for us to stay, but you might prefer to stay somewhere else that’s quieter or provides more comfort for less money, so don’t discount the other areas we’re going to show you just yet. In this guide we cut right to the chase and show you the 5 areas we’d consider staying near Acadia, with pros and cons for each area based on our experiences. Let’s dive in!

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The Five Areas To Consider

When we first looked at staying in Acadia, we were actually quite surprised to learn that there were no official national park lodges – it’s unusual for the most popular US national parks to have no in-park lodging. There are three major campgrounds (which we’ll cover near the end of the guide) but if you want to stay in a hotel, the following 5 areas are your best bet:

1. Bar Harbor – Best for a first time visit with a healthy budget.
2. North Mt Desert Island – Best balance between cost and location.
3. Northeast Harbor – Best place to escape the crowds.
4. Southwest Harbor – Best for excellent lodging on the “other side” of Acadia.
5. Ellsworth – Best for visiting Acadia on a tight budget.

Bar Harbor is certainly the most popular place to stay near Acadia but it’s also the most expensive by a distance. The small high-end resort town is a summer home for celebrities and it’s a relaxed, easy-going seaside town with a great vibe.

Honestly, we really liked Bar Harbor because it epitomized what we imagined a ritzy New England coastal town to be like. It had fantastic restaurants, a chilled and outdoorsy but lively vibe, and of course that all important easy-access to the park.

So, why stay anywhere else when visiting Acadia?

If we were visiting Acadia with a limited travel budget for lodging, even the cheapest hotels in Bar Harbor would probably cost too much. Hotels in the other four areas are more affordable, so we think they’re worth considering solely on the basis of value for money.

Another reason is that Bar Harbor was densely crowded with tourists when we visited, and you might prefer to have a more peaceful escape. We noticed areas like Northeast Harbor and Southwest Harbor were far more secluded and had a fraction of the crowds.

In summer and fall especially, hotels in all areas around Acadia are more expensive than average because demand far outweighs supply. It’s consistently one of the most visited national parks every year and there’s a surprisingly low amount of lodging options, so the few places can simply bump up the prices knowing that people will pay. It’s a nice place to be for the owners!

Ellsworth isn’t located on Mt Desert Island, which is considerably less convenient for visiting Acadia – but it’s also significantly more affordable than the other areas we’ll show you, and that’s why we’re including it in our guide.

Our bottom line: If you have a healthy budget, want ease of access to the park, and want a lively apres-hiking scene – you should stay in Bar Harbor. But if you want better value for money or a quieter place to stay, you should stay in one of the other four areas.

Our Favorite Hotels

If you’re in a hurry or don’t want to read this full guide, here are our top hotel recommendations for first time visitors to Acadia based on a perfect blend of location, quality, value for money, previous guest reviews and our own experiences. They’re all affordable hotels (relatively speaking for Acadia) that we’d happily book ourselves:

🏨 Acadia Hotel Downtown: We think this is the classic, downtown Bar Harbor pick for couples on a budget taking a first trip to Acadia. It’s right in the heart of town, steps from restaurants, and super close to the park.

🏨 Bar Harbor Grand Hotel: Another superb mid-range choice in downtown Bar Harbor, walkable to everything, and a bit more of a grand feeling. Can also be one of the more affordable, higher quality hotels in its price tier.

🏨 Acadia Inn: Five minutes drive to the north of Bar Harbor is the College of the Atlantic area with lots of hotels providing cheaper rates for more resort-style accommodations. We think Acadia Inn is one of the better value for money hotels in the area.

🏨 Lindenwood Inn: In Southwest Harbor, we really like the look of Lindenwood Inn. It’s an intimate, upscale, boutique inn that looks perfect for a romantic couples stay on a special occasion.

🏨 Yellow House Inn: Back in downtown Bar Harbor, we’d love to stay at the Yellow House. It’s an upscale adults only B&B with a perfect location, but it’s not cheap.

