Explore Sun Studio: Rock and Roll’s Birthplace

Date Published: April 29th, 2025 | Last Updated: April 29th, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: April 13th, 2025

Started by Sam Phillips, Sun Studio is a historic recording studio where it all began for many great musicians including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and B.B. King. It is also credited for recording the very first rock and roll single, Rocket ’88 and the site of recording the Million Dollar Quartet. No musical tour of Memphis is complete without checking out Sun Studios!

How to get here:

Travelling here by car is the easiest way. There’s a small parking lot behind the building. You can also get here by public transport or bundled as part as a few Memphis local music tours.

How much time do I need?

Although mammoth in reputation, Sun Studio is actually quite small. You can only visit with a guided tour that lasts about 45 minutes to 1 hour with a gift shop in the lobby. They give you a bit of extra time at the end of the tour to take in the studio surroundings and to ask any questions you may have.

Tickets & Cost?

Annoyingly, you cannot reserve tickets ahead of time. Ticket purchases are only made in-person on a first come first serve basis. From their website they mention that it’s not uncommon for people to stop by earlier in the day to purchase a ticket for later in the day. Tickets for the day open up at 10am and you can buy a ticket for any time that day.

You can only see the studio as part of a guided tour and the tours are run every hour. From their website, these are the current tour times: Monday – Sunday 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 and 4:30. Double check their website for the most up to date times before you travel.

We came in the middle of April which wasn’t quite peak tourist season yet and we were also arriving in Memphis in the evening so we were able to walk in a purchase a ticket for the 4:30pm tour without having to wait. I can see this being a problem in peak tourist season – the space isn’t very big so there’ll be a limit on the number of people they can fit in a tour group, and considering this is the #2 tourist attraction (second to Graceland) in Memphis, I can imagine it would get quite busy and sell out early!

One way to avoid the hassle of coming in early in hopes to get a ticket is to book a Memphis Tour that has the Sun Studio tour included in the ticket. We went on Backbeat Tours and there was an option for the tour to drop you off at Sun Studio and get picked up later.

The Guided Tour

Upon arrival of this small brown brick building, snap a few photos outside then head inside to the retro vintage style lobby. Here is where you’ll buy tickets and there’s also a small counter where you can purchase a cup of pour-over coffee while waiting for the tour to start.

Take a gander around the various items displayed and check out the small record shop in the back. There’s also many photos and memorabilia on the walls as well – even in the bathroom!

The tour will start at the back where you’re led up a narrow set of stairs to a room full of memorabilia. Our guide was a musician and knew plenty about the history of Sun Studio and also played some original tunes recorded right there! He started off with how Sun Studio started and went along the wall and pointed out important items throughout history.

Sam Phillips disliked pop music and wanted to start a recording company that recorded the less popular non-pop music, mainly the blues. He started off as the Memphis Recording Service. To generate revenue, he’d record anything for anyone with a portable device in a suitcase and would travel to church events, weddings…etc. His slogan was “We Record Anything, Anywhere, Anytime”. He had an open door policy where anyone could come in and record what they wanted for a small fee.

Memphis Recording Service is credited for recording “Rocket ’88”, what music historians would deem as the very first rock and roll song due to the distortion in the guitar. The distortion is due to an amplifier that broke while the band was on their way to the recording studio and an attempted repair was made by stuffing wadded newspapers to make it work. The result produced a distorted sound that Sam Phillips loved and kept the recording as-is. The band then brought this record to Chess Records for release. It became the third-biggest R&B single in jukebox plays of 1951.

Memphis Recording Service was only a recording service where people would come to lay down their track then leave with a record where they would bring to record labels. Sam Phillips wanted a bigger piece of the picture and thus started Sun Studio, his own record label.

He signed many artists that would go on to have successful careers including B.B. King, Rufus Thomas, and Howlin’ Wolf. Despite his success, he was struggling to keep the business afloat and the copyright infringement lawsuit for the release of Rufus Thomas’ “Bear Cat”, a response song to Big Mama Thornton “Hound Dog” (later re-recorded by Elvis) nearly bankrupted the business. Phillips continued on and had more hits from artists such as The Prisonaires, a group of 4 incarcerated men that were so popular that they were given special permission to temporarily leave prison to record a single.

Sun Studio gained a reputation and would draw in artists from all over. One of those artists was Elvis Presley. Elvis came to impress Sam Phillips, but on the day he arrived to record “My Happiness”, Sam Phillips was out of town and he met Sam’s assistant Marion Keisker instead who recorded his songs for him. After his performance, Marion was so impressed that she made an extra copy of the recording to give to Sam upon his return. Sam did not like the recording at all – he wasn’t into pop music, but he brought in Elvis along with two local musicians to record a ballad demo he had acquired to test it out. The session was unfruitful and Sam was unimpressed with Elvis as a ballad singer. As the musicians were packing up, Elvis was losing his big chance with Sam and just started playing and singing. As guitarist Winfield “Scotty” Moore recalled: “All of a sudden, Elvis just started singing this song, jumping around and acting the fool, and then Bill picked up his bass, and he started acting the fool, too, and I started playing with them. Sam, I think, had the door to the control booth open … he stuck his head out and said, ‘What are you doing?’ And we said, ‘We don’t know.’ ‘Well, back up,’ he said, ‘try to find a place to start, and do it again.'” Although Sam wasn’t impressed with Elvis as a ballad singer, he loved Elvis as a blues/rockabilly singer.

3 days later the record was played on Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips’ radio show, Red, Hot, and Blue where he famously smashes records of songs he did not like. Listeners kept phoning in to find out about Elvis and his record was played again and again on the radio. The success of Elvis tied into the ongoing success of Sun Studio. Phillips realized that his label wasn’t big enough for the rapid popularity of Elvis and wouldn’t be able to break him out across USA, so for the betterment of Elvis, Phillips sold his contract for an unprecedented amount to RCA. The money he got for selling Elvis’ contract helped settle his debts and provided the financial roads to launch other famous artists including Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Dewey Phillips’ DJ desk with smashed records on the ground

After some time in the memorabilia room, we were then led downstairs to THE famous studio room where so many stars have stood and played before. This was the exact room where Elvis took a chance a sang out the blues to impress Sam Phillips.

The original reception/waiting area of Sun Studio

Sam donated most of the original recording equipment so you can see what it was like back in the days. The ‘X’ marker tape is still on the ground where the artists would have stood during their recording session. They even left the original microphone in the room so you can touch a piece of history and take a few photos. 🙂

The Million Dollar Quartet happened right here in this studio as an impromptu jam session between Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash. It started off with Jerry Lee Lewis playing piano for a recording session with Carl Perkins, then Elvis walks in for an unexpected visit (he was already signed to RCA at this point and no longer with Sun Studios). Sam Phillips called in Johnny Cash to join the session (although Cash’s version of the story said he was already there to listen in on the Perkins session) and all 4 of them were jamming together. The engineer behind the booth that day decided to record the session without any of them knowing. Phillips saw this as a chance for good publicity and called in a journalist that snapped the infamous photo and the next day coined the term “Million Dollar Quartet” in the papers.

The piano in the studio is not the original piano they played on that day, however it is a piano where Jerry Lee Lewis played and you can see a cigar burn on the keys. The original piano is on display at Graceland.

The tour ends after the studio. They gave us a bit of extra time at the end to look through everything and take some extra photos or ask questions. Overall it was a great tour and super cool to be in the presence of rock history and be able to see and touch where so many famous artists have been before!

April 29, 2025

AbbyLeave a comment

Graceland: A Complete Guide to Visiting Elvis Presley’s Home

Date Published: April 28th, 2025 | Last Updated: April 28th, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: April 14th, 2025

Address: 3717 Elvis Presley Blvd.,Memphis, TN 38116
Website: https://www.graceland.com/
Hours: 9am – 4pm, daily
Cost: $84/adult for standard admission (multiple packages available for an additional cost)

Graceland is a 13.8 hectare property in Memphis, Tennessee, and was once the home of the one and only Elvis Presley. He lived here with his parents Gladys and Vernon from 1957 until his death in 1977. Graceland was declared a National Historic Landmark and is open as a museum that houses everything Elvis, from grade school report cards to his massive collection of beaded shiny jumpsuits. This is Memphis’ top tourist attraction and has everything you need to know about the King! For die-hard fans, you can even stay the night in the “guest house” behind the property which is done up like a resort.

Toby and I came in the middle of April and although it was busy, it wasn’t insane. I’d recommend coming early in the morning to get ahead of the crowds and to go through the exhibit without too many people squeezing around you. Even if you’re not a big fan, Graceland is still a neat place to visit to immerse yourself in Rock n’ Roll history and learn about the icon himself.

How much time do I need?

You’ll need at least 3-4 hours here to get through most of it, but if you want to read through the description of every piece of memorabilia or artifact, then expect to be here for much longer. We got here at 9am when they opened and didn’t leave until 1pm, and we still didn’t have enough time to see his planes! We were going at a moderate pace, reading most things, but not everything. You could seriously spend a whole day here if you add on dining at one of his restaurants on site.

To break it down:

The star attraction is the mansion itself, which wasn’t as big as I was expecting (however, we did just recently come from visiting the Biltmore Estate in Knoxville, TN 😂). The self-guided tour of the home took about 1.5 hours. You go through the house in groups, so there can be a bit of a wait to get into the actual house depending on how busy it is.
The majority of the Elvis memorabilia and artifacts are inside the Entertainment Complex, which is the building that’s connected to the visitor’s centre. You get access to this area after coming back from the mansion. This took us 2 hours to get through. The exhibits just kept coming and coming!
There are a couple of themed restaurants and multiple gift shops around, so add on another 30 minutes to 1.5 hours if you plan on staying for a meal and doing some shopping.
To see the planes, you’ll need at least another 30 minutes or so.
*Allow for even more time if you decide to get an upgraded ticket package!

https://assets.speakcdn.com/assets/2597/elvispresley-2dmap-20-print.jpg

Getting Here

Getting here by car is the best way to reach Graceland. There’s plenty of parking here and it’s only a short 15-minute drive from downtown Memphis. You can also Uber/Lyft here to save on driving.

There are also options of public transport, tourist busses, and shuttles, however from my research none of them seemed straightforward and I struggled to find costs and timings for these services. Best to just drive or ride share to get a better sense of timing (you should arrive 15 minutes before the start of your timed ticket).

Cost of Tickets

There are a few options for ticket packages that I’ve screenshotted from their website below.

We went for the standard admission (“Elvis Experience“), it’s $84 per adult. Pretty steep, but it includes the self-guided tour of the mansion, the “entertainment complex” (where all the Elvis items are on display including his car collection), and his custom jet plane. These 3 alone will take you at least 4 hours and will give you more than enough everything Elvis.

Entertainment Complex/Visitor’s Center – the start of the journey

Get here 15 minutes prior to the start of your timed ticket to have enough time to find parking, walk up to the massive building that is the Entertainment Complex, and join the line to watch a short intro video that wasn’t all that exciting. Our tour time was 9am, so there was plenty of parking when we arrived at 8:45am.

They didn’t seem to check ticket times, so don’t stress too much if you’re running late. The times are only to ensure there’s not a massive rush of people all at the same time. When you show up, you just join the line to go into the intro video theatre and when it’s full, they’ll close it and open the next one. They’ll scan your ticket right before going into the theatre.

After the short intro video, you’ll get herded out the back door and into another line to collect your iPad for the self-guided tour (audio guide by John Stamos!) and the line to get on the shuttle bus to take you to the mansion that’s located across the road (see map above to get your bearings). You can only access the mansion through their shuttlebus.

The Mansion

The short shuttle bus ride will drop you off directly in front of the mansion. Here, they’ll usher you to the front door and go over some brief rules before entering the house and instructions on how to start your audio guide.

First Floor of the Mansion

Entryway

You’re immediately greeted by a set of white stairs when you enter the front door. The entire second level was Elvis’ private space and only his closest confidantes were allowed in this space. They’ve kept the upstairs closed off to the public out of respect for him. Too bad, it sure would’ve been cool to see how he would’ve decorated his own bedroom given his eclectic taste for the rest of the house!

If you look closely, there’s a mirror at the top of the stairs to the left. One of the guides said that it was Elvis’ way to look down the stairs without actually coming down to see who was here and if he wanted to hang out with them. 😂

Living Room/Music Room

This is the living room/music room where they would gather, entertain, and sing gospel songs on the white grand piano. The beautiful stain glass peacocks are the Christian symbol for eternity and resurrection.

Gladys & Vernon’s Bedroom

Elvis’ parents Gladys and Vernon had their bedroom on the main floor. Gladys was largely involved in decorating this room, including choosing the poodle wallpaper in the bathroom!

Dining Room

This is the formal dining room where Elvis would sit at the head of the table by the window and entertain guests. Behind him would also be where they would set up their Christmas tree. It was common to have dinner served at 9-10pm at night!

Kitchen

As a foodie and an avid cook, I was quite disappointed by the kitchen. I expected it to be grand with elegance! This kitchen was last redone in the mid-70s. Elvis had cooks and maids on staff at all hours of the day in 8-hour shifts so meals are usually cooked to order! Common dishes would be simple Southern cooking including: fried chicken, steaks, pork chops, meat loaf, and many cheeseburgers. Elvis also loved homemade banana pudding so it was always made available.

The Jungle Room/Den

In 1974, Polynesia/Tiki furniture was popular and Elvis decorated this room with these furniture pieces to remind him of his favourite Hawaiian vacation. Check out the floor to ceiling green shag carpeting in this room. The immersive carpeting resulted in fantastic acoustics in this room and Elvis recorded 2 of his records with RCA in this very room!

Basement Level of the Mansion

The stairs leading to the basement was lined with mirrors!

TV Room

Elvis loved football and would watch 3 different games at the same time on 3 TVs. There’s also a pull down projector screen where he could play movies and a jukebox that could hold 100 singles with speakers wired throughout the house.

Pool Room

This is my favourite room of the house due to its beautifully colourful interior and unique wall and ceiling panelling!

Back of the Mansion

As you finish touring the main house, the trail leads out the back of the house over to the unattached smaller buildings on the property grassy areas where they could ride their horses. There’s also a kidney-shaped pool.

Vernon’s Office & the Smokehouse

Vernon Presley, Elvis’ father managed Elvis’ personal affairs including all of his fan mail and the running of Graceland. He had his own office on the property in the back. There’s also an old smokehouse that was once used as a firing range.

Trophy Building

This building was built as an expansion to the home and was also where Elvis and Priscilla had their wedding reception. It has since been renovated to tell Elvis’ personal story and contain artifacts from his family and youth. Here you’ll find old family photos, his first bicycle, a police badge collection (Elvis would have been a policeman if his music career didn’t take off!), and even his grade school report card! The items on display here is in contrast to the memorabilia on display at the Entertainment Complex that focuses on Elvis’ music career rather than personal life.

Interesting fact: Did you know that Elvis was born as the second twin? Unfortunately the first twin Jesse Garon Presley was a stillborn. Gladys and Vernon didn’t even know they were expecting twins until Elvis showed up just 30 minutes later. John Stamos’ character ‘Jesse’ in the show Full House was named as a tribute to Elvis’ brother.

Racquetball Building

Elvis enjoyed racquetball so much that he had a racquetball court built on his property. This was the last room that he was seen alive after playing a game with some friends and singing his last songs on the piano in this room. He retired upstairs to his comfort room and was later found dead.

Meditation Garden

The Meditation Garden was said to be one of Elvis’ favourite places on the property. It was a place for meditation, reflection, and quiet contemplation. Gladys and Elvis was originally buried at Forest Hill Cemetery, but for security purposes, Vernon had them moved here on Graceland. The Meditation Garden is the final resting place for Vernon, Gladys, Elvis, and Minnie Mae (Elvis’ maternal grandmother). There’s also a small plaque here for his brother, Jesse. Lisa Marie (Elvis’ daughter) and Benjamin (Elvis’ grandson) are also buried here.

The self-guided tour of the mansion ends after the Meditation Garden but there’s still TONS to see. You’ll line up to get back on the shuttle bus to go back across the street to the Entertainment Complex, where the visitor centre was.

Back to the Entertainment Complex

The Entertainment Complex is a HUGE building with seemingly endless exhibits on Elvis. It starts off with his car collection and continues on to more artifacts from his personal life including his passion for karate, his army years, his influence on other celebrities, his television and film work, awards, and of course his many MANY bejewelled jumpsuits.

Cars, Motorcycles, and Boats

Elvis’ Army Days, Karate, and the Graceland Archives

Despite being a rockstar, Elvis received no special treatment while in the army (according to the posters, anyway 🤫). This exhibited highlighted his time in the army and his duties.

Elvis was also really into karate. He trained and competed, and earned an 8th degree black belt. I know nothing about the karate world, but it sounds impressive.

There are over 1.5 million items in the Graceland Archives and on display or just a few of these items of Elvis memorabilia. For an upgraded ticket package tour, you can speak to an archivist!

Elvis’ Influence on Other Celebrities

It’s insane how much influence Elvis had to the music industry. This exhibit highlights some of the biggest stars that have drawn inspiration from Elvis in one way or another.

Music and Film Memorabilia

The famous million dollar quartet piano that was at Sun Studio!

