The town of BAR HARBOR began life as an exclusive resort, summer home to the Vanderbilts and the Astors; the great fire of October 1947 that destroyed their opulent "cottages" ended all that. It's now firmly geared towards tourists, though it's by no means downmarket. There's not all that much to do in town, even in high summer. However, the ambience is sufficient enough that it takes a while to realize that once you've strolled around the village green, and walked past the headland of the Bar Harbor Inn for views of the ocean and Frenchman Bay, you've seen most of what the town has to offer.

In high season up to 21 different sea trips set off each day, ranging from deep-sea fishing to cocktail cruises. Among the most popular are the Friendship V and Acadian whale-watching expeditions, departing from Harbor Place, next to the Town Pier (June–Oct at least twice daily; tel 207/288-2386, www.whalesrus.com), and the two-hour cruises on the impressive two-masted schooners Young America and Margaret Todd from the Bar Harbor Inn (daily June–Oct; America 10.30am, 2pm & 6.15pm; $22; Margaret Todd noon & 3.30pm; $27.50; tel 207/288-4585 or 207/288-2373, www.downeastwindjammer.com).

One of the town sights in its heyday was the "Indian village," a summer encampment where Native Americans came to sell goods to tourists; it was cleared away in the 1930s to make room for a new ballpark. Now the only signs of the island's first inhabitants are the artifacts at the Robert Abbe Museum, which were found at Fernald Point near Southwest Harbor and attributed to a nomadic people who made birch-bark canoes. What became of them is summed up by a classic understatement on a map contrasting the tribal areas of 1600 with the modern reservations: "The native population did not view territorial boundaries as we do today." The museum is a couple of miles south of Bar Harbor – not a particularly pleasant walk – at Sieur de Monts Spring, just off the Park Loop Road (daily: July & Aug 9am–5pm; mid-May to June, Sept & Oct 10am–4pm; $2). A new branch of the Abbe is located downtown at 26 Mount Desert St (June to mid-Oct Sun–Wed 10am–5pm, Thurs–Sat 10am–9pm; mid-Oct to May Thurs–Sun 10am–5pm; $4.50) A free shuttle service travels to both locations in July and August.

Bar Harbor's main tourist information office is at the ferry terminal (tel 207/288-5103); in summer there's another in the basement of the Municipal Building on Cottage Street that offers many free and comprehensive maps of the area.

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