Now, our favorite hotels near Acadia are all excellent options with sky-high guest ratings, but we hope you love to research and learn about a place before you visit like we do.

Keep reading to see what makes each of Acadia’s popular areas a good or bad area to stay for your trip. Within each area we’ll show you the top rated cheap, mid-range and luxury hotels along with the most highly-rated vacation rentals we can find through Airbnb that might suit families and groups better.

Bar Harbor (Ultimate Convenience)

Okay let’s start with Acadia’s most popular place to stay for first time visitors – Bar Harbor, the gateway to Acadia National Park with both the Sieur de Monts and Sand Beach entrances just a few minutes drive from town.

We absolutely loved the excellent selection of restaurants and breweries in town, it had such a pedestrian-friendly and walkable downtown, the vibe was chilled and fun with an outdoorsy vibe, and there are dozens of highly rated hotels and vacation rentals available.

Being able to wake up, walk a few minutes to breakfast, hop in the car and arrive at Precipice Trail 10 minutes later, spend the whole day hiking, and then walk to one of many superb eateries for dinner was the reason we paid more to stay in Bar Harbor.

Convenient was an understatement, but it was more the vibe of Bar Harbor that suited the sort of mornings and evenings we were looking for at the time as a couple. If we wanted a more romantic and serene trip or we were visiting with our young kids, we might have stayed in Northeast Harbor or Southwest Harbor instead.

Despite the inflated prices, we do think Bar Harbor is the best place to stay near Acadia for most couples and families with older kids taking first-time trips. When looking at hotels in Bar Harbor, there are two distinct clusters:

• Downtown Bar Harbor – Most expensive but within easy walking distance of all amenities.
• College of the Atlantic – More affordable but 1.5 miles (5 minutes drive) from the amenities in downtown.

For us, if we’re going to pay over the odds for Bar Harbor, we might as well book in the actual town so we have the amenities and atmosphere within easy walking distance. But College of the Atlantic does provide more resort-style lodging at cheaper rates, so it might be a safer bet for families or first-timers who don’t necessarily prioritize being a short walk from restaurants.

Now, finding hotel room availability is one of the major issues you’ll have if you want to book a hotel in Bar Harbor. They sell out fast, so you need to learn from our mistake and book early, particularly if you plan to visit Acadia in July, August, September or early October.

💰 Cheap: If we desperately wanted to stay in Bar Harbor but only had a shoestring budget, we would book Anchorage Motel again if it was the only genuinely affordable option. But it wasn’t amazing, so we’d look at prices for the higher rated Main Street Motel to see if was within our budget.

💰💰 Mid-range: Booking further in advance means we’d have a better chance picking up reasonable prices at Bar Harbor’s top rated mid-range hotels like Acadia Hotel Downtown, The Inn On Mount Desert, Bar Harbor Grand Hotel, Primrose Inn, or Bar Harbor Manor. Any of these places in downtown Bar Harbor would be great. Or to save a bit of money but keep the mid-range comfort and gain extra amenities, look at Acadia Inn or Atlantic Oceanside in the College of the Atlantic area 5 minutes drive or 30 minutes walk to the north of town.

💰💰💰 Luxury: Yellow House Inn is a small, adults-only boutique B&B that looks ideal for couples visiting Acadia with a bigger budget. We’d love to stay there next time.

🏡 Vacation rentals: Next time we visit Acadia we’ll take our kids, so instead of booking two hotel rooms we’d be more likely to book an Airbnb in Bar Harbor. There’s some great three-bedroom properties like Bar Harbor Downtown, Walk 2, and Fresh Catch which would be great for a small group or family. And we found a fantastic-looking place that’s the clear standout for bigger groups called Bar Harbor Convent, which has a whopping eight bedrooms.