Costumes and Accessories

The Glorious Jumpsuits!

Awards

Giftshops

There are many gift shops sprinkled throughout the Entertainment Complex, some are between exhibits. Each one is a little different and annoyingly they don’t all carry the same things. The largest gift shop that will carry most things will be the one at the entrance to the right of the ticketing area, so I wouldn’t bother going through each one unless you really want to.

Check out this replica jumpsuit you can buy for $5000!

Dine, Shop, Check out the Planes, or Back to the Parking Lot

Once you’ve finished going through the exhibits in the massive Entertainment Center (congratulations on your legs for lasting this long), you’re done the majority of it. There are a couple of Elvis themed restaurant options and a few more gift shops before you head back to the parking lot.

But before you get into your car, you’ll see a walkway that leads to his custom planes. Unfortunately we were on a time constraint (who would’ve guessed that 4 hours wasn’t enough?! 😜) and had to leave to make it on time for our Memphis tour so we couldn’t see the planes. I took a quick snapshot photo of the planes from the outside below:

I hope you enjoyed my picture-filled recount of our visit to Graceland! It’s definitely worth a visit!

April 28, 2025April 28, 2025

Abby1 Comment

A Day in Princeton & Beyond – University, Grounds for Sculpture, & Trenton

Date Published: April 21st, 2025 | Last Updated: April 21st, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: March 1st, 2025

Princeton, New Jersey is roughly a 1.5 hour drive from NYC which makes it a great day trip away from the big city. In fact, it is exactly halfway between Philadelphia and New York, which were the two wealthiest cities back in the days and as a result, Princeton was a popular stop for stage coaches to let their horses rest. You can still find old stone horse troughs still around town!

Princeton is of course home to the famous Princeton University. The main highlight of this town is to tour the campus but there are some cool shops around this town as well to check out. This post will highlight a tour around the college campus, some famous houses, and the nearby Grounds for Sculpture and Trenton, the capital of New Jersey.

How many days do I need?

There’s not all that much “to do” in Princeton, so a half a day will be enough to see the highlights and check out the campus. Make it a full day if you want to visit Grounds for Sculpture.

Parking:

The best parking will be at Spring Street Garage (24 Spring St, Princeton, NJ 08542) which has very reasonable rates and is conveniently located in the middle of town.

Book a walking tour

Booking a walking tour is the best way to explore both the town of Princeton and Princeton University. There are so many notable buildings with a unique history that it’s easy to miss if you walk around yourself. The university campus is also quite large and can be easy to get lost. In this blog post I’ve highlighted some notable places, but they were all covered on our walking tour.

We booked our walking tour with this company. It was reasonably priced and informative. The guy that did our tour seemed to be new 😅 but we still hit all the spots.

Historical Nassau Street

Nassau Street is the main street of Princeton with shops and restaurants. Although we didn’t have time to grab a bite, our tour guide recommended Winberie’s Restaurant & Bar and Triumph Restaurant & Brewery off of Palmer Square.

Apparently most of the nightlife here is targeted to the undergrads.

An old stone water trough for stage coach horses back in the day (now filled in with concrete)

Across from Princeton University at the corner of Nassau Street and Witherspoon Street is a tudor style building called Lower Pyne (now home to Hamilton Jewelers). This beautiful building was built in 1896 and was used for commercial shops on the ground level and student dormitories above. In 1950 the dormitories were converted to office spaces. You’ll see this iconic building on many post cards of Princeton.

Touring Princeton University

The campus grounds of Princeton University is open to all and you can freely walk around and explore, but access into the buildings is restricted.

For prospective students, you can book a free university tour with admissions information.

For tourists that just want to learn the history of this famous campus, the university runs historical tours with limited dates in the fall or you can book a third party tour company like we did that will not only explore the campus but around the actual town as well.

I’ve highlighted some interesting spots around campus below:

FitzRandolph Gate

FitzRandolph Gate is located just off of Nassau Street, across the street from the Lower Pyne building and infront of Nassau Hall. It is the official entrance to the Princeton University campus. It was erected in 1905 and named after Nathaniel FitzRandolph, who was instrumental in raising the money and land needed to build the college.

The gate was originally always kept closed and locked except for special occasions such as graduation, but the class of 1970 ensured that the gate would always remain open “in a symbol of the University’s openness to the local and worldwide community”.

There is a local superstition that if you exit from FitzRandolph Gate before graduation, you will never graduate from Princeton. You can enter the campus through the gates, but not leave unless you’ve graduated. This includes babies and children that may wish to attend Princeton in the future 😂. Our tour guide was a graduate of Princeton and says that this superstition is still very much alive to this day.

The President’s House

Princeton University had a couple of different locations (including Newark, NJ) before settling into its current location. At the time, Aaron Burr Senior (father of Aaron Burr Jr. – the guy who shot Alexander Hamilton, for you Hamilton fans) was the president of the college. The small yellow building below is where Aaron Burr Sr. lived at the time as he oversaw the building of this new campus.

Nassau Hall

Nassau Hall is the first building of the college and also the oldest building on campus. It’s the first building you’ll see through FitzRandolph Gate and its covered with ivy around the majority of the building.

John Witherspoon Statue

Throughout the years they’ve had many university presidents that kept dying from random things. The university was in a poor state with debt and poor instruction. John Witherspoon came on as the university’s 6th president and was monumental in saving the school from closing down. He travelled to New England and the South and recruited the wealthy to join the school. He updated the curriculum and turned Princeton from a place that predominantly trained clergymen into a place equipped to produce the future leaders of tomorrow.

Although Witherspoon is credited for the expansion and progression of the university, his racist roots in slave ownership has been a topic of heavy controversy. There have been petitions to remove his statue outside of East Pyne Hall, pictured below.

East Pyne Hall

East Pyne was built in the late 1800s as an extension to the Chancellor Green Library next door. When entering the middle gates, you’re inside an enclosed square with beautiful architecture surrounding you. This site has been a popular choice for filming movies including the latest movie Oppenheimer.

Princeton University Chapel

The Princeton University Chapel sits in the middle of the campus and was built in the 1920s to replace the previous chapel that had burned down. Its gothic architecture has a hidden surprise – the 5 stone makers hid their faces into the outside of this building (see if you can spot one in the photos!). Inside this beautiful building are impressive stain glass that lines the walls and is said to be the most valuable stain glass in the Western Hemisphere! The pews are carved from wood that was intended for Civil War gun carriages.

It’s a highly sought after place to get married. Our tour guide told us there’s about a 5 year waiting list to get married here! 😮

Princeton University Library

Across the chapel is the Princeton University Library. This enormous library holds over 7 million books including many rare books. It is one of the largest libraries in the world by number of volumes. There’s no public access to the library.

Prospect House

Across the chapel is Prospect House, built in 1851 and housed the university’s presidents for about 100 years, until they were relocated to the Walter Lowrie House (which was originally used as a guest house). I can’t quite find the exact reason why they relocated from this beautiful mansion, but online sources say it coincided with renovations to the building and turning it into a faculty club. Our tour guide says that in the 60s there were protests that a president shouldn’t live so lavishly in the centre of the campus. Whatever the reason, it’s currently the staff and faculty dining area. It’s a pretty nice building. People who get married at the chapel will usually also have their wedding reception here. There’s also a nice garden in the summer.

Witherspoon Hall

Witherspoon Hall was the most modern and elegant dormitory when it was first built in 1877. It was the first to have electricity and indoor plumbing. This is the first building you come upon when entering the campus by stage coach and has been purposefully made to attract a more “affluent” student population (aka them rich kids to bring their money to the school). There are even dumbwaiters and special corridors and rooms for servants!

Princeton University Art Museum – Opens October 2025

The Princeton University Art Museum has an impressive collection that has been mentioned time and time again as a “must do” when visiting Princeton. Unfortunately they are currently in the works of opening up a new building that’s not set to open until October 2025. It’s located near Prospect House.

Some Scenes around campus (aka places I forgot the names of):

Exploring Off-Campus: Scenes around the Town of Princeton

Albert Einstein’s House

Address: 112 Mercer Street, Princeton, New Jersey

Albert Einstein lived here in the final 22 yrs of his life. He was invited to Princeton to be the first to join a think tank – the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS, the one they featured in Oppenheimer). He was never employed by the university while he lived in Princeton. The house is now a private residence even though it is owned by the IAS. There’s no place markers for this house, but the home next door has a sign 😉.

Other Famous Houses

Library Place is a street where all the fancy houses are with many of them belonging to celebrities or have had a famous person live there. It’s a lovely quiet street to walk down and gawk at all the beautiful houses. 82 Library Place was the former home of President Woodrow Wilson. This man was super racist even for his time, but his house was damn beautiful. There were a few other famous houses on this street, but this was the only one I could remember 😂.

On Boudinot Street sits Peter Benchley’s former home, the author of Jaws. It sold for 2.5 million in 2012.

Morven Museum & Garden on Stockton Street was the home Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. This home is now a museum and garden.

Princeton Battle Monument

Albert Einstein Statue

Princeton Battlefield State Park

This park is just outside of town. It’s a big field with a monument and is the site where the Battle of Princeton was fought. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to stop here.

Nearby: Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township, NJ

Address: 80 Sculptors Way, Hamilton Township, NJ 08619
Cost: $25 per adult

A 15 minute drive from Princeton is Grounds for Sculpture. It is a massive outdoor area with multiple small trails that lead to random sculptures. It’s a pretty cool place with some nice scenery along the water and amongst the tress. Toby and I aren’t big sculpture people but we found some that were pretty neat. There’s a restaurant here called Rat’s Restaurant that has good reviews – we didn’t have time to go, but it looked like a cool place to hang out by the water. It took us about 1 hour to walk through it all, but some people recommend spending at least 2-3 hours, especially if you plan to go to the cafe (reservations recommended).

Nearby: Trenton, NJ

Trenton is New Jersey’s capital city. We’ve made it our goal to try and hit as many capital cities as we can, even if they’re not that popular. Trenton is only a short 20 minute drive away from Princeton so we figured we’d check it out. The downtown area looked decent with tree-lined streets and nice shop front buildings, but on closer look many of them looked suspicious or run down and none of them were any I’ve ever heard of and many were vacant. There were also many questionable characters around town. I’ve read that there are some nice museums and restaurants in the area, but the few streets we drove down didn’t make us want to get out of the car.

Trenton Farmer’s Market: I love a good farmer’s market, so we headed to the Trenton Farmer’s Market that was only a few minutes away. The outside did not look nice at all. Unfortunately the inside wasn’t much of an improvement either. The market barely had any produce (perhaps we were in the wrong season) and the produce they did have did not look great and some were more expensive than prices in Manhattan! The shops were kinda junky, with old “antiques”, some handmade items, and a few homemade jam stalls. It took us 10 mins to walk through it all. Although I will say, there were a couple of decent looking meat, sausage and cheese shops, but that was it.

April 21, 2025

AbbyLeave a comment

BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham – The Largest Hindu Temple Outside of Asia

Date Published: April 20th, 2025 | Last Updated: April 20th, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: March 1st, 2025

Location: 112 N Main Street, Robbinsville, NJ 08561 USA
Opening hours: Wednesday to Monday 9am – 7:30pm (closed Tuesdays), gets busy – come early!
Website: https://usa.akshardham.org/
Entry fees: FREE, but you need to reserve a timed ticket on the weekends and on holidays
Time needed: at least 2 hours to walk through everything, more if you want to check out the cafe

BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham is the largest Hindu temple outside of Asia and it is SERIOUSLY impressive and a MUST visit in New Jersey. It opened only in October 2023 and took 7 years to build with 12000+ volunteers. Some parts are still under construction.

BAPS stands for Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha and it is a socio-spiritual Hindu faith that was revealed by Bhagwan Swaminarayan (1781-1830) in the late 18th century and established in 1907 by Shastriji Maharaj (1865-1951). Founded on the pillars of practical spirituality, the BAPS reaches out far and wide to address the spiritual, moral and social challenges and issues we face in our world. Its strength lies in the purity of its nature and purpose. – https://www.baps.org/About-BAPS/WhoWeAre.aspx

There are multiple BAPS temples globally and more than one location in New Jersey, so make sure you’re inputting the right one when travelling here!

Visitor Etiquette & Dress Code

This beautiful temple is a place of quiet worship and there are a few rules when visiting. The most important is the dress code. Your shoulders and knees need to be covered – if you forget, there may be some shawls or coverings available on the day but you’ll need to ask the information desk.

They will ask you to remove your shoes when entering the temple so be prepared to walk either barefoot or in socks for the majority of your visit. There are shoe shelves at the entrance of each temple.

Respect the silence. People worship here. You can spend as long as you like inside the temples, but be mindful of the volume of your voice.

How much time do I need?

You need at least 2 hours to walk through it all, more if you want to go to the cafe or shop at their grocery store.

Get here early!

Although this temple only opened less than 2 years ago and it’s not quite a tourist hot spot (yet), it still gets busy as the day goes on. I’d recommend coming early in the morning when it’s quieter and feels more serene and there’s also the added bonus of fewer people in your photos and better parking.

When you arrive:

Here’s an overview of the grounds from their website: https://usa.akshardham.org/explore

When you arrive, you’ll see the building from the parking lot. You’ll first walk through the garden area with large golden statue of the child yogi Nilkanth Varni, later known as Bhagwan Swaminarayan and see his 7 year path across the Indian subcontinent during his youth. Bhagwan Swaminarayan is seen as the reincarnation of God and was a spiritual leader and credited for being the founder of the BAPS religion. This statue stands 49 feet tall, to represent his 49 years on earth.

As you walk through the area, you’ll get a great view of the temple with a pool of water in front known as the Brahma Kund. Water represents life and in this pool there’s a mix of water brought from 108 holy rivers and lakes around India and also water from all 50 states in the USA!

Welcome Center

When you reach the Welcome Center on the right side of the temple, this is where they’ll scan your reserved ticket (on weekends or holidays). You’ll go through security then meet some lovely greeters that will give you a map of the grounds and explain the lay of the land.

Guided tours are offered every hour and subject to availability. Check with the information desk if you’re interested. There are also wheelchairs available if needed.

You’ll start your visit at the orientation theatre where they’ll play a 7 minute long video that gives you an overview of this place and areas to visit. There are multiple theatres here so you’re never waiting long for the next video to start. After the video, appreciate the architecture and artwork within this beautiful building.

Mandir

From the Welcome Center you’ll next come across the Mandir. The Mandir is considered the house of the god to whom it is dedicated and is a space for individual worship and personal prayers. There are no photos allowed in here, but there are beautiful marble paintings and carved marble columns similar to the inside of the Akshardham (the main temple). Their website will have photos of the inside if you’re interested in taking a peak, but I highly recommend experiencing the space yourself.

The Mandir is closed at certain times of the day, so keep an eye on the time when you visit. You can always explore the rest of the grounds and come back. It’s a smaller space, takes about 15 minutes to walk through, but there are colourful marble walls here that make it unique compared to the Akshardham.

Akshardham – the main temple

From the Mandir, walk through the centre of the campus and head straight towards the Akshardham – the main temple. You can take plenty of photos on the outside, but no photos are allowed inside.

You will need to take off yours shoes in the Akshardham at the designated shoe shelves. It takes about 30 minutes to walk through it all. The inside is full of amazing intricately carved marble everywhere you turn, including the beautiful ceilings. You get a sense of serenity in this place. The carvings are done by master carvers in India and is then shipped to the USA piece by piece and assembled like a puzzle.

Parikrama – Red corridor walkway

Surrounding the Akshardham are carved red corridor walkways called the Parikrama. These beautiful carved gates creates a trippy effect when you look through. You’ll come across these right at the start of the visit and you could have walked through them clockwise to reach the Akshardham instead of through the middle, but you’ll also come across it when you exit the Akshardham back towards the Welcome Center.

Shayona Cafe, Gift Shop, Back to the Welcome Center

Lastly you’ll enter a building next to the Akshardham that contains the gift shop, cafe, then back to the Welcome Center. There’s an express cafe that’s not always open but the main cafe is the Shayona Cafe which doesn’t open until 11am. They serve both Indian and American food (see photo below of their menu). It looks pretty nice but unfortunately we had lunch plans already so didn’t stay for a bite. Across from the cafe is also a food shop where you can pick up some groceries.

I hope you enjoyed scrolling through our trip to this amazing temple! I highly recommend anyone to visit – it’s such a unique gem in New Jersey!

April 20, 2025April 20, 2025

AbbyLeave a comment

The Ultimate Guide to Top Philly Cheesesteak Spots

Date Published: March 25th, 2025 | Last Updated: Sept 8th, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA

Since moving to Brooklyn 2 years ago, Toby and I have made numerous weekend trips to explore the city of Philadelphia. There’s so much rich history and interesting things to see there, but of course being a foodie, the highlight of every trip for me is the Philly Cheesesteak. Every time we think about making a trip, the first thing on my mind is which cheesesteak are we going to try this time? You could call it an unhealthy obsession. To tide me over between our Philly trips, I’ve come up with my own Philly Cheesesteak recipe that you can check out here.

