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Maine’s Gold Coast Tour

Itinerary

What’s Included

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2026 dates

May - Oct

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6 Days
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Difficulty Level

Easy/Moderate - I Own Bike Shorts

A group of three bicyclists ride along the ocean

Maine’s Gold Coast: 6-Day Guided Bike Tour

See Maine the way it was meant to be seen — by bike, by kayak, by sail, and always with guides who know every hidden corner.

Six days of discovering coastal Maine at its most beautiful. This isn’t just a bike tour — it’s the full Maine experience woven together by expert guides who know every hidden beach and perfect viewpoint.

From Acadia’s car-free Carriage Roads to the windswept Schoodic Peninsula, from island ferry crossings to sunset sails on a wooden schooner, you’ll experience Maine’s coast the way locals do — with guides who handle every detail so you can focus on the adventure.

Cycle quiet coastal roads. Paddle alongside seals in Penobscot Bay. Sail aboard a traditional wooden schooner. Choose your own challenge on Cadillac Mountain. And discover island villages that most tourists never see.

By the end, you won’t just have seen Maine’s Gold Coast. You’ll have lived it.

(Heading to Portland as part of your Maine adventure? Explore our selection of Day Tours in Portland, Maine.)

Highlights

  • Experience Penobscot Bay from the deck of a classic wooden schooner
  • Cycle Acadia National Park
  • Savor a wonderful mix of fresh seafood and fine dining
  • Kayak along the Maine coast with seals and dolphins
Pricing

Tour Price: $3,895 per person double occupancy

Single Supplement: $900

2026

May: 24-29 FULL
June: 21-26
July: 12-17 | 19-24 | 26-31
August: 2-7 | 9-14 | 16-2
September: 6-11 | 13-18 | 20-25 | 27-Oct 2
October: 4-9 | 11-16

Pickup/Drop Off
Portland, ME (PWM)

Tour Itinerary

DAY 1 A Gentle Beginning on Acadia’s Carriage Roads

 Where Your Adventure Begins

We handle the details. You just ride and enjoy.

Your guides meet you in Portland before heading north toward Acadia National Park. The transition from city to coast is gentle, setting the perfect tone for the week ahead.

Acadia’s Carriage Roads were built for exactly this kind of experience: wide, car-free gravel paths that wind through pine and birch forests, cross graceful stone bridges, and explore the interior of Mt. Desert Island. The riding is steady and forgiving, allowing you to settle into the rhythm of the trip without pressure.

It’s a first day designed to ease you in — enough movement to feel accomplished, enough beauty to remind you why you came.

What You’ll Feel: The anticipation melting into contentment. Your guides have everything handled, the roads are yours alone, and the week stretching ahead feels full of possibility.

The Day:

  • Transfer: approximately 3.5 hours
  • Cycling: 15-27 miles | elevation gain 1,706 ft
  • Meals: Lunch & Dinner
  • Lodging: first of 2 nights: The Harborside Hotel

Rockefeller’s Gift: These Carriage Roads were John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s gift to Acadia. He spent decades building 57 miles of car-free paths through the park. Today, you get to ride them.

DAY 2 Where Maine’s Coast gets Wilder – the Schoodic Peninsula

Not a Tourist — An Explorer

Discover what others miss.

This morning begins with a ferry crossing of Frenchman Bay, delivering you to the quieter, less-visited side of Acadia National Park. Almost immediately, the landscape feels more open — and more wild.

You cycle through Winter Harbor and along Grindstone Neck, where classic summer cottages overlook the sea. The road hugs the shoreline as waves crash against the rocks, reminding you just how powerful this coast can be. In the small fishing village of Corea, you stop for a walk on a little-known beach — one of those places you’d never find without a guide who knows.

After time back at the inn, you’ll head out for fresh Maine lobster and the satisfying tiredness that comes from a full day spent outdoors.

What You’ll Feel: Like you’ve discovered the Maine that guidebooks miss. The Schoodic Peninsula is where locals go to escape the crowds — and you just spent the day exploring it.

The Day:

  • Cycling Options: 30 miles | elevation gain 1,559 ft
  • Meals: Breakfast & Lunch & Dinner
  • Lodging: second of 2 nights: The Harborside Hotel

Local Secret: Corea is one of Maine’s working fishing villages. The beach your guides take you to? Most tourists will never see it.