North Mt Desert Island (Cost & Location Balance)

After crossing from the mainland onto Mt Desert Island, it’s still another 10 miles to Bar Harbor. But on the way, you’ll pass by areas called Eden, Salisbury Cove, and Hulls Cove in North Mt Desert Island – all of which have far more affordable lodging options compared to Bar Harbor. It’s not as cheap as Ellsworth (which we cover later) but it’s the second cheapest area, and it’s much closer to Acadia than Ellsworth.

These small rural areas in North Mt Desert Island are all located between 5-8 miles north of Acadia’s park boundary, so they would have a bit more of a drive into the park than staying in Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor or Southwest Harbor, and there’s really not a lot going on up there – so that’s the tradeoff for those cheaper hotels.

But we think North Mt. Desert Island works well for longer stays of 5 or more days because the hotels are cheap (longer stays with cheaper rates makes for bigger savings), and the vacation rentals tend to be much bigger which could work better for families or groups who want a quieter escape and plan to cook meals rather than go out into Bar Harbor.

The one major downside to this area is that the main road (ME-3) was fast and busy when we drove it. Cars were slamming on brakes regularly because they didn’t expect people to be turning off the fast road straight onto tiny driveways for lodging. Any hotel or Airbnb well off the main road would be fine, but it’s something to bear in mind.

💰 Cheap: We actually think High Seas Motel is one of the best value for money places to stay near Acadia. It’s way cheaper than Anchorage Motel which is the cheapest hotel in Bar Harbor, and it’s only 7 miles (15 minutes drive) from the park entrance. Eden Village Motel would be our backup in the cheap category.

💰💰 Mid-range: Our top pick in the mid-range tier would definitely be Bar Harbor Cottages + Suites. It looks lovely, but we would still compare prices against Best Western Acadia Park Inn and Hanscom’s Motel + Cottages to see if there was a massive saving on nightly rates. If not, we’d go with it.

🏡 Vacation rentals: If we wanted a two-bedroom place in a quiet area for just us and the kids, we’d look at New Modern Cabin and Hulls Cove Cottage. Or for a bigger property with three bedrooms, we love the look of Villa Acadia and Acadia Luxury Retreat.

Northeast Harbor (Peaceful Escape)

Northeast Harbor is a tiny residential area on the east side of Somes Sound near the bottom of Mt Desert Island. It’s a very small community that’s home to a handful of Inns and places to eat, so it would only be suitable for anyone who actually wants to escape after the park. It’s like the anti-Bar Harbor place to stay near Acadia.

In terms of access to Acadia’s western peaks and the Park Loop Road, it doesn’t get much better than Northeast Harbor – you can get to Jordan Pond in 5 minutes flat. And this is also the place you can hop on a Sea Princess Acadia Nature Cruise, which is convenient if that’s on your itinerary.

But it’s important to note there are only two hotels in the area and Northeast Harbor is a 20-minute drive from Bar Harbor’s amenities. There are only two restaurants that stay open for dinner, so driving might be the only option. That said, there are some excellent vacation rentals in Northeast Harbor, which would work perfectly for families who plan to cook meals and want a peaceful location very close to the park.

💰 Cheap: To stay at a hotel in this quieter section of Acadia on a tight budget, Kimball Terrace Inn offers a cheap motel-style accommodation. It wouldn’t be our first choice, but it is affordable and secluded.

💰💰 Mid-range: Harbourside Inn is a small and intimate B&B that would be a lovely stay for anyone who wants that isolation away from Bar Harbor in a comfortable place with home cooked breakfast each morning.

🏡 Vacation rentals: Interestingly, the best Airbnb’s we can find in Northeast Harbor tend to be bigger properties for larger groups. Starting smaller, we like the look of The Burrow and Charming Cottage with three bedrooms. For something a bit bigger, The Bunkhouse with four bedrooms is brand new and upscale. Now for bigger groups, both Beautiful Home and NEH Estate have six bedrooms, and Main St. Mansion has ten bedrooms. When split by six or ten, the prices are super affordable for larger groups.