I’ve made it my personal mission to try as many popular cheesesteak spots as I can find through online research, word of mouth, and local reviews. This post is my personal take on these popular spots. I know there will be a lot of differing opinions and I’ve seen heated debates on who has the best cheesesteak, and at the end of the day the answer will depend on individual preference. There’s no one right answer – it’s like asking a New Yorker who has the best pizza. Everyone will have their own favourite and this post highlights some of my favourites and thoughts on these popular joints.

My go-to order: Whiz Wit with extra onions (cheesesteak with Cheez Whiz and extra onions). I keep my order consistent every time (where I can help it) so I have a standard of comparison between cheesesteak shops.

To skip this long detailed post, here’s a summary of my preferences:

Best overall: Jim’s South St.
Best onions: Donkey’s Place
Best bread: Del Rossi’s (Angelo’s comes a close second)
Best steak: Jim’s South St.

Keep checking back, I’ll be updating this post as we continue to eat our way through this great city!

What is a Philly Cheesesteak? What makes it so special?

A Philly Cheesesteak is a sandwich that is essentially bread, cooked steak, and cheese. The combination of these 3 ingredients don’t sound like much, but it’s the quality of the bread, the tenderness and juiciness of the beef, and the cheesy goodness all combined together that makes this sandwich magical. There’s no fancy truffle aioli, or a complex combination of marinades and spices. It’s just simple ingredients made well. Also be prepared – a good cheesesteak tends to be pretty greasy so pack your wet wipes!

Dissecting the Philly Cheesesteak:

Bread:

The traditional sandwich bread for a cheesesteak is a long Italian roll. It should be soft and chewy on the inside but with a light crust on the outside. The bread roll should have enough structure to hold up your sandwich while absorbing the delicious dripping juices without it being too soggy. It also shouldn’t be too tough that it becomes difficult to bite through.

Steak:

Rib eye is usually the go-to meat for a cheesesteak. It’s tender, somewhat fatty, and flavourful all at the same time. It’s sliced super thin before cooking on a flat top grill and comes out looking almost like ground beef (depending on how thin they slice it) with little folds that hold in all the juices. The first sounds you hear when walking into a cheesesteak shop is usually the clanging and banging of the metal spatulas on the flat top grill as they cook up the steak.

Cheese: Provolone, Cheez Whiz, American Cheese, or Cooper Sharp?

For the readers that are unfamiliar to the cheesesteak life, when you order a cheesesteak, you have to choose what kind of cheese you want. The 3 options are usually Provolone, Cheez Whiz, or American Cheese. Of these 3, provolone is the only “real” non-processed cheese, but I find it to be the most subtle in flavour compared to the others. American Cheese is processed cheddar slices (ie. Kraft singles), and Cheez Whiz is a processed liquid “cheese” sauce that tastes like a melty version of American cheese to me. In more recent years, Cooper Sharp has entered the cheesesteak game which is also another type of processed cheese but has a sharp bold flavour and melts well. Of all these options, Provolone and Cheez Whiz seem to be the two most popular choices. I’m team Cheez Whiz all the way (with Cooper Sharp coming in at a close second), but lately Toby has been leaning towards the provolone. If you’ve never had a cheesesteak before, I’d recommend getting one of each and trying it out for yourself!

Fun fact: The local Philly slang for a cheesesteak with cheez whiz and onions is called a “whiz wit”.

My first cheesesteak side story: When Toby and I went to order our first ever Philly Cheesesteak, we had no idea that there were cheese options! The guy at Jim’s didn’t specifically ask us what cheese we wanted. He instead asked “Provolone?”. In a moment of panic, we just said “yes”. Surely provolone is the most popular option, otherwise he would’ve led with a different cheese choice, right? Sad to report, I was disappointed by the provolone because I couldn’t really taste it and I expected a cheesesteak sandwich to be cheese-forward in flavour – after all, it’s in the name. Maybe we chose the wrong cheese? Maybe we should get extra cheese? After polishing off our sandwich, Toby went right back in line and ordered another one, this time with Cheez Whiz – the gooey orange cheese that you see in so many iconic photos of a cheesesteak. After taking the first bite, we were in love! This was it. The Cheez Whiz made all the difference. This gooey fake cheese product penetrated through the layers of the beef and onions and melded the flavours together into a mess of greasy cheesy delicious goodness. Ever since that visit, Cheez Whiz has been my go-to, although I was also quite impressed by Cooper Sharp at Del Rossi’s.

Optional Toppings:

Onions are optional, but essential in my opinion. They’re usually cooked to just browned and softened with a bit of a bite. I prefer the cheesesteak joints that take it a little further and slightly caramelize the onions to add a bit of sweetness to contrast the heavy sandwich. Some places will offer fried or even raw onions.

Sautéed bell peppers are another popular add-on, but I find it too distracting from the rest of my sandwich so I tend to skip it.

Sautéed mushrooms are not as popular of a topping and not always offered, but I just love mushrooms in general and I find that it adds a nice texture to the sandwich. Toby prefers it without.

Other common toppings: hot banana peppers, relish, ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard. Some places will have a side stand of these extra toppings to add on yourself. I prefer my cheesesteak with just onions and mushrooms, but Toby will sometimes add relish for a bit of sweet vinegary kick.

Philly Cheesesteak Spots

Without further ado, here’s a list of popular cheesesteak spots around Philly that we’ve tried and my honest opinions about them. With such limited ingredients in a cheesesteak, a good cheesesteak needs to be on point with all 3 ingredients: bread, steak, and cheese.

I’ve ranked them from our favourite to least. Keep checking back, I’ll be updating this list and re-ranking as we continue to check out more cheesesteak spots! I’ve also made a handy-dandy map for an overall view of where all these spots are located. 😊

#1: Jim’s South St.

Address: 400 South St, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Website: https://jimssouthstreet.com/
Hours: 11am-12am most days (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak: $13.49 (before tax)

Pros:

Always consistent
Moist juicy cheesesteak
Good pricing
Good location for tourists, about a 15 minute walk from the Liberty Bell
Onions are lightly caramelized giving it extra flavour
Indoor seating available
Takes both cash and card

Cons:

Smaller size sandwich (however $2-3 cheaper than most places)

Jim’s South Street is an easy local favourite. Throughout my research of finding the best cheesesteak in Philly, Jim’s came up again and again. It’s easily accessible and is located on the busy South Street with plenty of other restaurants and bars on this strip. Jim’s first opened up in 1939 and has been serving quality cheesesteaks since.

This was mine and Toby’s very first cheesesteak experience. It was everything I expected and more! We arrived at 12:45pm on a Monday in mid November and there was thankfully no line. Even if there was a line, I’m sure it’d move quick since they made our sandwich in record time. As soon as you walk in, you’re hit with the amazing aroma of caramelized onions and beef and the sounds of the banging and clanging on the flat top. Even if you weren’t hungry, watching the meat sizzle in front of you would get you salivating. The shop itself has a retro vibe with some seating available.

We got 2 cheesesteaks here: first with provolone which I struggled to find the provolone flavour, then with Cheez Whiz which made allllll the difference. The onions were perfectly cooked the way I like it – slightly caramelized for a bit of sweetness but with a bite and the steak was so juicy that it was a bit of a dripping mess, but the bread held up well without getting soggy. Delicious!

Update April 1st, 2025: After a string of disappointing cheesesteaks around Philly, we came back to Jim’s again to make sure I wasn’t overhyping this place since it was our very first cheesesteak afterall. I’m glad to report it was just as delicious as I remember it! I was watching the man behind the stove and noticed a few things that makes Jim’s stand out from the rest:

They double layer their cheese – on the bread, then add the beef and toppings, and finish it with more cheez on top so you get a good amount of cheez whiz in every bite.
Their onions are perfectly caramelized which adds so much more flavour with a slight sweetness. Most places will have softened onions without caramelizing them.
This man has a literal kettle of melted beef oil that he pours on the beef while he cooks it to keep it moist and extra juicy as he cooks it.

#2: Dalessandro’s Steaks

Address: 600 Wendover St, Philadelphia, PA 19128
Website: https://dalessandros.com/
Hours: 11am-9/10pm most days (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak with onions: $16.00 (cash only, ATM on site)

Pros:

Great sandwich size
Good amount of steak and cooked really well, not dry at all
No extra charge for onions

Cons:

Out of the way from downtown and old town/tourist areas
Onions very bland and not enough of it
Limited seating – only 4 picnic tables outside, no indoor seating
Cash only (ATM on site)
Limited street parking

Dalessandro’s was actually one of the first cheesesteak spots recommended to us from a Philly local but due to its location all the way on the other side of the city, it took us a while to make it here since it never seemed to fit into our Philly itinerary.

We came on a Saturday lunch hour in the first week of June and although it was busy, the line went relatively quickly and it took about 10 minutes to get our sandwich. It’s a window-order and pick-up set up that takes cash only (ATM on site). Once you place your order, there’s an automated voice over a speaker and a large screen that calls you when your order is ready and you pay on pick up. There are only 4 picnic-style tables outside and no indoor seating, but luckily we were able to snag a tablet just as someone left.

At first glance, the cheesesteak was pretty hefty with a good amount of meat. The bread was soft but held up well. The steak was super juicy and cooked really well (similar to Jim’s) and there was a good amount of cheese. However, the onions were the let down for me. Even with extra onions, there wasn’t much of it and the onions themselves didn’t have much flavour – wasn’t browned, kind of just soft and bland, almost like steamed onions. Honestly, if the onions were on point, Dalessandro’s would be at the #1 spot for me purely because their cheesesteak is larger than Jim’s and everything else was great!

#3: Del Rossi’s Cheesesteak & Pizza CO.

Address: 538 N 4th St, Philadelphia, PA 19123
Website: https://delrossisrestaurant.com/
Hours: 11am-11pm most days (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak with onions: $16.48 (before tax)

Pros:

Fantastic bread – unique sesame artisanal bun
Juicy meat cooked well
Indoor-seating and they bring the food to your table
Takes both cash and card

Cons:

No Cheez Whiz, they carry Cooper Sharp cheese only
Inconsistent cook with the meat between repeat visits
Out of the way from downtown and old town/tourist areas

We came here on our latest Philly trip in February on the recommendation of some Philly native internet strangers. It is a little out of the way from the main city centre and touristy things (~6 mins north of the Liberty Bell for reference) so you’d need to either drive or Uber to get here. Upon first glance, it looked like an ordinary pizza shop with a bunch of pizza boxes piled high near the front, no signs of the large flat top or smells of a cheesesteak.

We ordered our usual “whiz wit” (cheesesteak with cheez whiz and onions) but to our surprise they only do Cooper Sharp cheese! This was the first place we’ve been to that didn’t have Cheez Whiz. It was a little hard to understand the cashier, but I think he said they used to do Cheez Whiz but it got too busy so they stopped offering different cheese options? Either way, the cashier was confident that we’d love their cheesesteak so we ordered one to share. Y’all… this cheesesteak was PHENOMENAL. It instantly became our new favourite cheesesteak. The bread was flavourful with a fantastic golden brown crust speckled with white sesame seeds that reminded me of an artisanal sourdough. It was our first time trying Cooper Sharp cheese and it was so bold and flavourful that it knocked our socks off. It also perfectly melted between the layers of the meat, making it a top contender to my beloved Cheez Whiz. The steak was also cooked well and the combination of everything was perfection. *chef’s kiss*

July 29th update: Del Rossi’s was originally my #1 pick for best cheesesteak, however after a couple more visits, although still delicious, there was inconsistency with the cook of the steak, being a little dry at times, so it’s now my #3 after Jim’s and Dalessandro’s.

#4: Donkey’s Place (across the river in Camden, NJ)

Address: 1223 Haddon Ave, Camden, NJ 08103
Website: https://www.donkeysplacemenu.com
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, closed Sat & Sun (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak with onions: $15.50 (before tax)

Pros:

AMAZING flavourful onions! The best onions in any cheesesteak sandwich I’ve had so far.
Generous portion sizes
Good amount of indoor seating in a pub setting
Takes both cash and card

Cons:

Located in New Jersey, across the river in a slightly dodgy neighbourhood
Limited menu – cheesesteak, wings, fries, and onion rings (but there’s a full bar!)

Donkey’s Place was recommended by our Philly walking tour guide and claimed it to be just as good, if not better than the cheesesteaks in Philly. Although it’s not technically in Philadelphia, I’ve included it in this post anyway due to how close it is. Donkey’s Place is located in Camden, NJ, just across the river, a 10 minute drive from the Liberty Bell (the USS New Jersey is also nearby if you want to check out a battleship!). This little pub is located on a random street away from any main tourist areas in a bit of a run down neighbourhood. There’s a small parking area for 2-3 cars or street parking. There wasn’t any special advertisement or signs for their cheesesteak and just by looking at this place from the outside, you never would’ve guessed they served cheesesteaks. We hoped we were in the right place.

Upon walking in, it was a cozy bar with some friendly people. You can either grab a seat at the bar or at one of the dining tables for table service. Their little menu posted on the napkin dispenser mainly consists of pub food with the addition of a cheesesteak.

We ordered two cheesesteaks – one with American white cheddar and the other with cheez whiz (no provolone option). The cheesesteak came on an untraditional round poppy seed bun with a hefty amount of meat (I think the waitress said half a pound), and when we said ‘extra onions’, they REALLY piled on a side of caramelized onions which I’m so glad we did because it was the highlight. The sandwich was seriously SO GOOD. The bun was a bit soft for my liking, but the overall sandwich was incredible that I didn’t care. The onions were what made it for me. It had a robust rich flavour and held more moisture, not like your typical caramelized onions. My best guess is that they either cook it down with beef fat or beef stock for that flavour and moisture. I tried to ask the guy how they make their onions, but all he said was “seasoning” which seemed to be a secret. Maybe it’s beef bouillon powder 🤔.

They also had Birch beer – similar to root beer but made with birch sap and bark. A little lighter and less sweet than root beer which I appreciated.

Less traditional, but a good contender for top fave! It’s definitely worth making a trip over the bridge for this cheesesteak!

Update April 20th, 2025: I’ve recently learned that Donkey’s Place was Anthony Bourdain’s top cheesesteak pick!

#5: Miller’s Twist – a pretzel cheesesteak

Address: 51 N 12th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 (located in Reading Terminal Market)
Website: https://www.millerstwist.com/
Hours: Mon-Wed 8am-3:30pm, Thurs-Sat 8am-5pm, closed Sundays (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak with onions: $7.50 (before tax)

Pros:

Unique little snack-sized cheesesteak in a pretzel dough
Takes both cash and card

Cons:

Located inside Reading Market – paid street or garage parking only
Closes earlier than regular cheesesteak shops
Sells out depending on popularity

This place didn’t show up on my cheesesteak research, but it did come up during my Reading Terminal Market must-try places to eat. I’ve got a serious weakness for soft pretzels, so of course when I saw that they had a Cheese whiz and onion cheesesteak pretzel, I just had to have it. Although small, it packs a lot of flavour. It’s essentially Cheez Whiz, onions, and steak wrapped up and baked inside a soft buttery pretzel dough. It was honestly SO GOOD. Toby said it was his favourite cheesesteak that day! This place also makes pretty great regular pretzels as well – they’re soft, buttery, and everything right.

#6: Angelo’s Pizzeria

Address: 736 S 9th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Website: https://www.angelospizzeriasouthphiladelphia.com/
Hours: Wed – Sun 11am-7pm, closed Mon & Tues (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak with onions: $16.04 for a cheesesteak (before tax, cash only, not sure if they charged for extra onions)

Pros:

Hefty sandwich
Nice sesame bun, baked fresh daily

Cons:

Cash only (unsure if there’s an ATM on site)
Long lines all the time, they can run out of bread during the day so come early
Long waiting time – it took an hour from ordering to pick up
No seating available
Average cheesesteak filling

Okay, unpopular opinion here, but I think Angelo’s cheesesteak is just okay. 🫣

Angelo’s Pizzeria opened in their current location in 2019. They’re known for their pizza, hoagies, and the cooper sharp cheesesteak. They are praised for their unique fresh-baked sesame bun that is used in their cheesesteaks and hoagies. They often run out of bread during the day and stop serving cheesesteaks altogether, so if you want to try Angelo’s, get there early! Angelo’s reached superstar status when Dave Portnoy (the one-bite pizza review guy and founder of Barstool Sports) gave them a glowing review on their pizza in 2019, calling it “the best pizza in Philly”. Since then they’ve had a line-up out the door from opening to close! They take phone orders, but that’s only if you can get through. Apart from their pizza, their cooper sharp cheesesteak is also highly recommended by so many people. In 2024, Bradley Cooper, a Philadelphia native, teamed up with the owner of Angelo’s, Danny DiGiampietro, and opened up a cheesesteak shop in NYC called ‘Danny and Coop’s Cheesesteaks’, bringing over that famous sesame bun (which we’ve yet to visit – I’m waiting for the lines to die down).

From all this hype and publicity around them, I was super excited to try Angelo’s. It took a while for us to make it here since they’re always closed Mondays and Tuesdays which are the only two days off we get off from work. We arrived here just before 4pm on a Saturday and there was already at least 20 people in front of us waiting to order. This is a takeaway shop only, which means there’s no seating anywhere. There is a park across the street with limited benches, but many people were sitting on a stoop, curb, or just standing to eat. Luckily we found a parking spot directly in front of the shop so we just ate in the car.

