Bar Harbor - Arcadia NP Carriage Ride

[downundermatt]

Will be in Bar Harbor early October, and Royal have an excursion to Arcadia National Park with a carriage ride.

(I gather the ship excursion is a one hour ride)

 

Just wondering if any tour operators offer an excursion from the port  with transfers - would like to take the two hour carriage ride.

Don't really want to hire a car. 

 

Appreciate any tips, from someone who may have done this.

[138east]

9 hours ago, downundermatt said:

Will be in Bar Harbor early October, and Royal have an excursion to Arcadia National Park with a carriage ride.

(I gather the ship excursion is a one hour ride)

 

Just wondering if any tour operators offer an excursion from the port  with transfers - would like to take the two hour carriage ride.

Don't really want to hire a car. 

 

Appreciate any tips, from someone who may have done this.

Our son was married near Bar Harbor in the middle of last Oct in an immediate family only wedding (13 people including 3 children).  One of the outings we did as a group was the 2 hour carriage ride.  It was lovely, but IMO it was too long.  The fall day was was the foliage peak time in that area, but it was already very nippy in Acadia National Park.  The carriage roads are heavily shaded, which made it seem even cooler and the foliage inside the woods was not spectacular like the foliage we saw driving around the public park roads.  After an hour I was chilled (and yes I was dressed for the weather in heavy pants, boots, long sleeved tops, down jacket, and windbreaker rain jacket) and ready to stop.  There’s not a lot to see in the woods other than the stone bridges, some creeks, and a few buildings.  You hear a lot about the Rockefeller’s and Acadia.  An hour would be enough.

 

Do a search on “acadia carriage ride pictures”.  Our carriage was a wagon that held about 16-18 folks seated on sideways benches.

 

You mentioned “hiring a car”.  I see you’re from Sydney so if you’re talking about renting a car, that’s not possible in Bar Harbor.  If you’ve never been to Acadia, you may really want to consider a tour that goes around the regular park roads and up Cadillac Mountain (another very nippy location).  Jordan Pond was lovely.

 

[Ashland]

You might just want to consider either booking a tour directly with Acadia National Park or Ollie's trolley.

Both of these offer a great tour and can be booked online. No, their not a carriage but are very popular.

No transfer is needed for either one as there just a short easy walk from the tender where you'll be dropped off.

Google both of their websites for consideration.