Southwest Harbor (Vibe & Touristy Balance)

Southwest Harbor is a small community located 8 minutes drive north of Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, one of Acadia’s most beloved attractions. And you can be at Acadia Mountain Trailhead (one of our favorite hikes in the park) within 5 minutes. But Bar Harbor is 25 minutes drive away, and the more popular hikes like Precipice Trail and Beehive Trail are a good 40-minute drive.

From what we can tell after visiting Southwest Harbor and looking at all the lodging options more carefully, we’d say it’s almost perfectly like a middle ground between the tranquility of Northeast Harbor and the bustling touristy vibe you’d get in Bar Harbor. It’s got the right blend of solid amenities without being overcrowded, so we think it would work well for families, couples, or groups who just aren’t up for dealing with expensive and busy Bar Harbor restaurants.

The hotels in Southwest Harbor are highly rated and lean more expensive than Northeast Harbor or North Mt Desert Island. It’s the next most bougie place to stay after Bar Harbor, and it also has a competitive vacation rental market so there are some excellent Airbnb’s to choose between. It’s the place we’d pick after Bar Harbor, whether we visited as a couple or with family or friends.

💰 Cheap: Southwest Harbor’s most affordable hotel is Harbor Ridge, which looks like a timeshare resort with basic townhomes, an indoor swimming pool and a gym. We wouldn’t rush to book it, but it’s a solid budget option in this area.

💰💰 Mid-range: Harbour Cottage Inn is one of the top rated B&B’s on Mt Desert Island, so we’d definitely take a look at prices to see if they were within budget.

💰💰💰 Luxury: There are two totally different types of stay on the higher end of budget in Southwest Harbor. First is The Claremont Hotel which is a full-resort experience, and second is the seasonal Lindenwood Inn which has more of a boutique, intimate, romantic vibe.

🏡 Vacation rentals: Honestly, we’d probably book an Airbnb if we stayed in Southwest Harbor because there’s a great selection covering 2-6 bedrooms that offer excellent value for money. If we only needed two bedrooms we’d look at Upscale Retreat (this one is dog friendly), Harborview Acadia, and Quietside Chalet. With three bedrooms, we like Salty Pines, SW Harbor, and Woodland Oceanview. Or if we needed more space for extended family or multiple couples, we’d book either Hideaway In The Woods or Modern Oasis.

Ellsworth (Low Budget Backup)

Ellsworth is located 20 miles from Bar Harbor and Acadia’s boundaries, a drive that can take anywhere between 25-40 minutes depending on traffic. It’s not even on Mt Desert Island.

So, why are we including it in our list of best places to stay near Acadia? Well, we met at least a dozen hikers and photographers in Acadia who said they were staying in Ellsworth because hotels were much cheaper and food options were more diverse. A pretty important combo for people who don’t need ritzy lodging and hotels, and instead just want to spend time hiking in the park.

Now, our “cheap” hotel in Bar Harbor was pricey, but actually the total food bill from our trip was also sky-high because there were no cheap places to eat in town either. Whereas Ellsworth is a normal town with typical food chains, which we’re sure will suit certain visitors more.

That said, we personally wouldn’t want to drive that far into and out from the park each day, so we’d do everything we could to avoid staying in Ellsworth. But that’s just our personal preference on wanting to be closer to Acadia, and if it would save us two or three hundred dollars over the course of 3 or 4 night stay – and we absolutely needed to keep costs down, we might be more tempted.

💰 Cheap: Both Atlantic Coast Inn and Colonial Inn offer super cheap lodging within reasonable amount of driving time to Acadia. They’re also close to lots of cheap eats for convenience and more money saving.

💰💰 Mid-range: A small bump up in price gets you the Comfort Inn Ellsworth and another small bump again gets you the best place to stay in town, the Hampton Inn Ellsworth. And when we say mid-range here, they’re still far cheaper than the low-budget tier in Bar Harbor.