It was a 12 minute wait for us to get to the front of the line to put in our order (cash only, pay on pick up), and it was another 40 minutes until they texted us to pick up our order. This was definitely the longest we’ve ever waited for a cheesesteak! Good thing we weren’t starving. We went for a walk on the popular South Street until they texted us to let us know our order was ready – even then, it was another 8 minute wait in the food pick-up line.

Since it took us so long to finally get here and with such a long wait, we ordered 3 sandwiches to try it all: two cheesesteaks – my classic Cheez Whiz, but since people rave so much about the Cooper Sharp, we got that one too, and also an Italian hoagie since Toby was a little sick of cheesesteaks at this point (not me, I could eat it until my dying day!). Sadly, the cheesesteaks were not worth the hype in my opinion. Although the sesame bun was good and super jam packed with sesame seeds, it wasn’t life-changing (I actually prefer the bun at Del Rossi’s better, Toby disagrees). The meat was average – not dry but not overly juicy, there wasn’t enough cheez whiz, and even though I asked for extra onions, it wasn’t enough. The onions were also kinda bland and tasted steamed rather than fried or caramelized. It was a pretty hefty sandwich though. The hoagie was also okay. Overall it wasn’t a bad cheesesteak. I’d say it was average but their sesame bread brings them up a couple points. It definitely wasn’t worth the hour-long process from ordering to pick-up. Maybe their pizzas are more worthwhile 🤷🏻‍♀️.

#7: John’s Roast Pork

Address: 14 E Snyder Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19148
Website: http://www.johnsroastpork.com/
Hours: Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, closed Sun & Mon (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak with onions: $15-16 (I can’t remember exactly, prices weren’t posted, but we paid $18 with a soda)

Pros:

Hefty sandwich – lots of meat
Indoor and outdoor seating available
Takes both cash and card

Cons:

No cheez whiz or cooper sharp, only provolone or american cheese
Out of the way location in an industrial area with warehouses and strip clubs around

John’s Roast Pork is another popular local spot for cheesesteaks. They won a James Beard Award for their roast pork sandwich in 2006. It’s an unassuming shop located in the middle of nowhere amongst industrial buildings and strip clubs, but despite its location and it being the middle of winter, it was still pretty busy when we arrived. There was only window service with some indoor and outdoor seating available. They call their cheesesteaks “ultimate cheesesteaks” with 12oz of meat in each sandwich (I’m not sure how much meat they normally put on a cheesesteak, but it did feel more hefty compared to the others). Disappointingly they only offer sharp provolone cheese or American cheese. No whiz or cooper sharp. 💔

Overall I thought their cheesesteak was just okay – perhaps it was the lack of Cheez Whiz or perhaps we were following it straight after Del Rossi’s cheesesteak which is tough to beat. I thought the meat was decent but the sandwich wasn’t very cheese-forward in flavour probably because the provolone gets goopy when melted rather than the melty oozy cheese from Whiz or Cooper Sharp – I just don’t think I’m a provolone fan. It’s not a bad sandwich, but I thought it was just average. Toby liked it more than I did.

#8: Joe’s Steaks + Soda Shop

Address: 1 W Girard Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19125
Website: https://www.joessteaks.com/
Hours: 11am-9pm most days, until 1am on Fri & Sat (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak with onions: Small $8.50 / Large $13.89 (before tax) (I can’t remember if they charged extra for onions)

Pros:

Offers both small and large cheesesteak sizes
Fantastic milkshakes
Table service
Good ambience, plenty of seating
Takes both cash and card

Cons:

Good average cheesesteak, wasn’t overly excited by it, not bad but not great
Farther out away from the city
Can be difficult to find street parking

Interestingly, I didn’t hear about this place from any internet reviews or recommendations. We collect souvenir magnets for all the places we visit and on our first trip to Philly, we came across a cool Philadelphia magnet at the Christmas market at JFK Plaza. At the time I hadn’t even had an official cheesesteak yet, but here in the middle of the magnet was “Joe’s Steaks”. A quick Google search revealed Joe’s to be a locally loved and OG cheesesteak joint that’s been open for more than 70 years, so of course I had to add it to my list of cheesesteaks to try.

Opened since 1949! Originally called ‘Chink’s Steaks’ due to the non-asian owner’s nickname for having “almond eyes”, the current owner took over in 1999 and after much debate, he renamed it ‘Joe’s Steaks’ in 2013 to get with the times and drop the racial slur. Keeping the same recipe over 70 years, this place has been a local staple.

This shop is located in the Northern suburbs in Fishtown. We thought it’d be in a random quiet location like many other cheesesteak shops away from the city, but it was actually right smack in the corner of a pretty busy street with plenty of cool shops and restaurants. We actually struggled to find parking and had to park a bit farther away. Joe’s is in the theme of a vintage diner with retro colours and booths. It’s table service or take away and there are plenty of cheesesteak, hotdogs, and burgers on the menu. This was the first cheesesteak place in Philadelphia that we saw offer a smaller or large size, which was nice considered we weren’t that hungry.

The cheesesteak came out quickly and overall was good, but not spectacular. The meat, cheese, bread, onions were all good – cooked well, decent flavours, but nothing to write home about. The real star of the show was the milkshakes. Toby was OBSESSED with the cookies and cream malted milk shake. Overall, the servers were lovely and the ambience was great, but I probably wouldn’t make an extra trip just for Joe’s (I’m sure Toby would say otherwise just for their milkshakes 😅).

#9: Sonny’s Famous Steaks

Address: 228 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Website: https://sonnyscheesesteaks.com/
Hours: 11am-10pm daily (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak with onions: $13.77 (before tax)

Pros:

Great location for tourists, right in old town across the street from many sites
Good amount of cheese
Nice flavour on the steak with a slight char

Cons:

Good average cheesesteak, wasn’t overly excited by it, not bad but not great

Sonny’s is located on Market Street, which is conveniently close to old down and just down the block from the Benjamin Franklin Museum. GQ magazine named it their top pick for Philly Cheesesteaks, however looking at the 10 places they tried, neither Del Rossi’s nor Jim’s was on their list, so did they really sample the best? 😜

We came on a Tuesday afternoon and there was no line. We ordered our usual whiz wit. The bread was average, the steak was cooked well with a nice char (not the juiciest, but still good), and the cheez whiz shone through the layers. Overall it’s a good sandwich with a great location, but there’s better out there. If you’re a visiting tourist without much time to travel further, then Sonny’s is a good choice for a cheesesteak and within walking distance to the heart of Phildaelphia Old Town tourism.

#10: Woodrow’s Sandwich Shop

Address: 630 South St, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Website: http://www.woodrowsandwich.com/
Hours: 11am-8pm daily (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak with onions: $15 (online QR code ordering already – careful it automatically adds 20% tip even if takeaway)

Pros:

Good location on the popular South Street
Unique truffle cheese with good truffle flavour

Cons:

Grainy texture of the truffle cheese
Only truffle cheese option – soz if you don’t like truffle
Steak was a little dry
QR code ordering only even if no one else is there and the staff are not doing anything
20% tip default added on unless you change it

I’ve seen Woodrow’s occasionally mentioned here and there but not consistent enough to make it on the top 10 list, however I just HAD to try it when I heard that they have a truffle cheesesteak. I’m OBSESSED with truffle and I can never pass up anything truffle-related on a menu, so when you mention truffle and cheesesteak together, I’m there.

Located on South Street near Jim’s Steaks, we came on a Tuesday afternoon in April and there was no one else there at the time. Annoyingly, they only do QR code ordering. All 3 staff members there were standing around waiting for me to process my order before anything was started. Had I known, I would’ve just done this from my car instead of 3 people silently and awkwardly waiting for me. Be careful when checking out. My $15 sandwich suddenly jumped up to $19 as the total and I realized that they default add a 20% tip – I nearly missed it in my rush of checking out quickly. Even if you’re ordering for takeaway, 20% is added on (which is crazy because there’s literally zero service – they won’t even take your order at the counter 😂).

Ordering complaints aside, I was still excited to try my truffle cheesesteak. Interestingly they ONLY have a truffle cheese option, no regular cheese. The sandwich didn’t take long to make and we ate it in our car to save money on street parking, lol. Overall it was a tasty sandwich and the truffle flavour definitely comes through, BUT the cheese itself was grainy. They pride themselves on making their own truffle cheese in house and not from a can which I do commend and the flavour of the truffle cheese was actually quite nice, but the graininess was very distracting and kind of ruined it for me. It was kind of like the graininess you’d get from melting pre-shredded cheese that have added caking agents instead of using blocks of fresh cheese (pro-tip: you should never make mac & cheese with pre-shredded cheese for this exact reason). Apart from the grainy cheese, the meat was also a little dry. The bread and onions were average.

#11: Campo’s Philly Cheesesteaks

Address: 214 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Website: https://camposdeli.com/
Hours: 9am-10pm daily (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak with onions: $14.85 (before tax, extra surcharge with card payment)

Pros:

Great location right near old town and all the touristy things

Cons:

Short and blunt counter service
Surcharge on credit card
Lack of cheese flavour – I can see it, but couldn’t really taste it
Average steak, cheese, and onions

Also located on Market Street just a few doors down from Sonny’s Famous Steaks, we visited on a Tuesday afternoon in April. There was no one else there at the time so our sandwich was made relatively quickly. The counter service was short and blunt and there was a surcharge if you’re paying with card.

I really wanted to like this place due to its great location next to old down, but unfortunately the sandwich let me down. We ordered our usual Whiz Wit. The bread was average, the onions were soft without much flavour, the beef was cooked well and juicy however there wasn’t much char or flavour on it, but the biggest disappointment was the lack of cheese flavour. I couldn’t taste it at all and actually thought maybe they forgot to put in the cheez whiz and was about to go back to the counter to check before Toby pointed out the opaque colour within the sandwich. Cheez Whiz has quite a strong flavour that’s hard to miss – perhaps they have a watered down version or a different brand or maybe they’re just skimping, but I couldn’t taste it at all and a cheesesteak is supposed to be cheese-forward in flavour – it’s in the name! If you’re looking for a convenient cheesesteak on Market Street, go to Sonny’s instead.

Pat’s and Geno’s – #12 & 13

Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s Steaks are two cheesesteak shops located across the street from each other at the south end of 9th Street in South Philly. Due to their location and how often they’re mentioned together, I’ve grouped them together here and compared them side by side. They both have impressive shop fronts with neon lights on the outside that make you think you’re in Vegas. When you research “Philly cheesesteaks”, undoubtedly these two shops will pop up again and again in travel guides, probably due to their close vicinity to the popular nearby Italian Market along 9th Street, but be warned, even though they both have 4+ stars on Google reviews with an impressive 10K+ reviews, they have a reputation of being tourist traps. I decided to try them both out to judge for myself – after all, a guide to Philly cheesesteaks wouldn’t be complete without at least mentioning these two places due to their popularity!

Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s Steaks in the background

Both shops have outdoor only seating with speedy window service and both are open 24 hours. In order to fit this into our packed Philly day, we ended up coming here at 8am. Although it wasn’t busy, we were surprised how many other people also got cheesesteaks for breakfast.

#12: Pat’s King of Steaks

Address: 1237 E Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Website: http://www.patskingofsteaks.com/
Hours: 24 hours (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak: $14.81 (before tax)

Pros:

Quick service
Lots of covered outdoor seating (no indoor seating)

Cons:

Slightly stale, tough, chewy bread

First up was Pat’s. The sandwich was made quickly and served hot. The flavours were actually decent and the meat was juicy and not overcooked. The big let down was the bread. It was a bit tough and chewy, almost a little stale. Overall it’s not bad a bad sandwich if you wanted a middle of the night cheesesteak, but if you’re looking for the best of Philly, this unfortunately doesn’t cut it. Next is Geno’s.

#13: Geno’s Steaks

Address: 1219 S 9th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Website: https://www.genosteaks.com/
Hours: 24 hours (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak with onions: $13.89 (before tax) – cash only

Pros:

Quick service
Lots of covered outdoor seating

Cons:

Cash only
Meat very overcooked, dry, and tough

Geno’s is just across the street from Pat’s, also covered in neon lighting. It was a similar set up with window service and outdoor seating. The cheesesteak here is $1 less than at Pat’s, but they take cash only. Our sandwich was again made in record time, but sadly we did not like Geno’s at all. The meat was sliced thicker and was overcooked, making it dry and tough. The onions were not cooked enough for my taste with barely any browning. It was overall very disappointing and not worth the calories, making Geno’s last on my cheesesteak list.

Cheesesteak Spots on our list to try for our next Philly trip:

Shay’s Steaks
Cafe Carmela
Stella’s

I hope you enjoyed my rambling on cheesesteaks across Philly. Keep checking back for updates and let me know in the comments if there’s a cheesesteak spot you think we should try!

A note on Fedoroff’s Roast Pork (Williamsburg, NYC)

Address: 178 N 10th St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Website: www.fedoroffs.com
Hours: Mon-Sun 10am-10:30pm (check the website for updated hours)
Cheesesteak with onions: $18.95 medium 6″; $21.95 large 8″ (before tax)

Although Philadelphia is only less than 2 hours away from NYC, I scoured online reviews to find a local fix between our trips and found Fedoroff’s Roast Pork in Williamsburg, NYC. Since this is a cheesesteak post, I figured that I should include it if not for other New Yorkers, but maybe more for myself to rant into the void of the internet. This is hands down THE unanimous go-to spot for cheesesteaks in NYC…according to everyone else.

I came with an open-mind, making the trek from Park Slope to Williamsburg (which is no easy feat considering how congested the BQE always is or how long the subway ride takes). I was craving a cheesesteak and I was excited. On first impressions, it’s a small shop with really old signage that made it seem like this place has been here for a long time (odd choice since they only opened in 2016).

This place is incredibly expensive. Cheesesteaks usually come in one size and often a 12 inch roll for about $13-16. At Ferdoroff’s you have a choice of “medium” (which is 6 inches) for $18.95, or “large” (which is 8 inches) for $21.95. First of all, it baffles me why a sandwich shop would even bother carrying two different sizes of bread that is only 2 inches in difference 🤨. Second of all, I get that NYC is expensive, but $19 for a sandwich that’s literally half the size as a regular cheesesteak in Philly that’s made of sliced meat, cheez whiz, and onions is beyond me. What’s even more annoying is that they don’t even post the prices on their try-too-hard-to-look-vintage sign. I had to ask the cashier when we went to order. Luckily we went on a Tuesday where they happened to have a cheesesteak special for $12.95 for a medium 6″ sandwich. The server bro asked us if we wanted to upgrade to a large 8″ for $21.95…An extra $9 for 2 inches of sandwich? – I’m good.

Despite this, I still kept an open mind and ordered my medium 6″ cheesesteak. Maybe this sandwich will be so incredible that it’ll be worth the money – after all, it’s so highly reviewed.

It definitely wasn’t worth the wait or the money. It sounds stupid, but I have seriously never been more annoyed eating a sandwich than at Fedoroff’s 😂. Their bread is so thin and soft, that it might as well not have been there. The filling was average, nothing special, but the bread was constantly falling apart and getting mushy. I couldn’t even hold onto it properly. With every bite I was dropping more and more food from my hands and by the end I felt like a child with cheese sauce all over my hands and face. It was a huge mess. It was ridiculous.

I really struggle to see why people like Fedoroff’s. They boast themselves on being the only cheesesteak shop in NYC owned by South Philadelphia natives, yet their website says they pay tribute and get inspiration to the great cheesesteaks in Philly including Pat’s and Geno’s…🤨. I’d rank Fedoroff’s even below Geno’s. At least with Geno’s you know what you’re getting at a fair price. Fedoroff’s make it seem like they’re the only legit spot for cheesesteaks in NYC, but the combination of the high prices, poor product, try-too-hard-to-look-old, and suspicious history makes this place just feel scammy. Highly do not recommend. /rant

Looking For More Ultimate Food Guides? Check out these below!

Best Places for Crab Cakes in Maryland: A Complete Guide to Local Favourites

Unleash your inner seafood lover with Maryland’s iconic crab cakes! Follow this post for a review of the top local favourites in Maryland, from Pappa’s to Kocos!

September 6, 2025September 8, 2025

The Ultimate Guide to a Manhattan Chinatown Food Crawl – bring cash!

Manhattan Chinatown is full of amazing authentic Asian food but in a neighbourhood full of Chinese signage and shop keepers that barely speak English, it can be daunting to find the best food spots amongst the literal hundreds of restaurants in this neighbourhood. This food guide highlights some of my favourite places to eat in Chinatown…

September 2, 2025September 11, 2025

March 25, 2025September 8, 2025

Abby17 Comments

Discover Acadia National Park: Your Guide to Mount Desert Island

Date Published: Dec 2nd, 2024 | Last Updated: Dec 2nd, 2024
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: Oct 13-14th, 2024

START HERE: This post has everything you need to know about visiting Acadia’s Mount Desert Island.

Acadia National Park is the “Crown Jewel” of the North Atlantic Coast providing breathtaking coastal views, mountainous hikes, scenic drives, beaches, and a town with no shortage of restaurants. This national park is a must-do in Maine!

Park Info:

Location: Acadia National Park, Maine (Hulls Cove Visitor Center: 25 Visitor Center Road, Bar Harbor, ME 04609)
Park opening hours: Open 24 hours, year-round. There are road closures in the winter months (check the park website for updated info).
Park website: https://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm
Park fees: $35 per car (+$6 for Cadillac Mountain vehicle reservation) – https://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/fees.htm

An Overview

Acadia National Park is made up of 3 areas: Isle au haut, Mount Desert Island, and Schoodic Peninsula. Of these three, Mount Desert Island is the most popular with the most amount of things to do and has the the iconic scenery in this national park. During our trip, we didn’t have time to make it to Schoodic nor Isle au Haut, so I will focus on Mount Desert Island only for this post. We do have plans to visit again next year, so keep a look out for updates!

There is a lot to do here, so if you’re feeling overwhelmed, I’ve done a quick 2-day itinerary to see all the main highlights here.

Although an island, Mount Desert Island is accessible by car via Bar Harbor Road. The most popular things to do are on the East side of the island, including exploring Bar Harbor downtown, Sand Beach, hiking the Beehive Trail, Thunder Hole, Ocean Path, Jordan Pond, the ‘Bubbles’, and Cadillac Mountain. I’ve made a quick map of these places below to give you a rough idea of the proximity of the main attractions. I’ll go into each place in more detail further down in this post.

Map of Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park

When to travel:

The busy season is between Summer and Autumn. When I say busy, I mean BUSY. Plan wayyyy ahead and book your travel plans at least 3 months in advance if you can. I’d recommend visiting in Autumn for the beautiful orange and red colours of the fall foliage that adds to the already breath-taking landscape.

If you want to time your trip to synchronize with the change in fall colours, here’s a foliage tracker/estimator that can be helpful when planning: https://www.explorefall.com/states/maine. The leaves will usually start changing colours between the end of September to middle of October, depending on the temperature that year. We went in the middle of October this year and while it was perfect for Acadia, it was too early for upstate New York, and just a touch late for New Hampshire 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Check the park website before you go, as some roads are closed during the winter months and some trails are closed during Peregrine Falcon nesting season in the spring to late summer.

How Many Days Do I Need?

To hit the highlights of Acadia in a flash, you’ll need 2-3 days, but if you want to explore more and take it easy, then I’d recommend staying here a week. Toby and I had limited vacation days and wanted to hit up New Hampshire and Vermont during the fall foliage season as well so we did the Acadia highlights in 2 days. We originally planned for 2.5 days, but we hit some bad weather on our last day and and shortened our stay, skipping a couple attractions. 😦

Check the weather ahead of time since many of the popular hiking trails are weather-dependent, so give yourself an extra day or two for wiggle room incase you need to post-pone any activities like us. Check our 2-day itinerary here.

Where to Stay

There are a TON of accommodation options around Acadia National Park. You pass by motel after motel the closer you get to Acadia but with that being said, ALL OF IT WILL GET BOOKED UP EARLY. We’ve never encountered such a busy place in our travels before. A month before planning our trip, every single (affordable) accommodation option was booked up around the national park and we snagged the only affordable one remaining all the way in Surry, a 45 mins drive from the park. Although it meant that we had to wake up earlier than planned to get to where we wanted to go, we were just grateful to get a place at all! We travelled at peak season in middle of October, so if you’re planning to do the same, BOOK EARLY. I’ve included a map of available accommodation options from booking.com for the middle of October next year as reference.

The best place (although more expensive) to stay will be in Bar Harbor town, inside Acadia National Park. Although a small town, it’s got everything you need at your fingertips, including restaurants, shops, grocery stores, bars…etc. It’s also close to the major attractions in the national park as well. I’ve included a screen cap below of available options in Bar Harbor from booking.com for reference. The downtown area is very walkable, so choose to stay closer to Main Street if you want to be in the hustle and bustle. Read more about Bar Harbor below.

Accommodation options in Bar Harbor from booking.com

If you can’t manage to get a place in Bar Harbor (like us), don’t fret. Anything nearby will be fine. You can always drive to Bar Harbour town and spend an afternoon to walk around (it’s not a big town, you can get through it in a couple hours).

Getting Around Acadia – Driving vs the Bus

You can get around Mount Desert Island by either driving or taking the free Island Explorer Bus.

Driving:

We prefer the freedom of driving our own car, however there are downfalls. Since Acadia gets extremely busy, parking can be an absolute nightmare. If you are visiting popular hikes and trailheads, make sure you arrive early (ideally before 8am) to get a parking spot, otherwise prepare to circle the lots and the side roads again and again until one frees up. We had to do this when we visited Jordan Pond and when we did eventually find a parking spot it was a 30 minute walk away from the trailhead 😭. It was the worst parking experience we’ve ever encountered. When parking lots are full, the rangers will barricade the entrance so you can’t just go in and circle around until one frees up. Therefore, if you only want to drive, start early and also consider that it will limit the number of places you go in a day and you’ll have to factor in the extra time to find a parking spot – for example, we woke up super early and got a great parking spot at Sand Beach parking, however in the afternoon when we wanted to to the Jordan Pond hikes, it was near impossible to find a spot and driving around took up a chunk of our schedule.

Also keep in mind that there is limited cellphone reception, so if you rely heavily on Google maps, maybe have a paper map with you just in case.

Island Explorer Bus:

This is a free bus service that operates only from Summer to Fall and runs roughly every 30 minutes. It takes you to the most popular places and will stop at most parking lots. Their website here has more information regarding the bus routes: https://www.exploreacadia.com/routefinder.html. The benefit of taking the bus is that it is easy and you don’t have to worry about parking, however the downfall is that you’ll have to take your whole day of hiking essentials with you and make sure you have places where you can fill up your water bottle throughout the day. The bus is also only every 30 minutes, so you’ll have to factor that in as well when you’re planning your day.

What I recommend: a combination of both. Get up early and get parking at your desired lot. If you’re doing the Beehive Trail first thing (which I would recommend), park at the Sand Beach parking lot. If you’re doing the Jordan Pond trails first, then park at the lot there. When you’re ready to move on to the next location, just take the Island Explorer Bus instead of moving your car. It will save you the hassle of having to find parking for your next location. The bus will go to all the parking lots, so even if you can’t get a spot at your desired lot, just park at the next closest one and take the bus. There’s no cost for parking, so you can leave your car at the same place all day.

Park Pass

You will need to purchase a park pass to enter Acadia National Park. There’s no gated entry, but there are plenty of rangers around checking people’s cars for the pass. It’s $35 per car and must be displayed on your windshield. This park pass allows you to go anywhere within the park, however if you wish to drive up Cadillac Mountain (more on that below), you will have to purchase an additional timed vehicle reservation pass ($6 per car). The Cadillac Mountain sunrise tickets sell out quick so plan ahead of time!

The park pass and Cadillac Mountain vehicle pass can both be purchased online ahead of time on the government website: https://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/fees.htm. You can purchase the park pass in person at the visitor’s centre in town, but not the Cadillac Mountain pass. I’d highly recommend buying both online beforehand and have it printed and ready to go, so you have one less thing to worry about. In peak season, it can be incredibly busy and parking can be a huge hassle – don’t waste your trip waiting in line to look for parking just to buy a park pass!

Travel Tips

Start Early!

If there’s one piece of travel advice I can give you for visiting Acadia National Park, it’d be to start early! Ideally at sunrise. If you were looking for a relaxing getaway of sleeping in, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Because this place has so much to offer, it gets INCREDIBLY busy especially in the summer and fall season – I’m talking about having to park a half an hour away from your car busy – and everyone wants to hit up the same areas and the same iconic hikes. It gets so busy that not only will you struggle to find parking, but you’ll even have to wait in line to climb up mountains! It gets insane, trust me. Getting up early is the only way to ensure the best time away from the majority of the crowds and the frustrations of finding parking. You’ll appreciate the calmer and quieter surrounding in the early morning and take in nature without all the noise.

A benefit of starting early is that you get to see some wicked cool sunrises.

Limited Cellphone Service Everywhere

There is very limited cell reception in Acadia. You might get some pockets of good reception on top of mountains, but it’s spotty at best. There’s free wifi at Jordan Pond House and also decent wifi in Bar Harbor town, but apart from that be prepared for your service to jump in and out. I’d recommend picking up a map of the area or screenshot it on your phone before heading out and going on hikes just incase you lose reception and get lost.

Bring good hiking gear

There are plenty of rock-scrambling and cliff-side hikes to embark on in Acadia. If you plan on trekking through these popular hikes, a reliable pair of hiking shoes with good grip is a must! There’s also rock-climbing involved in some of the trails, so I’d also recommend a good pair of hiking pants that will hold up against abrasive surfaces. Hiking sticks can be useful, but depending on your hike, there are some trails that will require your hands to climb up and down rocks and hold on to iron rungs.

Print your park pass before you go

You need to display the Acadia park pass in your windshield when you park. Remember to have it printed and ready to go before you travel or hope that your hotel or accommodation will have a printer you can borrow.

Best Things to Do:

A summary of the best things to do:

Stroll along Ocean Path for coastal views
Check out the crashing waves at Thunder Hole 2 hours before high tide
Hike the Beehive Trail
Hike the Jordan trails, including the South Bubble Summit
Eat popovers at Jordan Pond House Restaurant
Watch the sunrise at Cadillac Mountain (make sure you reserve a vehicle spot ahead of time)
Explore the small town of Bar harbor

Sand Beach

This is the largest sandy beach in Mount Desert Island and unsurprisingly is a very popular spot in the summertime. This open beach is a lovely place to relax and enjoy the views and sounds of crashing waves or to rest your legs after a long hike. We came here during the fall so the weather was a bit chilly for swimming, but there were still plenty of families here with children playing in the sand.

To access Sand Beach, park at the Sand Beach parking lot and it’s only a few steps away.

Ocean Path

Distance: 6.6km (3.3km each way)
Duration: 1.5 hours out and back, not counting time for photos
Trail type: out & back
Start: Sand Beach parking lot

Ocean Path is a lovely walking path along the coast of Maine. The path is narrow and follows along Park Loop Road, but there are multiple small paths to diverge off in the trail to get closer to the views and rocky terrain, best for that perfect Acadia photo. This path is flat and easy to walk on, popular for runners, hikers, photographers, and bird-watchers.

Getting to the start of the trailhead from the parking lot

This out and back path starts at Sand Beach parking lot and continues for 3.3km, ending at Otter Point Overlook. Apart from enjoying the views along the way, there are 4 main stopovers on this path: 1) Thunder Hole, 2) Otter Cliff Overlook, 3) Boulder Beach and 4) Otter Point Overlook (marked on the map).

Ocean Path, 6.6km, roughly 1.5 hours to walk to entirety

You can choose to walk as much or as little of this path as you like. If you don’t feel like walking, you can drive down Park Loop Road and you’ll see turn offs for small parking lots at each of the stops (but I’d recommend walking to see the views along the way). Note: Park Loop Road is a one-way road to accommodate for road-side parking, so you can only travel from North to South by car.

Some photos along Ocean Path on our way to and back from Thunder Hole:

Small paths along the trail to get closer to the coast

We drove to Otter Cliff Overlook (which wasn’t really worth the stopover in my opinion) – Otter Point Overlook not pictured

Thunder Hole

Thunder Hole is the most popular stop-off on Ocean Path where you can watch waves crash into the rocks, creating a burst splash of water high into the air. You have to come 2 hours before high tide to experience this. We didn’t manage to get our timing right, but it’s still neat to stop over here anyway. It’s roughly a 20 minute walk to Thunder Hole from Sand Beach via Ocean Path with beautiful views along the way.

Beehive Trail

The Beehive Trail is one of Acadia National Park’s most popular hikes, offering breath-taking panoramic views. This hike has a reputation for being thrilling and difficult with iron rungs and vertical climbs but we personally didn’t find it bad at all, especially with good pacing. I recommend starting early, wearing good shoes, and dressing in layers. For safety, avoid this hike if it’s raining. Follow this in-depth guide about hiking the Beehive trail here.

Hiking Acadia’s Beehive Trail: A Complete Overview

The Beehive Trail in Acadia National Park is one of the most popular hiking trails known for its stunning panoramic views and challenging vertical climbs. This guide has all the information you need to tackle this trail.

by Abby November 3, 2024December 2, 2024

Jordan Pond Trails

There are numerous trails you can hike around the Jordan Pond, and many of them conveniently start at Jordan Pond House Restaurant. The 3 most popular hikes here are the Jordan Pond Path, Jordan Cliffs Trail, and Bubbles Trail. You can also combine all 3 hikes to get the best of all of them – which is what we did! Follow my complete guide to hiking these trails here.

Explore Acadia’s Jordan Pond: Most Popular Trails & Jordan Pond House Restaurant

Jordan Pond is one of the most popular places to visit in Acadia National Park due to its numerous trails, beautiful views, and the ever so popular ‘pop overs’ served at the Jordan Pond House Restaurant. This is a complete guide to the most popular trails with tips on dining at the restaurant.

by Abby November 12, 2024December 2, 2024

Jordan Pond House Restaurant

Outside of Bar Harbor, there is a very limited selection of restaurants on Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park. Jordan Pond House Restaurant is the most popular choice not only because of their good food, but also because of its convenient location where many trailheads are located. The back patio of this restaurant also offers views of Jordan Pond and the North and South “bubbles”.

They’re known for their popovers here, which is kind of like a hollow muffin made with a thin batter, served with butter and their local-made jam. It was okay, but for me the star of the meal was their meatloaf sandwich! Find out more about this restaurant here.

Cadillac Mountain at Sunrise

Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the eastern seaboard and is famously known to be the best (and first) place to watch the sunrise in Acadia. You can get to the summit by either hiking or driving, but generally driving is the preferred option so you’re not hiking in the dark to get up the mountain by sunrise.

Due to its popularity, Cadillac Mountain is the only place in Acadia National Park where you need a vehicle reservation to drive to the top. You must pre-purchase your reservation ahead of time online on the government website: https://www.recreation.gov/timed-entry/400000. This ticket is in addition to the park pass – you must have both to drive up the mountain. You cannot buy these tickets in person unlike the park pass. 30% of the tickets are released 90 days in advance and the remaining 70% are released 2 days prior at 10am EST.

The government reservation website screenshot of the two ticket type reservations.

Tips to securing a ticket: When you get to the government website, there are 2 types of tickets to choose from: sunrise and day tickets. Not surprisingly, the sunrise tickets are the most highly sought after. Set your timer and get multiple people on multiple devices because as soon as it hits 10am (eastern time – make sure you’re in the right time zone), you must click immediately for your best chances. I tried this on two occasions and swore I clicked exactly on time and the tickets were already sold out within a SECOND. It was insane. Once you’re in, the system reserves the ticket for you for 15 minutes until you check out. Pro-tip: If you didn’t secure a ticket at 10am, keep refreshing and wait until 10:15am to see if tickets become available. All the people that didn’t check out their tickets within the 15 mins have their tickets timed out and gets put up for sale again. This was actually how I managed to snag our tickets 🤫. Once you check out, you’ll get sent a QR code that they will scan at the gate on the day.

The sunrise tickets are timed to enter between 5:30am – 7:30am, there’s no time limit on how long you can stay up there. It is recommended to arrive 1 hour prior to sunrise. It takes about 20 minutes to drive to the top and only a few minutes from the car park to walk to the views.

Map of Cadillac Mountain summit – smaller West lot on the left and East lot on the right

Sadly for us, we did everything right, but the weather was not in our favour. We woke up super early and got to the gate entry at 6:20am, about 20 mins before sunrise (a bit late). We knew visibility was going to be poor, but we had hopes of a small break in the clouds for the views so we drove up anyway – after all, we were already there and the $6 was spent. They scanned our QR code at the gate and it only took us 15 minutes to drive to the top (although I’ve heard it can take up to 30 mins due to slower people unfamiliar with driving up mountain roads and it’s single file all the way up). Once we got to the top, there are 2 parking lots. You’ll pass the smaller West lot first which is farther away (seems like the overflow lot), then you’ll reach the East lot, which is a semi-circle and is directly in front of the trail. You want to park in the East lot. When we visited, the weather was so bad that you could barely see 10 feet in front of you so we just got out to have a quick peak, then got back into our car and headed straight for a warm breakfast in Bar Harbor.

There’s a short and easy 500m trail around the Cadillac Summit that was supposed to be nice to see. I guess we’ll have to try again next time. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Bar Harbor

Bar Harbor is the only major town in Acadia National Park. Here you’ll find lots of cute shops, souvenirs, restaurants, hiking gear, and even a big grocery store for all your food needs. There are also tons of accommodation options in this small town that get booked out way in advance during the busy season.

You don’t need to spend a ton of time in Bar Harbor, an afternoon is enough to explore this small town. It only takes about 15 minutes to walk from one end to the other. Main Street is the street with the most shops. There are TONS of seafood restaurants around here and of course, lobster rolls – when in Maine!

Take a stroll down The Shore Path that starts at the North end of town from Agamont Park. From here, you can see a ton of lobster boats anchored in the water (we counted at least 26). Continue walking on the path that wraps around Bar Harbour Inn, a big beautiful inn with spa amenities (looked expensive). The path can go for a while but we stopped wen we reached the small beach at Balance Rock and took a right to head back onto the Main Street, weaving through the beautiful old houses in the quiet neighbourhood.