DAY 3 Quiet Roads and Big Views in the Heart of Acadia

Earn the Summit. Savor the View.

Safe, supported, and designed for every rider.

An early start rewards you with quiet roads and space to breathe as you ride Acadia’s iconic Park Loop Road. The route traces the coastline and passes some of the park’s most memorable landmarks, including Thunder Hole and Sand Beach.

When you reach the historic Jordan Pond House, the whole group transitions to Acadia’s famous Carriage Roads — wide, car-free gravel paths that wind through forests and over graceful stone bridges.

Here’s where you get to choose your own adventure. When the Park Loop Road intersects with the Carriage Roads, those wanting an added challenge can return to the Park Loop Road for the steady climb up Cadillac Mountain and wide-open views from the highest point on the North Atlantic seaboard. Others can continue on the peaceful Carriage Roads back to Bar Harbor.

Your guides give you choices, not pressure. The day works beautifully either way.

After lunch, you transfer south to Camden, where the afternoon is yours to explore at your own pace before regrouping for dinner.

What You’ll Feel: Accomplished. Whether you climbed Cadillac or chose the Carriage Road route, you rode some of America’s most stunning coastal roads with confidence — and you got to decide which adventure was right for you.

The Day:

  • Cycling Options: 21 or 27 miles | elevation gain 2,624 ft
  • Transfer: 1 hour 45 minutes
  • Meals: Breakfast & Lunch & Dinner
  • Lodging: The Blue Harbor House Inn

Two Roads, One Perfect Day: The beauty of this route is the choice. Summit seekers get their climb. Forest lovers get their trees. Everyone gets an unforgettable ride through Acadia.

DAY 4 A Change of Pace: Kayaking and Sailing on Penobscot Bay

 Experience the Coast From the Water

Adventure without strain.

Today offers a change of perspective as you experience the coast from the water — and your guides make sure every detail is handled.

In the morning, you explore Penobscot Bay by kayak, paddling along rocky shorelines and weaving between islands. Wildlife sightings are common — seals, Bald Eagles, sometimes even Harbor Porpoise. The pace is calm and unhurried, giving you time to simply be present.

Later in the day, you step onto the decks of a traditional wooden schooner and set sail. With the wind doing the work, there’s time to relax, take in the scenery, and simply enjoy being on the water as Maine was meant to be experienced.

Dinner is on your own this evening — your guides are happy to point you toward Camden’s best spots.

What You’ll Feel: The peace that comes from moving at nature’s pace. From the kayak, Maine reveals itself slowly. From the schooner, the world feels like it’s slowed down just for you.

The Day:

  • Kayaking on Penobscot Bay (2-hr guided tour)
  • Sailing aboard a traditional wooden schooner (2-hr sail)
  • Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
  • Lodging: The Blue Harbor House Inn

Sailor’s Wisdom: Wooden schooners have plied these waters for centuries. Today, you’re part of that tradition.

DAY 5 Island Time on Islesboro

The Day That Brings You to an Island

Travel that gives back to Maine.

An early ferry carries you to Islesboro, a long narrow island where quiet roads and ocean views define the day. Tall pines and historic summer homes line the route as you cycle at an easy, conversational pace — the kind where you can actually talk to your riding companions while cycling the island.

You pause for a short walk at Pendleton Point and visit Grindle Point Lighthouse, one of the island’s defining landmarks. With water often visible on both sides of the road, Islesboro feels removed from the outside world — which is exactly the point.

You return to Camden for your final evening together. Tonight’s dinner is a celebration of the miles you’ve covered and the memories you’ve made.

What You’ll Feel: Connected. To your fellow riders. To the island rhythms. To the guides who’ve become friends. To a week that somehow felt both adventurous and effortless.

The Day:

  • 28 miles | elevation gain 1,267 ft
  • Meals: Breakfast & Lunch & Dinner
  • final night at

Island Living: Islesboro has been a summer retreat for over a century. The roads you’re riding? Generations of cyclists have pedaled them before you, and generations more will follow.

DAY 6 A Quiet Finish along Maine’s Coast

 Stories You’ll Tell for Years

Accomplished. Proud. Already planning your return.