🏡 Vacation rentals: There are a few lovely looking Airbnb’s around Ellsworth but they have similar price points to similar quality vacation rentals much closer to Acadia, so we personally wouldn’t book one there.

Acadia Hotels Map

Map key:

• Green – Budget Bar Harbor hotels
• Yellow – Luxury Bar Harbor hotels
• Blue – North Mt Desert Island hotels
• Orange – Northeast Harbor hotels
• Purple – Southwest Harbor hotels
• Red – Ellsworth hotels

How to use this map: Click the map above to activate, then tap any hotel icon to see more information. See a list of all hotels and neighborhoods by clicking the arrow icon in the top left, or see a full version of the map by clicking the “view larger map” icon in the top right.

How to save this map: Click the small star next to the map title – this will add the map to your Google account. Open your Google Maps app, tap “saved”, then tap “maps” and open this map.

Camping & RV’s

If you can’t find a hotel or vacation rental to fit your travel budget, why not consider camping or parking an RV instead? We know camping isn’t for everyone and we haven’t camped in Acadia ourselves, but it is a cheap and easy way to stay inside the park boundaries if you plan to drive to Bar Harbor from home and can pack camping gear.

Here are the 3 campgrounds in Acadia National Park:

• Blackwoods Campground – 281 sites, 221 tent only and 60 RV only. Located between Sand Beach and Jordan Pond.
• Seawall Campground – 202 sites, 43 tent only and 59 RV only, the rest mixed use. Located 4 miles south of Southwest Harbor.
• Schoodic Woods Campground – 89 sites, 13 tent only and 41 RV only, the rest mixed use. Located in Schoodic Peninsula on the mainland, over 40 miles from Bar Harbor.

National Park campgrounds are notoriously difficult to book these days, especially with small to medium sized travel companies block booking camp sites. We recommend booking campsites as soon as you know your dates of travel to stand a better chance finding availability.

Can’t find a campground? Use our 30 day free trial of The Dyrt PRO to get notified when fully booked campsites have cancellations so you can snag the site first.

Our Money Saving Tips

Avoid weekends: Hotel prices are significantly lower on weekdays compared to weekends in Bar Harbor. We recommend booking your stay anytime between Sunday night to Friday morning.

Beat the rush: Book as far in advance as you possibly can to get the best rates. Last minute deals don’t work like they used to, and especially not in a place as popular as Acadia. We had real problems with this when we tried to book last minute in the fall of 2020.

Stay longer: Typically the more nights you stay, the cheaper the average nightly rate becomes. We’ve noticed this is especially true when booking midweek stays, and especially with vacation rentals.

Seasonality: Hotels around Acadia are way cheaper in the off season versus summer or peak fall foliage. May, June, late October, and November are excellent times to visit.

Food: Eating out several days in a row costs a lot of money. We bought food for lunches each day at Hannaford Supermarket in downtown Bar Harbor to do one meal of the day on the cheap, and we didn’t have to leave the park. Booking an Airbnb with a kitchen to cook your own food is another great way to save a lot of money. Next time we visit Acadia we’ll be with our kids, so we’ll do a vacation rental.

And finally, we travel for a living so take a look at our guide on how we book cheaper hotels to save money when you visit Acadia.

Next Steps

We hope our neighborhoods guide helps you figure out where to stay around Acadia.

If you’d like more personalized help, we offer expert travel planning consultations where we answer any questions you have, help you avoid tourist traps and find you the perfect hotel. Book a 1-on-1 call.

Still researching for your trip?

• Here are the unmissable things to do in Acadia
• These are the hikes you can’t miss in Acadia
• Here’s how to hike the Beehive Trail
• Here’s how to hike the Precipice Trail
• This is what it’s like to visit Acadia in the fall

And finally, if you’re planning to visit more places nearby, we recommend reading our Maine travel guide for helpful tips and advice.

Happy Travels,

Mark and Kristen

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