Guides · Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
34 places · 6 areas · a free route, then $4.99 for the whole city · offline map 2.6 MB
The free route
Free in the app, permanently, before you pay anything. 8 stops, 1 day, about 3.7 km, planned by the app's own engine.
Day 1 · ~3.7 km
1
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
307 Congress St; Patrick Keely's 1866-69 red-brick Gothic Revival cathedral with a 204-foot spire
See the red-brick front and its tall spire from Congress Street, then step inside, if open, for the long nave.
2
Maine Jewish Museum
267 Congress St; 1921 Etz Chaim Synagogue at the head of India St, closed Tuesday and Saturday
Visit the restored synagogue and its exhibitions on Jewish life in Maine.
3
Eastern Cemetery
Congress St at Mountfort St; burying ground of 1668, captains of Enterprise and Boxer side by side
Join a Spirits Alive walking tour, or look through the iron fence on Congress Street at the old stones.
4
Abyssinian Meeting House
73-75 Newbury St; 1828 Black meetinghouse and Underground Railroad site, under restoration
Stop on Newbury Street at the plain Federal-style meetinghouse built by Portland's free Black community.
5
Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum
65 Thames St; historic two-foot gauge trains on a shore line along Casco Bay, rides into late October
Ride the narrated train along the shore below the Eastern Promenade, with views of the bay, the islands and the lighthouses.
6
Portland Observatory
138 Congress St; Lemuel Moody's 1807 maritime signal tower, climbed on seasonal guided tours
Join a guided tour up the octagonal tower, floor by floor, to the lantern room for the view over the harbor and, on clear days, Mount Washington.
7
Eastern Promenade
Olmsted Brothers park of 68 acres around Munjoy Hill; East End Beach and a 2.1-mile shore trail
Walk or bike the paved trail along the water to East End Beach, stopping on the slopes for the view over Casco Bay and its islands.
8
Fort Allen Park
Eastern Promenade at Vesper St; 1775 fort site with a gun from USS Maine and the USS Portland mast
Walk the old earthworks to the gun from the USS Maine and the foremast of the cruiser USS Portland, then look out over the bay from the bandstand.
More of the top sights
A few of the 34 places in the full guide. Each one has its own written guide in the app: what to do, what to notice, the history, and why it hits.
Portland Head Light
1000 Shore Rd, Cape Elizabeth; Maine's oldest lighthouse, lit 1791, keepers' house museum in Fort Williams Park
Old Port
Fore, Exchange and Middle Sts; brick blocks rebuilt after the 1866 fire, a historic waterfront district
Portland Museum of Art
7 Congress Square; Maine's oldest public art institution, founded 1882, with the 1801 McLellan House
Areas
Old Port and Waterfront · Monument Square and City Hall · Arts District · Munjoy Hill · West End · Beyond the Peninsula
Illustrations are drawn for the app. Place descriptions are written by hand and checked against a primary source; facts draw on Wikidata (CC0) and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors.