Start by downloading the Action Tour Guide app, which will function as your personal guide, audio tour, and map all in one. Your tour begins at the Bar Harbor Pier. From there, you’ll head west and hear about Bar Harbor’s early days as a fishing town and its transformation during the Gilded Age.

The first major landmark you’ll find in the historic district is La Rochelle, an extravagant Gilded Age mansion that now functions as a museum. Continuing on toward the Primrose Inn, you’ll hear about a fire that ravaged the town, from how it started to how it changed Bar Harbor.

At the Abbe Museum, next to it, you’ll find a collection dedicated to the Native Wabanaki of the region. Then there’s the Village Green, designed by the same woman who designed the White House Rose Garden!

Afterward, you’ll head to the Shore Path, which, as you might expect, leads you along the picture-perfect waterfront. As you walk and take in the scenery, you’ll learn more about Bar Harbor’s earliest history and how to spot some of the area’s prettiest wildflowers. You’ll also come across a very strange landmark deposited in Bar Harbor during the Ice Age!

Next is a personal tennis court-turned-public park which serves as a great example of how Bar Harbor has transformed since the Gilded Age. Right next to that is the Bar Harbor Inn, an essential part of the town since 1887! Your tour concludes just beyond the inn, right by the spot where you began.