If you need to stock up on supplies, there is a large corporate grocery store that sits at the edge of town called Hannafords.

We had breakfast at a highly rated local diner called Jordans Restaurant (conveniently located next to Hannfords). They open at 5am, which was perfect for us after our big disappointment with the gloomy weather on Cadillac Mountain. When we arrived at 7am, the diner was already half full. By the time we left an hour later, there was a line up out the door! They have a decent sized menu, boasting their wild blueberry muffin and wild blueberry pancakes – we got both (and Toby added chocolate chips to the pancake). We also got the lobster roll, clam chowder, and lobster cheese omelette – if you haven’t noticed, we often order too much food because I want to try it all 😅. Overall it was an okay meal. I liked the home fries and the lobster roll was great (soft fluffy toasted buttered bun). The pancakes with the wild blueberry sauce was good but the lobster omelette and blueberry muffin was just okay. The staff was real friendly and the place had a great buzz about it.

If you’re looking for great coffee, there’s a cool local shop called Vacationland Coffee Roasters where they roast their own beans onsite and will package it fresh for you. What actually drew me here was the super cool logo with the lobster claw pinching a coffee bean. I bought a bag of beans just for the logo 😅.

Overwhelmed? I got you. Here’s an ideal travel itinerary to hit all the highlights in 2 days:

I’ve put together an ideal sample itinerary to hit the highlights of Acadia National Park from our experience (our real itinerary was a bit more messy):

Before you go:

Check the tide times for Thunder Hole and estimate to arrive at Thunder Hole 2 hours before high tide. Depending on when you go, you will have to adjust your itinerary to either do Thunder Hole before or after the other activities to get there at the right time. There is a parking lot at Thunder Hole that gets pretty busy so plan accordingly. You can also walk from Sand Beach parking lot via Ocean Path – takes about 20 minutes. You really only need 10 mins at Thunder Hole to watch the waves crash.
Make a lunch reservation at Jordan Pond House, timing will depend on where you are able to fit Thunder Hole in.
*Book your Cadillac Mountain vehicle pass 2 days in advance.

Day 1: Beehive Trail, Ocean Path, Thunder Hole, Jordan Pond Trails

7am (or earlier): Get to Sand Beach parking lot by 7am to secure a parking spot.
7am – 9am: Hike the Beehive Trail when the sun rises to avoid the crowds. This hike takes roughly 1.5-2 hours, depending on your pace and crowds.
9am-10:30am: Finish the Beehive Trail and head towards Sand Beach to take in the views of the ocean, then walk the Ocean Path (conveniently also starts from the Sand Beach parking lot). Ocean path does link up to Thunder Hole, so if the timing is right you can head there after hiking the Beehive Trail.
11am – Noon: Arrive at Jordan Pond House for your lunch reservation, or if you didn’t secure a reservation, get there before 11am and line up to get seated. If you were able to make a late booking, you’ll have more freedom in your time.
12-4pm: Hike the Jordan Pond Trails (takes about 3-4 hours, be mindful of the time of sunset that day).
4pm onwards: The loop finishes back at the restaurant. Depending on how tired you are, you can have dinner here or head to Bar Harbor for more restaurant options. Have an early rest and wake up early the next day.
Note: you can also flip the hikes around and do Jordan Pond Trails first, then lunch at Jordan Pond House and Beehive Trail last, however the Beehive Trail is one of the busiest trails and it will get PACKED in the afternoon, whereas the Jordan Pond Trails are not as busy.

Day 2:

5:30-7:30am: Arrive at the Cadillac Mountain summit before sunrise (make sure you have a vehicle reservation pass).
7:30a – 9am: Enjoy the sunrise views and walk around the Summit Loop.
9am – 10am: Breakfast in town at Bar Harbor – we went to Jordan’s Restaurant. Quick service, decent food, nice people.
10am onwards: Spend the rest of the day exploring Bar Harbour
- Browse the shops
- Walk across the foot bridge to Bar Island at low tide to get some views of Bar Harbor from a distance (make sure you come back before the water level rises again!)
- Book a lobster boat tour with LuLu Lobster Boat Tour (tour times are usually 9am, 11:30am, 2:30pm) – https://lululobsterboat.com/
- Have lunch or dinner in one of the many restaurants in town
Sunset at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse
- This is optional and a VERY busy place at sunset. We did not end up doing this due to timing and weather, but other visitors have recommended coming 3 hours before sunset just to get a parking spot due to the very small lot that’s there. It’s roughly a 30 minute drive from Bar Harbor.

Less popular places that came up in my research for this trip but we didn’t get to go due time constraints, so I’ll make a list here for reference on our next trip to Acadia. You’d need at least another day to fit the rest of this into the itinerary:

Beech Cliff Ladder Trail – we didn’t get to go due to weather, but this hike (strenuous, roughly 2 hours) provides beautiful views over Echo Lake. It’s not as exhilarating as the Beehive Trail or Precipice Trail but there are still iron rings, ladders, and cliff-side walks. Park at the Echo Lake Beach Entrance for the trailhead.
Precipice Trail – I didn’t put this in my original itinerary because of the multiple warnings and thrilling things about this hike, but after doing the Beehive Trail which was also meant to be scary but wasn’t bad at all, I think we’ll give this hike a go next time. It’s the most dangerous hike in Acadia and will take you anywhere between 1-3 hours. Arrive early for a parking spot (what else is new?).
Walk across the foot bridge to Bar Island at low tide from Bar Harbor to get views of Bar Harbor.
Drive around to the other little towns (ie. Southwest Harbor and Northeast Harbor)
Watch the sunset at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse
Visit Echo Lake
Visit the other two Acadia regions: Schoodic Point and a day in Isle au Haut
LuLu Lobster Boat Tour (9am, 11:30am, 2:30pm) – https://lululobsterboat.com/

Need more travel recommendations for Maine? Check out these other places!

Discover Acadia National Park: Your Guide to Mount Desert Island

December 2, 2024April 22, 2025

Exploring Cape Elizabeth: Iconic Lighthouses and Lobster Rolls

Cape Elizabeth, Maine, is a serene coastal town featuring iconic lighthouses, including the famous Portland Head Light and the nearby smaller Bug Light. Visitors can explore both lighthouses and enjoy renowned lobster rolls at local spots like Bite Into Maine and the Lobster Shack at Two Lights, all in half a day.

October 29, 2024April 22, 2025

Top Things to Do in Portland, Maine: Eat, Shop, Explore

Portland, Maine, is a charming coastal city known for its vibrant shops and seafood, particularly lobster rolls. Visitors can enjoy its historic streets, numerous dining options, and attractions, including the iconic Portland Head Light. A few hours is sufficient for a quick visit, but extending to a few days allows for deeper exploration.

October 22, 2024April 22, 2025

Mount Battie and Megunticook: Your Camden Hiking Guide

Camden Hills State Park sits just outside the small coastal town of Camden, Maine. This park has a number of hiking trails with the most popular ones being Mount Battie and Mount Megunticook. Both of these trails offer panoramic views of the ocean coast and sweeping colourful fall foliage trees below. If you’re driving through the…

October 21, 2024April 22, 2025

Maine Lobster Festival & Rockland, ME

We travelled to Maine in August to attend the annual Maine Lobster Festival. Here are some honest thoughts on our trip.

October 7, 2024April 22, 2025

December 2, 2024April 22, 2025

AbbyLeave a comment

Explore Acadia’s Jordan Pond: Most Popular Trails & Jordan Pond House Restaurant

Date Published: Nov 12th, 2024 | Last Updated: Nov 12th, 2024
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: October 13th, 2024

If you haven’t checked it out yet, here’s a post of an overview of Acadia National Park if you need more info about where to stay, where to eat, getting around, and other travel recommendations.

Discover Acadia National Park: Your Guide to Mount Desert Island

Besides climbing the Beehive Trail, Jordan Pond is one of the most popular places to visit in Acadia National Park due to its numerous trails, beautiful views, and the ever so popular ‘pop overs’ served at the Jordan Pond House Restaurant. Jordan Pond is situated in the centre of Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park (see map below for reference).

It gets extremely busy here, so I’d recommend coming here super early to get a good parking spot near Jordan Pond House Restaurant, spend your morning hiking (keep scrolling for a list of suggested hikes), then finish your hike at Jordan Pond House Restaurant for some lunch (make sure you have a reservation, or arrive before they open – see more tips below).

Note: The cellphone service here is very spotty and limited. There is free wifi at Jordan Pond House if you need to last minute download maps or send a message before embarking on hikes in this area.

Map of Acadia’s Mount Desert Island and location of Jordan Pond

Where to Start?

Start at Jordan Pond House Restaurant (2928 Park Loop Rd, Seal Harbor, ME 04675). This is one of the very few restaurants in Mount Desert Island (apart from Bar Harbor) and is also the start to many trails. There is very limited parking here and once lots are full, park rangers will block it off so you can’t just sit and circle waiting for a spot to open up. Most people park along side Park Loop Road once the parking lots fill up.

If you don’t get here early enough, try to find parking at a lot farther away and take the free Island Explorer Bus to Jordan Pond House (runs every 30 minutes). We didn’t realize we could’ve taken the free bus and ended up walking an extra 30mins to our car after our 4 hour hike 😭 – learn from our mistake!

Hiking the Jordan Pond Trails

There are numerous trails you can hike around the Jordan Pond, and many of them conveniently start at Jordan Pond House Restaurant. I’ve highlighted the 3 most popular hikes in the map below (Jordan Pond Path, Jordan Cliffs Trail, and Bubbles Trail), but you can also combine all 3 hikes to get the best of all of them (highlighted further down in red) – which is what we did!

(South Bubble Loop doesn’t technically start at Jordan Pond, but many people will start at the restaurant and walk the Jordan Path then join up with the Bubbles Trail to go up the South Bubble).

Here’s a topographical map of the Jordan Pond area for reference:

Map from Acadia National Park: https://www.nps.gov/acad/planyourvisit/maps.htm

Jordan Pond Path (yellow)

Distance: 5.3km
Elevation: 19m
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated time: 1 hour
More info: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/maine/jordan-pond-path

This easy around-the-pond path is one of the most popular hikes in the Jordan Pond area. It takes roughly 1 hour to complete and the path is relatively flat and easy to walk on. You start at the Jordan Pond House Restaurant with iconic views of the Bubbles, then follow the trail around the water the entire way.

Jordan Cliffs Trail (green)

Distance: 4.8km
Elevation: 316m
Difficulty: Hard
More info: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/maine/jordan-cliffs-trail-to-penobscot-mountain

This is an exhilarating loop trail that takes you via the exposed cliffs along Jordan Pond for gorgeous views. It starts off at Jordan Pond House then through Amphitheatre Road where it joins the Jordan Cliffs Trail. Continue on the Jordan Cliffs Trail for the views, then turn left onto the Penobscot Trail to the Penobscot Mountain Summit, then back via the Penosbscot Mountain Trail to Jordan Pond House. This is considered a very difficult hike with rock scrambling and iron rungs. You can then loop back via the summit of Penobscot Mountain and the Penobscot Mountain Trail.

South Bubble Loop/Bubble Trail (blue)

Distance: 2.3km
Elevation: 150m
Difficulty: Moderate, steep
More info: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/maine/south-bubble-mountain-and-jordan-pond-loop

The South Bubble Summit is another place for iconic views of Jordan Pond. There’s also “Bubble Rock” here which is a large boulder that sits on the edge of the cliff, brought here by a glacier thousands of years ago. You can either reach the summit via the ‘Bubble Rock Parking Lot’ as pictured in the map above, or you can combine it with the Jordan Pond Path and make it an out-and-back hike to the summit then back down, skipping the rest of the Bubble Loop. The path up to the South Bubble summit is very steep with lots of rock scrambling, so be prepared with a good pair of hiking shoes!

If you’re short on time, this is the hike with the best views around Jordan Pond (in my opinion, anyway).

All 3 hikes combined: Jordan Cliffs Trail + Bubbles Trail + Jordan Pond Path

So many trails around Jordan Pond intersect each other so you can mix and match and make up your own trail as you like. The most popular mix of trails is the Jordan Cliffs + South Bubble + Jordan Path trail. You get the best elevated views of the Jordan Pond from the Jordan Cliffs Trail, with the iconic panoramic scenery of the Bubbles Trail/South Bubble Summit, and the serene easy flat water-side trail of the Jordan Pond Path. This combination of paths is the hike that we chose to do and is what I’ll focus on in detail for this post. 😊

Length: 7.2km
Elevation Gain: 358m
Trail type: Loop
Difficulty/Terrain: Moderate to Hard with exposed cliffs, iron rungs to climb, rock scrambling, and steep ascents
Estimated duration: 2.5 – 4 hours, depending on your level of fitness (we took 4 hours due to a road closure and also multiple stops for photos 🙃)
Starting point: Jordan Pond House Restaurant
Things to bring: water bottle, sunscreen & hat, good hiking shoes, tick/insect repellent depending on season, screenshot of the trail map
More Trail info: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/maine/jordan-cliffs-trail-to-bubbles-trail-to-jordan-pond-path

A Detailed Hiking Guide:

You’ll want to start this hike clockwise to make it easiest on yourself. Some of the rock scrambling on the Jordan Cliffs Trail can be a bit dangerous if you do it counter-clockwise.

Red is the combined path of all 3 trails. We had an unexpected road closure and had to do slight detour (outlined in pink dots)

A) Start at Jordan Pond House Restaurant. From the back of the restaurant, walk towards Jordan Pond and start by enjoying the calm of the Jordan Pond waters with views of the North & South Bubbles in the distance (aka the geological boobs – you were thinking it too).

Path from the back of the restaurant towards Jordan Pond

B) Continue briefly left onto Jordan Pond Path and walk over the mini bridge then make a right onto ‘Carriage Road’.

C) Carriage Road will then split – take the left uphill (Amphitheater East Carriage Road) and continue on.

D) You will eventually see a small sign that points to the start of Jordan Cliffs Trail on the right side (pay attention, the sign is small and easy to miss).

Follow the Jordan Cliffs Trails through the trees. The path will become more and more rocky until you eventually emerge from the trees and onto the cliff-side views of Jordan Pond.

Continue on the cliff-side trail with iron rungs and rock scrambling while enjoying the views for the next 2km. This was the most difficult part for us and involved getting on our hands in some parts to get down a large step or climb up a big boulder. It’s tiring, but take your breaks and drink plenty of water. We actually ran into a few people doing this trail backwards and while doable, many were struggling to get down the iron rungs. I wouldn’t recommend it. Also, keep your eyes peeled – some hikers reported seeing a porcupine in this section!

E) The path will eventually lead you back into the trees where the cliff-side views stop for now. You’ll see a sign – continue to follow the Jordan Cliffs trail downwards where you’ll meet up with Deer Brook Trail. This part is a sharp descent, so make sure you’re wearing shoes with good grip.

F) Turn right and continue downwards on Deer Brook Trail.

G) You’ll cross over ‘Carriage Road’ again briefly then continue the rocky scramble down where you’ll pass by Deer Brook Bridge, a cool double arch historic bridge built for carriages in 1925. Continue the rocky descent towards the beach at the North end of Jordan Pond.

H) Once you’re at the beach, take a breather and appreciate the flat easy-walking terrain along the beach.

Follow the beach and you’ll reach a sign on the left that points to the Bubbles Divide Trail where you’ll make your way up again. Note: this trail was under construction when we went, so we continued on the Jordan Pond Path along the water until we reached the Bubbles Trail, where we did an out-and-back to the South Bubble summit (our detour is shown in pink dots on the map).

The Bubbles Divide Trail was under construction at the time so we had to detour

We had an unexpected road closure and had to do slight detour (outlined in pink dots)

I) Turn right onto the Bubbles Trail towards South Bubble.

J) This where ‘Bubble Rock’ sits – the iconic glacial boulder that rests on the edge of the cliff.

K) Due to the road closure, we ascended the Bubbles Trail from this point. The climb up to the South Bubble summit was no easy feat. It’s a steep ascent with lots of rocks to climb and uneven footing, and it gets more difficult the closer you are to the top.

I’ll admit, our legs were getting pretty tired at this point that we almost didn’t want to climb back up a mountain that we just came down on, but I’m glad we pushed ourselves and did it. It was a tiring climb up boulders the whole way, with some tricky areas where long legs were helpful, but after all the climbing over scraggly rocks, the view at the top was 100% worth it. Second to the Beehive Trail, it’s another iconic picturesque view that everyone seeks. It was too bad that the clouds started rolling in so there wasn’t much sun when we got to the top, but it was still so beautiful that we spent some time just sitting and taking it in.

Pointing to Jordan House in the distance, where we started this hike!

Take a break here and enjoy the panoramic views and be in awe at how far Jordan Pond House is in the distance, where you started this journey.

Scramble back down the steep rocks on Bubbles Trail to Jordan Pond Path. For reference, it took us 1 hour to get up and down the Bubbles Trail from the Jordan Pond Path including resting and photo time at the top. So although it is a difficult climb, it’s not very long!

