Things to Do in Kennebunkport, Maine

Dock Square is the town center, a cluster of shops, galleries and seafood restaurants on the Kennebunk River. It’s also where boat tours leave, and where the town tree goes up each December.

★ Good to know Street parking has posted rules. There’s a paid town lot behind Alisson’s and a free one on North Street by the village fire station.

Ocean Avenue runs about two miles from Dock Square past the shingle-style cottages of the Cape Arundel summer colony to Walker’s Point. That’s the Bush family compound, where George H.W. Bush hosted leaders from Margaret Thatcher to Mikhail Gorbachev. The house isn’t open to the public, but there’s a designated overlook for a quick photo.

★ Good to know Stop only in the marked pull-off; stopping on the road isn’t allowed.

Founded in Kennebunkport in 1939, this bills itself as the first and largest electric railway museum in the world. You ride a vintage early-1900s trolley on its heritage line, then walk three carhouses of restored streetcars from cities across the U.S. and beyond. There’s also a restoration shop and a model railroad building.

★ Good to know It’s a seasonal museum, so check its event calendar before you go. It’s dog-friendly, even on the trolleys.

Cape Porpoise was the town’s original center and is still a working fishing harbor, with lobstermen landing their catch at the pier. From shore you can see Goat Island Light, first lit in 1835; the current brick tower dates to 1859. The Kennebunkport Conservation Trust leases the light station.

★ Good to know The island itself is closed to the public except by special arrangement, so enjoy it from the pier or a boat.

This is the town’s big sand beach, a 3-mile stretch with island views and nesting shorebirds. It sits in the northeast corner of town, near the salt marshes of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge.

★ Good to know Parking requires a town permit, and some areas are roped off for nesting piping plovers and least terns. Read the town’s visitor page first.

White Columns, an 1853 Greek Revival mansion just up Spring Street from Dock Square, stayed in one family for 130 years. Docents lead 30- to 40-minute tours through seven rooms that still hold the family’s original furnishings. The talk also covers Kennebunkport’s shipbuilding and maritime past.

★ Good to know Tours run on a changing weekly schedule in season, and the society also offers a Dock Square walking tour that should be reserved ahead.

First Chance Whale Watch runs trips from the Kennebunk River. Its whale watch spends about 4.75 hours on the Gulf of Maine. The 1.5-hour Scenic Lobster Tour shows how Maine lobsters are hauled.

★ Good to know The boats leave from 2 Harbor Lane on Route 9, just across the river in Kennebunk.

Just across the river in Kennebunk, this former estate has belonged to Lithuanian Franciscans since 1947. The grounds, designed by the Olmsted Brothers firm, have riverside paths, gardens, woods and outdoor chapels. They’re open to the public from sunrise to sunset.

★ Good to know Pick up the “Walking Tour of the Shrines” brochure at the Franciscan Guest House reception.