Portland, ME: RCI Mt. Washington Cog Railway Excursion

Has anyone here done the Royal Caribbean excursion to from Portland to Mt. Washington, NH? For that matter, any cruise line excursion to Mt. Washington? If so, any general thoughts / guidance?

Mny thx in adv... --bruce T.

And yes, I know - RCL. Not sure what I was thinking. :p

Has anyone here done the Royal Caribbean excursion to from Portland to Mt. Washington, NH? For that matter, any cruise line excursion to Mt. Washington? If so, any general thoughts / guidance?

I have not done a cruise line excursion to Mt Washington, but I have driven to the top. Google maps has the travel time at about 3 hours in each direction. Mostly all travel will be on state roads. If you are traveling for 6 hours, how much time do you get at the summit?

Mt Washington and the cog railroad are worth doing but I would suggest that visiting them as part of a land vacation to New England is the way to go.

SBtS

I've done the COG, but I wouldn't waste a day in Portland to sit on a bus to drive to Mt. Washington, do the Cog, and then drive back.

The cog railway is a great trip to the summit, and the view from the top is spectacular----IF it's clear (Mt. Washington is famous for terrible weather, and if it's cloudy or foggy you won't be able to see a thing), but it's a long way to and from Portland. I agree with the above posters about the time consideration.

2.5 hours each way from the Portland Ocean Gateway terminal to the cog railway. There is way more to do in Portland than sit on a bus for 5 hours. Even in the fall, if you go the Cangamangus Highway to see the foliage, that's pretty much of a waste of your port day. Portland has art, history, breweries, and more fine dining than most cities many times its size. Don't get me wrong, Mt. Washington is a great destination, but for a one day stop in Maine/NH, it wouldn't top my list.

The cog railway is a great trip to the summit, and the view from the top is spectacular----IF it's clear (Mt. Washington is famous for terrible weather, and if it's cloudy or foggy you won't be able to see a thing), but it's a long way to and from Portland. I agree with the above posters about the time consideration.

Yes, we visited Ft. Washington in August and it was so foggy that we could not see 30 ft.

I would not recommend doing Mt. Washington from a cruise port. The area is great to visit on a land trip. There is a cool old train that you can take as well.

Mny thx for all of the responses!

The issue of inclement weather isn't that big of a deal for me - I'm a bit of a weather geek, so just being at the top of Mt. Washington would be worthwhile! But, the concerns about time are well taken. I'll defer on this trip, and add it to my bucket list for a later land vacation.

--bruce T.

Mny thx for all of the responses!

 

The issue of inclement weather isn't that big of a deal for me - I'm a bit of a weather geek, so just being at the top of Mt. Washington would be worthwhile! But, the concerns about time are well taken. I'll defer on this trip, and add it to my bucket list for a later land vacation.

 

--bruce T.

If you're a weather geek, you may want to reschedule this for a time of more likely inclement weather, and write to the observatory (http://www.mountwashington.org) to see if you could arrange to get into the "century club" of those who have stood upright in 100+ mph winds.

Not a cruiser, I'm just from Portland... stay in Portland. Go to Cape Elizabeth and see the Portland Head Light, eat at the Two Lights Lobster shack, go to Scarborough Beach, walk around the Old Port.

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Thanks for your suggestions

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I use wanted to say...if you are interested in Mt. Washington-drive it yourself...oh my gosh what an experience. That would be on the bucket list if I had not done it by accident. The views were great, but the drive and stopping on the way up and down was incredible. Did this with my mom on a land vacation and we just decided to do...it is amazing, scary, awe inspiring, did I mention scary..... I got my certificate that says I drove it!