Scrambling back down the Bubbles Trail the same way we came up due to the detour

Continue following Jordan Pond Path and enjoy the flat even ground all the way back to Jordan Pond House (roughly another 30-40 minutes).

Overall it took us 4 hours to do the whole thing (including the detour from the road closure) at a slow-med pace and stopping for photos and taking intermittent rest breaks.

Jordan Pond House Restaurant – make reservations!

Address: 2928 Park Loop Rd, Seal Harbor, ME 04675
Website: www.jordanpondhouse.com
This restaurant has seasonal hours – refer to their website for updated information.

Outside of Bar Harbor, there is a very limited selection of restaurants on Mount Desert Island in Acadia National Park. Jordan Pond House Restaurant is the most popular choice not only because of their good food, but also because of its convenient location where many trailheads are located – most notably Jordan Pond Loop, South Bubble Trail, and Jordan Cliffs. The back patio of this restaurant also offers views of Jordan Pond and the North and South “bubbles”.

It gets EXTREMELY busy here and finding parking is no easy feat. Toby dropped me off while he went to look for parking and he had a LOT of trouble finding parking. Every single lot was full but luckily he eventually snagged a spot in a small lot…a 30 minutes walk away! It was INSANE. Next time, I’d recommend coming here super early and do some hikes, then make it back in time for lunch.

Note: there’s very limited cellphone reception in this whole area, but the restaurant does have free guest wifi so keep this in mind if you’re planning on communicating with each other when waiting for seating or coordinating with parking.

I would highly recommend making a reservation at Jordan Pond House as early as possible. Their reservation book is usually booked out a couple of MONTHS in advance. You may have some luck calling in person to check for cancellations, but their online reservations were completely full everyday. If you haven’t planned ahead, then I would recommend showing up a little before they open to try and get a spot. We didn’t have reservations and I arrived 3 mins before opening time and there were already at least 30 people standing in line! When 11am hit and the doors opened, the line started moving as they slowly filled up the large restaurant. I got to the front of the line 20 minutes later and they put me on the waiting list, where I only had to wait 10 minutes before I was seated. If you had a reservation, you could skip right to the front of the line where there was a separate check-in counter for reservations. When we finished eating, it was about 12:30pm and on our way out Toby had overheard that there was going to be a 1.5 hour wait to be seated!

The lobby of the restaurant. If you had a reservation, you could walk right up to the front.

For the only restaurant in the area, the food was actually surprisingly good! A little pricey, but hey, they’re the only place around.

They’re known for their popovers, which is kind of like a hollow muffin made with a thin batter, served with butter and their local-made jam. It was good, but not mind-blowing.

Their famous pop overs served with butter and local blueberry jam

We also had a meatloaf sandwich which was delicious and a $40 lobster roll (when in Maine…) which was average but they were VERY generous with the amount of lobster meat. I also couldn’t help but also order the lobster stew which was also pretty decent and Toby had a flourless chocolate cake for desert (which was average, but he liked it).

If you didn’t have a reservation and don’t have time to wait in line for walk-in seating, there’s an upstairs “grab and go” area for takeaway food. The menu here is a little more limited and I don’t believe you’ll be able to get popovers for takeaway, but there’s outdoor seating upstairs and also plenty of picnic tables on the grass to enjoy the view of Jordan Pond and the Bubbles without having to wait in line.

Back of the restaurant with a ‘Grab and Go’ upstairs

Some Final Thoughts:

Start your day early!
Finding parking is a bitch here – start early!
Make reservations ahead of time if you can, or show up before they open
Try the meatloaf sandwich – you won’t regret it.
Bring a pair of good hiking shoes for all the rock scrambling

November 12, 2024December 2, 2024

Abby1 Comment

Hiking Acadia’s Beehive Trail: A Complete Overview

Date Published: Nov 3rd, 2024 | Last Updated: Nov 3rd, 2024
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: Oct 13th, 2024

If you haven’t checked it out yet, here’s a post of an overview of Acadia National Park if you need more info about where to stay, where to eat, getting around, and other travel recommendations.

Discover Acadia National Park: Your Guide to Mount Desert Island

I highly recommend coming during peak autumn foliage season for the gorgeous colourful red and orange leaves.

Hike Stats:

Length: 2.4km
Elevation Gain: 155m
Trail type: loop
Difficulty/Terrain: difficult-ish with uphill climbs and rocky terrain
Estimated duration: 1-3 hours, depending on the number of people and waiting times (it took us 2 hours starting at 8:15am – 1 hour to get up and 1 hour down, including waiting in line)
Starting point: park at Sand Beach parking lot, then cross the road to the trailhead
Things to bring: water bottle, sunscreen & hat, good hiking shoes, snacks, dress in layers in case it gets cold as you wait
Driving option?: no
More Trail info: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/maine/the-beehive-loop-trail

Is it really that difficult to climb the Beehive Trail?

Not really!

I was a little nervous for the Beehive Trail because I kept reading about how hard it was and there was a lot of climbing. For a person that was not the most fit and with minimal upper body strength, I was anxious to get this hike over and done with. While doing the hike, I kept expecting it to get harder and harder, but it actually wasn’t bad at all. Yes, there are short bursts of vertical climbs and you’re exposed on the side of the cliffs, but there were enough handles to grab on to and good footing to stabilize yourself. It also helps that there was always someone to lend a hand hopping over the trickier bits or climbing up a big rock. At no point did we feel unsafe. We were also moving at a glacial pace near the top where the trickier parts are, so we barely broke a sweat getting to the summit.

If you have a mild fear of heights or if you’re generally a slow hiker, just take it slow and let people pass. The path eventually becomes single-file and the hike may naturally slow down or come to a standstill anyway if it’s busy, due to people taking their time crossing or climbing certain parts. We didn’t mind the slow ascent because the view along the way to the top is AMAZING and gave me ample time to snap (too many) photos. The view gets better the higher you go!

*If you are really terrified of heights, you can try to climb to the first view then decide if you want to turn around. The views at this spot is the same view as you would get at the top, but at a lower viewpoint (see the photos below). I’ve marked this spot on the map here –>

You can also take the Bowl Trail instead where the hike is covered amongst trees until you reach the very top (more on that below). As you can see on the map, it’s not far to backtrack if you decide to take the Bowl Trail instead.

Here’s a comparison of the view from the first view point vs the summit view:

View from the first lookout at the bottom

Map of the Trail/Trail Overview

A Brief Overview of the Trail:

A) The Beehive Loop trail starts just off of Park Loop Road (a 5 min walk from the parking lot).

B) The trail starts covered amongst trees and you’ll come to a fork in the road. The right is the Beehive Trail and the left is the Bowl Trail (circled in white and grey in the map above). Although technically a loop, the Beehive Trail is single-file going up the mountain due to the sheer amount of people and it also gets dangerous if you’re coming down the mountain on the side of a cliff. Therefore, if you want to take the easier Bowl Trail, you’ll have to do an out-and-back hike when you reach the summit.

⭐️ Green star on the map marks the point where you’ll see the first ocean views (more pictures below). The path gets more narrow here and will become single-file, so if you want to turn around, do it here.

C) After some vertical climbs and taking way too many photos on the way up, you’ll reach the Beehive Summit. Take a breather and soak in the views, take more photos, then start to make your way down the mountain.

D) You’ll reach another fork in the road. You can either continue on Beehive Trail to reach The Bowl, or take the shortcut and get back to the parking lot via the Bowl Trail.

Ready to hike? Let’s Go! – a more detailed guide to hiking the Beehive Trail with way too many photos

1. Park at Sands Beach – START EARLY!

If there is one crucial piece of advice I can give you to hike the beehive trail, is to start as early as possible to avoid the crowds and get a parking spot. The Beehive Trail is one of THE most popular trails in Acadia National Park due to its amazing views and adrenaline-pumping hike. As a result, it gets INCREDIBLY busy, especially in peak season (which is when we went).

The closest parking lot is at Sands Beach, which is only a short 5 minute walk to the start of the trail. There’s roughly enough spaces for about 100 cars, which sounds like a lot, but by the time we arrived at 7am, the lot was already 70% full. We started the hike at 8:15am (after visiting Thunder Hole) and by the time we finished around 10am, the parking lot was completely full and there was an incredibly long line of cars parked along Park Loop Road and many people were walking 20 mins+ from their car just to get to the start of the trail. There were also park rangers standing at the entrance to stop people from going in, so you can’t even circle the lot to wait for a spot to open up. Therefore, try to get to Sands Beach before 7am if you’re visiting in peak season like us and driving a car.

The parking lot by 8am with the Beehive Summit ahead

If you don’t get here early, be prepared to park far away or consider parking at a different parking lot along Park Loop Road and take the free Island Explorer Bus to Sands Beach parking lot. The bus will drop you off near the public restroom in the parking lot (see map above) and runs every 30 minutes.

Apart from trying to get a parking spot, you want to start the hike as early as possible to avoid the crowds and the line. If you do the trail clockwise via the Beehive Trail (which I recommend for the best views), it becomes single file up the rocks as you scale the mountain. Some people stop to take photos, others who aren’t as confident with climbing or have a fear of heights take it slow, and as a result, you could be looking at a long wait just to get up the mountain when it’s busy. We started the hike at 8:15am and two-thirds up the mountain, we already had to wait in line, taking a few steps at a time until we eventually reached the top (which although was annoying, wasn’t the worst in the world because you’re constantly exposed to the amazing views all the way up and gave me plenty of time to take photos). By the time we finished the hike a couple hours later, the line was much much longer and we were glad we started as early as we did. You can actually see the line from the parking lot. Therefore, I’d recommend starting the hike as soon as the sun comes up or be prepared to wait. Wear layers and pack a snack.

2. Cross the road to the start of the trail

Once you’ve parked at Sands Beach parking lot, make your way across the road to the start of the trail head (there is a public restroom at the parking lot if needed).

The path starts covered amongst trees and gradually increases in elevation with a rocky terrain – make sure you wear good hiking shoes for this hike.

3. Reach a crossroad and turn right to the Beehive Trail to do the trail clockwise

As you make your way to the base of the mountain, you’ll reach an intersection. When it gets busy, there’s a park ranger there that can provide more information. This is the split between the Beehive Trail and the Bowl Trail (see the map above to see the difference). Although more difficult, I would recommend continuing the hike via the Beehive Trail and doing this loop clockwise for the best views. The Beehive Trail is steep and will lead you to vertical climbs (that aren’t bad at all in my opinion) along the side of the mountain, but you’re faced with the beautiful views the entire time, constantly getting better the higher you climb. There are also rock ledges along the way for some great photo spots.

Park ranger at the crossroads helping people decide which way to go

If you choose to do the trail counterclockwise via the Bowl Trail, the trail is not as steep (although there are still large rocks to climb), but the majority of the trail will be covered amongst trees and you will only get the iconic views of Sands Beach and the surrounding views when you reach the top. This may be a better option if you have a fear of heights. Note: You will not be able to go down the Beehive Trail due to the sheer amount of single-file hikers trying to get up the mountain so prepare for an out-and-back hike once you reach the summit.

4. Continue the climb up, cross a metal grate, and climb iron rungs while enjoying the view

As we continued on, it becomes more steep with more boulders to climb over, and we mentally prepared ourselves for vertical climbs and clinging onto the side of the mountain. This was where the line started for us. It was moving along at a decent pace at first, but it got slower closer to the top. Yes this hike is steep and yes there are vertical climbs, however because we had to wait in line and only moving a few steps at a time and taking a few thrusts up big rocks at a time, this hike actually became a breeze. We barely even broke a sweat! There was always something to hold onto and there were flat parts to stand as you wait. You’re constantly exposed to the amazing views beside you and the waiting gives you more than enough time to get some nice photos on rocky ledges. We didn’t mind waiting at all. It was actually a more enjoyable and fun hike compared to constantly walking uphill.

Here are a bunch of photos of our ascent up the mountain (the view gets a bit repetitive, but when you’re there in person, it never gets old):

Our first views of Sand Beach inlet as we emerge from the trees and up the first set of rocks:

*This is the first view of the ocean that you’ll see after emerging from the trees. If you’re scared of heights, there’s still time to turn around at this point before it becomes too difficult to turn back. The views at the top is similar but at a higher vantage point (see the photos below).

As we continue to climb higher, the views open up a little more with fewer trees obstructing the view:

Then the path gets a little more tricky with metal gates and iron rungs. The photos make it seem scarier in photos than it actually was. At no point did I feel like I was going to fall off the side of the mountain or feel like I couldn’t make the climb up. This is where the line started for us as people take they time with the obstacles, but no matter, we’re still loving the views:

Our first metal grate. It did not feel dangerous at all.

Encountered the iron rungs, which were a lot easier than I expected. There’s never more than 3-4 at a time:

This is probably the most common photo I’ve seen that shows how close to the edge you are, however…

…when taken at a different angle you can see that you’ve got the tree beside you with branches so smooth where thousands have people have grabbed onto for support. It didn’t feel scary at all.

The smoothest tree branch from multiple people grabbing onto it over the years

Still slowly waiting in line to make our way up, but still enjoying the views every step of the way:

As we got closer to the top it became more steep:

5. Reach the summit and take in the views

The final push to the top was just climbing over rocks but the view at the top was absolutely worth it. I can see how it is one of the most popular hikes in this park!

Take a breather and soak in the view. It’s the same view as what you see on the way up, but higher and more grand with sweeping views of the forest and ocean around you.

Plenty of space at the top for a snack or a packed lunch

But the views don’t stop here. Continue following the blue trail markers to the other side of the mountain. Here you’ll see a sign that marks the actual summit of the mountain and you’ll get more ocean views with the small islands in the distance.

6. Make your way down the mountain

Continue following the blue markers to make your way down the mountain. You’ll get panoramic views of the beautiful trees below before you reach the trail path again.

As you make your way down, you’ll eventually be amongst trees again and climbing down big boulders, but then it gets easier as the ground plateaus and the path is much smoother.

7. Reach another crossroad: Continue on to The Bowl or take the shortcut

You’ll reach another intersection with trail signs that point to The Bowl. Continue on this path to reach views of The Bowl, or take the shortcut and continue the path back to the parking lot. We didn’t have time to make it to The Bowl so we took the shortcut back.

As you make your way back, you’ll eventually meet up with the original trail again and climb down the large rocks back to the parking lot.

By the time we met up with the starting trail, there were SO MANY more people and the line was MUCH longer. The ranger was telling people to do the loop backwards via the Bowl Trail avoid the line going up the Beehive Trail.

8. Get back to the parking lot and be glad you started early

By the time we got back to the parking lot, the lot was completely full with a very long line of cars parked along the road. You can see the top of the Beehive Trail from the parking lot with the many many single-file people slowly making their way up the mountain. Although we had to wait in line ourselves, we were SO happy that our line was no where as long as the one that was forming when we finished!

Some final thoughts

Get here early.
Get here early.
Get here early.
The views are amazing and worth the time and effort.
Wear good hiking shoes for good traction getting up rocks.
Consider skipping this hike if it’s raining.

When you get back to the parking lot, there are a few things you can do:

Check out Sand Beach, a short walk to this beautiful inlet beach
Walk Ocean Path – a flat easy path along the coast with beautiful views along the way
Thunder Hole – a 10-15 min walk along Ocean Path to this narrow inlet where rushing water creates loud thundering sounds and big high splashes of water into the air (come 1-2 hours prior to high tide for the experience)

November 3, 2024December 2, 2024

Abby4 Comments

Exploring Cape Elizabeth: Iconic Lighthouses and Lobster Rolls

Date Published: Oct 29th, 2024 | Last Updated: Oct 29th, 2024
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: Oct 12th, 2024

Cape Elizabeth is a quiet coastal town located just south of Portland, Maine. It’s home to a few lighthouses, including the most iconic and famous lighthouse in Maine: Portland Head Light. Between Portland and Cape Elizabeth sits Bug Light, a uniquely small lighthouse that’s also worthwhile a visit. But apart from lighthouses, there are a couple of popular places to get lobster rolls along the coast. I’d recommend spending half a day exploring both of these lighthouses and snacking on some lobster!

How much time will I need?

You can visit both lighthouses and lobster roll places in half a day. The lobster roll places don’t open until 10:30/11am, so if you’re coming from Portland, I’d recommend starting at Bug Light first then work your way down the coast. You only need 5-10 minutes at Bug Light since there’s not much else to do here other than snapping some photos of the lighthouse. From there, it’s a 15 minute drive to Fort Williams Park where the Bite Into Maine food truck is and Portland Head Light. Try to get to Bite Into Maine right as they open at 10:30am, before the lines start, then afterwards head over to Portland Head Light and check out the museum and do the Cliff Walk. Lastly, drive another 15 minutes south to Lobster Shack at Two Lights Park and enjoy a second lunch (or dinner, depending on how long you’ve taken at Fort Williams) to finish off the trip.

Portland Breakwater Light aka “Bug Light”

Located in South Portland, outside of Cape Elizabeth, “Bug Light” is a small lighthouse that sits within Bug Light Park. There’s not much else here other than the lighthouse but this uniquely small tower was worth a stopover. Parking here is free and is only a few minutes walk to the lighthouse. Like Portland Head Light, the lighthouse tower is only open once a year on Maine Open Lighthouse Day. You can see views of the Portland in the distance and there’s a Liberty Ship Memorial here as well, commemorating the 274 Liberty Ships that were built in South Portland during WWII that carried important supplies across the Atlantic. You can read more about its history here.

