Maine Offbeat Travel Guide Books 2024

Stephen — Wed, 11 May 2022 19:04:15 +0000

Maine Travel Guide Books 2022

May 11, 2022

Written by Stephen Ondich

Maine travel guide books help you plan your Maine visit in 2022. Whether traveling to Acadia, Bar Harbor, Bangor or Baxter State Park, a travel guide book can help.

Below we share reader feedback on new or recent updated guides to the Pine Tree State! I’m including links where you can buy the books.

However, I am not an affiliate and receive no compensation from any of these Maine travel books – just trying to do Maine visitors a solid! Safe Travels!

Maine Guide#1: Moon Maine

Moon Maine is a 2020 Maine travel guide book written by Hilary Nangle. This book focuses on multi-day coastal and inland excursions. Nangle is a native Mainer who loves to ski, blog and is a connoisseur of farmstead cheese. Thus, she gives a uniquely local take on her destinations.

At 664 pages, Moon Maine covers a lot of ground. Of course, there is a lot of ground to write about in this beautiful New England state.

Moon Maine is an excellent follow up to her 2018 guide to Acadia National Park. Nangle wins style points for eloquent descriptions and attention to detail and accuracy. Accordingly, Moon Maine is at the top of our list!

Maine Guide #2: Lonely Planet Maine & Acadia National Park

Lonely Planet’s guide to Maine & Acadia is a comprehensive colorful text co-written by Regis St Louis & Adam Karlin.

It is map-heavy, which I find helpful.

Published in 2019, just prior to the pandemic, the sites and suggestions are still very relevant to 2021. The format is easy to digest and at 240 pages, there is not a lot of fluff. That is a good thing. After all, you want to get out an explore, right?

This Maine travel guide gets straight to the point – where to go and what to skip. This is another good addition to the Lonely Planet family of travel guides.

Maine Guide #3: Acadia: The Complete Guide: Acadia National Park & Mount Desert Island (Color Travel Guide)

Acadia National Park is the focus of many New England-area travel guides. However, this 2018 publication by James Kaiser brilliantly captures the most beautiful destination in Maine.

Acadia the Complete Guide is a stunning visually appealing Maine travel guide book focusing on the highlights, niche locations and history surrounding Mount Desert Island. Kaiser also delves into the geology and ecology of the island.

Additionally, you’ll find things like local drinks, food suggestions and rainy-day excursions. Of course, no one thinks of rain while planning their Acadia adventure. Yet, Bar Harbor receives almost 57 inches of rain a year – it has to happen during someone’s vacation!

Maine Guide #4: Explorer’s Guide Maine

Explorer’s Guide Maine covers traveler destinations throughout the entire Pine Tree State. At almost 600 pages, this guide gives ample coverage to all of Maine’s regions. Mid-coast, Down East, South Coast, Maine Woods… you’ll find good information inside.

Co-authors Nancy English and Christina Tree both have longstanding ties to New England which shows in their research and recommendations. This book contains an extensive amount of information. There’s a lot to digest here. Thus, read it while you’re in the planning stages of your trip to get the most out of this text.

Maine Guide #5: Best Easy Day Hikes Acadia National Park

Best Easy Day Hikes: Acadia National Park by Delores Kong and Dan Ring is a 136 page guide book with clear concise directions for day hikes on Mount Desert Island.

The issue facing first time Acadia visitors is that the park offers many once-in-a-lifetime hiking opportunities. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the options, especially when you have limited park time. Additionally, it’s also easy to try hikes that may be a little too ambitious. This Maine travel guide book breaks down Acadia’s hiking options so you can plan your day trips intelligently.

Pro tip… Acadia is all about the planning. The National Park spans more than 47,000 acres. Additionally, Park Loop Road can seize up with Los Angeles-rush hour-style gridlock during the busy summer months. If you go there and wing it, you’ll waste a lot of time and miss quite a bit.