Best things to do in Portland, Maine

A hub featuring cobblestone streets, neighborhood stores, and picturesque working waterfront vistas may be found in Portland, Maine. But attractive nearby towns are never far away, providing beaches, lighthouses, top-notch dining, entertainment, outdoor activities, and shopping destinations within a short drive from the city center. These are my favourite sights to visit in Portland.

#5 Portland Waterfront

The Portland Waterfront provides a distinctive fusion of tradition and innovation thanks to its more than 350-year history as a hub for shipping, fishing, trade, and travel. Portland Harbor, the largest city in Maine, has a truly working waterfront that combines private and public piers to support a broad range of commercial marine activity. With its waterfront eateries, historic buildings, harbor tours, and domestic and international ferry service, the Portland Waterfront also promotes tourism. On the waterfront, work and recreation coexist alongside an intriguing and changing variety of uses.

Address: 60 Portland Pier, Portland

#4 Congress Street

The Portland Peninsula’s main commercial street is Congress Street. Portland’s “Main Street,” Congress Street, serves as the main east-west economic and transportation axis for the peninsula. Particularly along the section running from Franklin Arterial to Bramhall Square, the richness and diversity of its public spaces and architecture serve as a singular record of Portland’s residential and commercial growth history. Congress Street’s evolution and history can best be summarized by the word “change.”

Address: 489 Congress St, Portland

#3 Spring Point Ledge Light

To alert sailors to a perilous cliff in Portland Harbor, the Spring Point cliff Light was constructed in 1897. At the end of a granite breakwater in South Portland, there is a light that resembles a massive spark plug. In Portland, you can reach this light by traveling south on Route 77. Broadway in South Portland should be continued. Before arriving at Fort Preble and a parking space, turn right onto Pickett Street and then left onto Fort Road. The Spring Point Ledge Light Trust, which owns the light, looks after it and gives tours in the summer.

Address: 2 Fort Rd, South Portland

#2 Victoria Mansion

Outstanding examples of American architecture and design from the nineteenth century can be found at Victoria Mansion. It survives as a singular example of the princely palaces built for America’s wealthiest people in the pre-Civil War era, with its original interiors and decorations amazingly intact.

Built between 1858 and 1860 for Ruggles Sylvester Morse and his wife, Olive Ring Merrill Morse, the Mansion is also known as the Morse-Libby House. Morse, a native of Maine, amassed wealth in the 1850s by running opulent hotels in New Orleans.

Address: 109 Danforth St, Portland

#1 Portland Headlight

In 1791, Portland Head Light was constructed. It is the oldest lighthouse in the state and was commissioned by George Washington and dedicated by the Marquis de Lafayette. Portland Head has a Victorian keeper’s house with a red roof and eyebrow eves on the porch, as well as a white conical tower. The former keeper’s home, located in Cape Elizabeth’s Fort Williams Park along Shore Road, now houses a museum. Numerous boat cruises of Casco Bay pass by this light. To go to the lighthouse, you can also take a bus excursion. On Open Lighthouse Day in September, the tower is only briefly accessible.

Address: 12 Captain Strout Cir, Cape Elizabeth

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