Bar Harbor Self Guided Audio Walking Tour America’s Summer Empire

End your journey at the natural sandbar that gave Bar Harbor its name. At low tide, you can walk across to Bar Island before the ocean returns.(5 min)

Stand at Bar Harbor’s historic waterfront gateway where steamships once delivered Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, and Astors to their summer retreats.(5 min)

Begin your journey overlooking Frenchman Bay at the site of Bar Harbor’s very first grand hotel. Discover how a quiet fishing village transformed into America’s most fashionable summer resort.(5 min)

The tour stars here, and you'll see the Cannons!(5 min)

Walk along the famous Shore Path and discover the site of the exclusive Mount Desert Reading Room, where America’s wealthiest industrialists once gathered.(10 min)

Visit one of Bar Harbor’s most scenic waterfront parks and see the massive glacial boulder known as Balance Rock.(5 min)

A modern recreation inspired by the legendary Rodick House, once the largest and most glamorous hotel in Maine.(pass by)

The civic heart of Bar Harbor, filled with historic monuments, fountains, and the iconic town clock.(5 min)

Walk through a quieter side of the Gilded Age once filled with summer cottages for lawyers, academics, and prosperous families.(5 min)

End your journey at the natural sandbar that gave Bar Harbor its name. At low tide, you can walk across to Bar Island before the ocean returns.(10 min)

Home to one of New England’s largest collections of Tiffany stained glass windows.(5 min)