Path from the parking lot to the lighthouse

Portland Head Light – the iconic lighthouse

Located in Fort Williams Park, Cape Elizabeth, Portland Head Light is the oldest, most popular and iconic lighthouse of Maine. It’s the lighthouse you see in all the ads of Maine. This lighthouse was commissioned by George Washington in the 1770s to warn citizens of incoming British attacks.

Portland Head Light attracts a lot of visitors daily, but thankfully the Fort Williams grounds are large with multiple parking lots available (see map). Parking is $5 for 2 hours, paid through a machine. From the parking lot, it’s a short 2-3 minute walk to the lighthouse. You can also book a trolley tour from Portland to get here instead of driving yourself.

Short walk to the lighthouse from the parking lot

Here’s an overview map that shows where the parking lots are, the cliff walk (highlighted in orange), the view points, Portland Head Light, and the popular Bite Into Maine food truck.

Map edited from: https://www.mainetrailfinder.com/trails/trail/fort-williams-park-cliff-walk

When you reach the lighthouse, you’ll see that it’s made up of the lighthouse tower itself, the keeper’s house beside the tower, and another small building beside it that’s the gift shop. The lighthouse tower is only open one day a year, on Maine Open Lighthouse Day where lighthouse towers across the state are open to the public. More information here: https://lighthousefoundation.org/maine-open-lighthouse-day/. The keeper’s house is a museum with more information of this historic landmark. Entry into the museum is $2.

Just before you reach the lighthouse, you’ll see some signs that point towards a Cliff Walk where you can follow the coast and enjoy views of the lighthouse and the rocky coast from different view points (see map).

We only had time to do the start of the Cliff Walk to snap some photos of the lighthouse from the side.

As you can see from the map below, there are multiple walks you can around Fort Williams Park, but the most popular is the Cliff Walk.

The walking paths at Fort Williams Park – the Cliff Walk is the most popular. Flip this map 90˚ to match the satellite map above.

Bite Into Maine 🍴 (food truck within Fort Williams)

Address: 1000 Shore Rd, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107

Bite Into Maine is a VERY popular food truck that is parked near Portland Head Light, beside one of the parking lots (I’ve circled it on the map above). This place was featured on an episode of ‘Somebody Feed Phil’ where he highlighted the curry lobster roll and the picnic style lobster roll (drenched in butter 🤤). When we drove past it looking for parking, there was a HUGE line of people around the truck. Unfortunately due to our tight schedule and the fact that I had no idea the line would be so long, we didn’t have time to wait.🙁 The menu looked pretty good. 💔

Lobster Shack at Two Lights 🍴

Address: 225 Two Lights Rd, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107

At the Southern end of Cape Elizabeth lies Two Lights State Park. This coastal park offers views of the ocean with a rocky waterfront terrain. The most popular part of the park is the Lobster Shack, which is a seafood restaurant located right beside the waters with views of the rocky beach from their abundant red picnic tables.

There’s free parking available here and plenty of seating, but it definitely gets busy. We arrived around 12:40pm and luckily we caught a gap in the lunch rush and only had 1 person in line ahead of us. By the time we finished ordering, there were at least 15 people lining up out the door.

The Lobster Shack is known for their lobster roll, fried clams, and clam chowder – of course we ordered all 3. The lobster roll was fresh and generous with the lobster meat, but at the end of the day it was still just lobster and mayonnaise – good, but nothing too special from other lobster rolls. The clam chowder was average, but the fried clams were great (get the medium size, they really pack it on). It was our first time trying fried clams and we surprisingly liked it way more than we expected!

Apart from the food, the main attraction of this place is the location with a view of the beautiful calm coast right beside you. The seafood is just a bonus!

Some Final Thoughts:

Prepare to wait in line if you want to dine at Bite Into Maine food truck.
Start your day hungry so you have space to try out both lobster places.
Bug light is super cute.

Need more travel recommendations for Maine? Check out these other places!

October 29, 2024April 22, 2025

AbbyLeave a comment

Top Things to Do in Portland, Maine: Eat, Shop, Explore

Date Published: Oct 22nd, 2024 | Last Updated: April 22nd, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: Aug 5th, 2025

Portland is the largest city in Maine, full of cool shops and endless lobster rolls. Spend an afternoon here walking through the old streets, sample the abundant seafood, and take a tour around town.

Fun fact: Although Portland is the largest city in Maine, the capitol is actually Augusta!

We originally did this trip in August 2024 on our way up from New York to Rockland for the lobster festival (you can read about the lobster festival here). We stopped by Portland on our way home and spent the afternoon here walking through the streets and perusing through the variety shops ranging from cool hipster vibes to fancy boutiques. There’s a LOT of restaurants here, not just seafood. Sadly, due to our short time here and limited stomach capacity, we were only able to hit up a few places, but the next time we come back I’ll definitely be crossing more off my list!

Below is a map of downtown Portland divided into 4 regions: the arts district, government district, old port district, and waterfront district. The majority of the shops and restaurants are in the old port district (in red).

https://www.portlandmaine.com (image edited)

How long do I need in Portland, Maine?

You really only need a few hours to explore downtown Portland. Even though it’s Maine’s largest city, it’s not actually that big. It’ll take you about 20-30 minutes to walk up and down the main street of Old Port (Commercial Street) and Exchange Street, then add in a couple extra hours for shopping and eating. There are a couple of museums and points of interest you can hit up as well to fill out the day and some microbreweries to check out in the evening. We didn’t have time to do these, but I’ll include it below.

There are also harbour cruises and island-hopping ferries you can take as well to explore more outside of Portland. Therefore, if you want to just do the city itself, an afternoon will be enough (or stay longer so you can fit in more meals in a day 😜) but you can easily stretch it out to 3-4 days if you want to take it slow. Portland is a nice place to be.

Also, Cape Elizabeth is 15 minutes south of Portland and is home to Maine’s oldest and most iconic lighthouse: Portland Head Light. I’d recommend spending a couple hours here as well to check it out, do the cliff walk, and also have a look at Bug Light (the cutest smallest lighthouse I’ve ever seen). There’s also more seafood options here in case you haven’t gotten your fill of lobster rolls yet.

Where do I park?

Your best bet is to park in a city-operated parking garage in Portland. The rates are reasonable and some of them are very central and within short walking-distance to the centre of downtown Portland.

Here is a list of city-operated parking garages with the parking rates: https://www.portlandmaine.gov/296/Parking. I’ve made a map of the most central city-run parking garages below along with the most popular eateries and walking streets to give you an idea of the best location to be.

We parked in the Elm Street garage, which was $28 max per day and $4 per hour. It was easy to get to and pretty central, only a short walk to Exchange street which leads right to the harbour. We found this rate pretty reasonable (especially coming from NYC), but there are cheaper lots further away that have $15 all day parking (check the website).

Some people also say there’s free unrestricted parking on Somerset Street by the Whole Foods but we didn’t investigate this because it was too far for us to want to walk (it was also a really hot day).

I’d avoid parking in private lots since it can get crazy expensive (some up to $40-50 per day). You can also do street parking which is about $2.50-$3.00/hour, but it fills up quick and most streets have 2 hour restrictions.

Map of downtown Portland highlighting the closest parking garages and the most popular eateries. The highlighted yellow streets are the most popular for shopping.

What to do in Portland: Shop, Eat, and Explore!

We only had an afternoon here and from my research on Portland, we’ve hit up the most popular places. We do plan to come back again in the near future and explore some more, so I’ll be updating this post when we do – keep watching this space!

1) Shop

Commercial Street

Walk along Commercial Street and you’ll find many cute boutique and souvenir/gift shops lined up one after another. This street is right by the harbour and is one of the busiest touristy streets for shopping. It’s highlighted in the map above.

Exchange Street

Exchange Street is another street full of shops. This street is more tucked away compared to Commercial Street but I found the shops here to be a lot more interesting with a cool hipster vibe. There’s restaurants along this street as well with some nice coffee shops. I found this street to have more character compared to the more tourist-y Commercial Street. This street is also highlighted in the map above.

2) Eat

When in Maine…eat Lobster Rolls! There is no doubt an abundance of seafood in Maine and we had nothing but seafood on our brains so that’s what we focused on, but there were tons of other non-seafood restaurants that looked amazing as we walked by. In my research, the consensus for the top 3 places for lobster rolls were: Luke’s Lobster, Highroller, and Portland Lobster Company.

Portland Lobster Co.

Address: 180 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101

Portland Seafood Co is a small shop on the harbour with limited seating inside the restaurant, but there’s a huge open back patio by the water where you can easily grab a seat. We went right when they opened and there were already a few people there. They have a decent sized menu and the prices were fair. They’re well known for their lobster rolls, but Toby really wanted to try the Lobster BLT since we had never seen it before – it was REALLY good and they were generous with the lobster meat. I had a classic steamed lobster. Unfortunately I had a bad time with gastro from an earlier donut shop (more on that later) so I couldn’t fully enjoy the extent of the meal, but from the bites I had, it was delicious. Toby was more than happy to help me finish my lobster.

Luke’s Lobster

Address: 60 Portland Pier, Portland, ME 04101

Everyone was going to Luke’s or talking about Luke’s. It’s probably the most popular lobster roll spot in Portland and it’s also situated right on the water. We didn’t end up coming here because we’ve had Luke’s in NYC (it is indeed damn good) and wanted to try something new. If you’ve never had Luke’s before, I’d highly recommend coming here.

Highroller Lobster Co.

Address: 104 Exchange St, Portland, ME 04101

Highroller Lobster Co. had really cool vibes and it was super busy. We needed to get on the road and we were still full from Portland Lobster Co. so we decided to grab takeout instead of sitting down in the restaurant. The takeout menu was much smaller, but we were mainly here to try out their lobster roll anyway so we didn’t mind (although there were some amazing looking dishes on the full menu – I’ve included photos of both the dine-in and the takeaway menu). We ordered two 2oz lobster rolls that was $17 each. Super pricy and it was also SUPER TINY 💔. The bread was good and it was a decent lobster roll, but for the long time we had to wait and the small portion, it wasn’t THAT good. Next time maybe we’ll go for dine-in and get more variety.

Duckfat

Address: 43 Middle St, Portland, ME 04101

Not seafood, but I thought I’d include it due to the sheer popularity of this place and how every single travel blog mentions it. This place was even featured on an episode of ‘Somebody Feed Phil’. Duckfat is known for their Belgian-style french fries that are cooked in, you guessed it, duck fat! Their poutine is the go-to most popular item. Unfortunately we did not get to try this place because when we arrived, the line was super long and it would’ve been at least an hour wait. We were still full from all the lobster rolls anyway and we also still had a 7 hour drive ahead of us, so we didn’t wait. They don’t take reservations, it’s walk-in only, but you can pre-order and have it as takeaway – something we didn’t realize until we got there.

They do have a second location that only does takeaway called Duckfat Frites Shack (43 Washington Ave, Portland, ME 04101) that may have faster service. It’s another 10 min walk that we didn’t take because by then we would’ve been too far from our car. Womp womp.

The Holy Donut 🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️

Address: 177 Commercial St, Portland, ME 04101 (there are 3 locations in Portland, but this is the most central)

I don’t get it. I honestly don’t.

The Holy Donut is a donut shop that specializes in potato-based doughnuts. Their google reviews are off the charts. Every single travel blog says to come here and they say to come here first thing in the morning before they run out and have these doughnuts for breakfast. So we did. They open at 7am and we arrived just after 9am and there was a line of about 10 people in front of us, but the line went quick. We ordered 3 donuts (at $4.50 – $5 each): the blueberry glaze (most highly recommended), the blueberry lemon, and maple bacon. There was nowhere to sit so we ate it outside.

I was so excited to try these. After having a bite of each one… I was disappointed. I don’t get the hype. The potato-based doughnut made it really dense like a heavy cake and I felt like there was too much cake to the topping ratio so you get a small amount of flavour, then the rest of the time you have a mouthful of dry dense cake. Toby liked it, but he likes dense cake.

The aftermath was what made me curse this place. We hadn’t eaten anything apart from these donuts that morning (and I only ate a total of 2/3 of a donut to save room for lunch) but I started to have the worst acid reflux I’ve ever had (and I’m not a person that gets reflux issues!). Maybe it’s the empty stomach or the dense carbs in the donut, but after 40 mins of walking, I was sweating up a storm and vomited up acidic fluid multiple times (so glad I was able to find a restroom in time). Not appetizing, I know, but this messed up my stomach for the rest of the day which was quite upsetting because I was ramped up for more lobster meals in Portland. Never again shall I come here.

But, as much as I dislike this place, there are many more that love this place so I’ve included it in this post so you can make the judgement yourself. If you do go, I’d recommend not being on an empty stomach and bring some Tums or Pepto just in case. We struggled to find a pharmacy within walking distance.

3) Explore

We pretty much just ate and walked around town looking into the shops during our afternoon in Portland. Due to the donut incident, my stomach bothered me for the rest of the day so we didn’t do much else, but here’s a list of things I found that seemed cool for our trip next time:

International Cryptozoology Museum (32 Resurgam Pl, Portland, ME 04102)
- A small museum dedicated to the study of hidden or unknown animals. There are exhibits on Bigfoot, the Lochness monster, mermaids…etc. This is the only cryptozoology museum in the world.
- This is a little out of town, so it’d be best to drive here.
Victoria Mansion (109 Danforth St, Portland, ME 04101)
- A 19th century mansion preserved to its original architecture from when it was built in the 1800s.
Top of the East at The Westin Portland Harbourview hotel (15th floor, 157 High St, Portland, ME 04101)
- This lounge serves cocktails with a view of Portland below.
The Portland Observatory (138 Congress Street, Portland, ME)
- A signalling tower that offers panoramic views of Portland and the harbor.
Take a trolley tour
- A fully narrated tour on a trolley that brings you around Portland and will also stop of Portland Head Light.
- https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g40827-d26244845-Discover_Portland_City_and_Lighthouse_Tour-Portland_Maine.html
Historical walking tour
- https://www.mainehistory.org/education/walking-tours-1/
- Self-guided freedom trail walking tour: https://www.mainehistory.org/documents/41/Portland_Freedom_Trail.pdf
Go island-hopping on a ferry
- https://www.cascobaylines.com/
Take a lobster boat tour
- https://www.luckycatch.com/
Checking out local breweries
Cape Elizabeth & Portland Head Light
- The oldest and most well known lighthouse in Maine
- Roughly 15 mins drive south of Portland

Some final thoughts

I don’t get the hype with Holy Donuts.
Portland is a cute town with tons of boutiques and cool shops.
You only need a day to explore the city, but if you want to add on island-hopping, boat cruises, and museums, you can easily spend at least 2-3 days here.
Try all the lobster rolls!

If you’ve been to Portland before, I’d love to hear about your favourite places or other places you’d recommend!

Need more travel recommendations for Maine? Check out these other places!

October 22, 2024April 22, 2025

Abby3 Comments

Contents:

How to get here:

How much time do I need?

Tickets & Cost?

The Guided Tour

Contents:

How much time do I need?

Getting Here

Cost of Tickets

Entertainment Complex/Visitor’s Center – the start of the journey

The Mansion

First Floor of the Mansion

Entryway

Living Room/Music Room

Gladys & Vernon’s Bedroom

Dining Room

Kitchen

The Jungle Room/Den

Basement Level of the Mansion

TV Room

Pool Room

Back of the Mansion

Vernon’s Office & the Smokehouse

Trophy Building

Racquetball Building

Meditation Garden

Back to the Entertainment Complex

Cars, Motorcycles, and Boats

Elvis’ Army Days, Karate, and the Graceland Archives

Elvis’ Influence on Other Celebrities

Music and Film Memorabilia

Costumes and Accessories

The Glorious Jumpsuits!

Awards

Giftshops

Dine, Shop, Check out the Planes, or Back to the Parking Lot

Contents:

How many days do I need?

Parking:

Book a walking tour

Historical Nassau Street

Touring Princeton University

FitzRandolph Gate

The President’s House

Nassau Hall

John Witherspoon Statue

East Pyne Hall

Princeton University Chapel

Princeton University Library

Prospect House

Witherspoon Hall

Princeton University Art Museum – Opens October 2025

Some Scenes around campus (aka places I forgot the names of):

Exploring Off-Campus: Scenes around the Town of Princeton

Albert Einstein’s House

Other Famous Houses

Princeton Battle Monument

Albert Einstein Statue

Princeton Battlefield State Park

Nearby: Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township, NJ

Nearby: Trenton, NJ

Contents:

Visitor Etiquette & Dress Code

How much time do I need?

Get here early!

When you arrive:

Welcome Center

Mandir

Akshardham – the main temple

Parikrama – Red corridor walkway

Shayona Cafe, Gift Shop, Back to the Welcome Center

Contents:

What is a Philly Cheesesteak? What makes it so special?

Dissecting the Philly Cheesesteak:

Bread:

Steak:

Cheese: Provolone, Cheez Whiz, American Cheese, or Cooper Sharp?

Optional Toppings:

Philly Cheesesteak Spots

#1: Jim’s South St.