Your final ride is short and memorable, carrying you toward the coastal village of Rockport. Rolling farmland meets the sea, and the quiet nature of the route invites reflection on the week behind you.

You finish around noon, then transfer back to Portland, arriving mid-afternoon for airport or hotel drop-offs. But the memories? Those stay with you. Along with the photos, the stories, and the quiet confidence that comes from knowing you just experienced Maine’s Gold Coast in the most unforgettable way possible.

It’s an unhurried ending to a week designed for lingering.

What You’ll Feel: Transformed. Six days ago, you showed up with your curiosity. Today, you leave knowing you’re capable of more than you thought — and already dreaming about next summer.

The Day:

  • 6 miles | elevation gain 343 ft
  • Meals: Breakfast
  • Transfer: approximately 2 hours

Full Circle: You started in Portland. You end in Portland. But you’re not the same person who began this journey six days ago.

What's Included

  • Five nights’ lodging
  • All lodging taxes and gratuities
  • Most meals – including four dinners, five breakfasts, and four lunches
  • All taxes and gratuities for these meals
  • Hybrid, E-Bike, or All Road Bike Rental
  • Expenses paid for ferry transits, kayaking, and sailing aboard the schooner
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  • Entrance fee for Acadia National Park
  • Experienced Summer Feet Guides
  • Detailed route notes and maps
  • Van support including fresh water, ample snacks, and “relief rides”
  • Summer Feet Souvenirs – a cycling water bottle and t-shirt (available in men’s and women’s fit)
  • Alcoholic beverages are not included in the package price and are always at your discretion
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Learn More About this Trip

Download a Detailed Itinerary

Phyllis S - 2025 guest
★★★★★

The rides were beautiful. The food choices were amazing as well. The guides, Alex and Katy, were WONDERFUL!! They managed the entire trip expertly, making this trip one of the best I’ve done.

Lisa W - 2025 guest
★★★★★

Excellent trip – cycling along the gorgeous Park Loop Road was phenomenal. The guides were completely service-oriented and very patient. They truly enhanced the beautiful itinerary. Restaurant and take out food selections were fabulous. The inn in Bar Harbor was over the top wonderful….loved every minute there.

Julie - 2025 guest
★★★★★

The highlight of the trip was the beauty of Maine, the resorts, food, our guides, and the friendships formed during the trip …

Bill G
★★★★★

Thank you so much for creating a business that brings true joy I would definitely recommend Summer Feet and particularly the Maine’s Gold Coast trip.

Wanda T
★★★★★

Loved the Gold Coast tour!! An active vacation with lots of variety, challenges and awesome guides that left one feeling a wonderful sense of accomplishment at the end of the day–it doesn’t get much better than this!!!

Lisa J
★★★★★

We’ve done a lot of bike tours with other companies, and we’ve found that you need a locally based company. If you go with a local company you know they have explored the area and you get a totally different experience. The guides are not getting this stuff out of a book, they have lived there. Summer Feet’s local knowledge of out of the way places really made this experience. We felt like we had genuine interactions with Maine—much more so than seeing it as a normal tourist would. It felt like we were able to take a more intimate look at Maine than if we were just touring on our own.

Frequently asked questions

How challenging is the riding on this tour?

The riding is moderately active and designed to be enjoyable rather than exhausting. Routes are thoughtfully planned. Most days are about 15-30 miles of cycling. E-bikes are available for those who prefer them.

The tour includes guided rides, lodging at hand-selected coastal inns, many meals, luggage transfers, and on-tour support. Details are designed to create a seamless, worry-free experience.

Yes. E-bikes are available and provide pedal assistance on hills and longer stretches. They allow riders of different abilities to ride together comfortably while still enjoying a fully guided cycling experience.

Maine’s Gold Coast is our most popular tour. Yes. This tour is led by experienced guides who provide coordination and on-tour support, allowing guests to ride independently at their own pace with confidence.

You’ll stay in carefully selected coastal inns chosen for comfort, character, and location. These accommodations are an integral part of the overall experience.

Summer Feet guides are experienced, approachable, and deeply knowledgeable about Maine’s coast. Beyond handling logistics and support, they bring context, calm, and personal connection that many guests say makes the trip truly special.

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