Rated Things to Do in Kennebunkport

Far from the centers of either town, Parson's Beach is also far from any sign of tourism, apart from the cars parked along the unpaved access road. Access is the reason why you can always find a place to spread your towel on this beautiful dune-backed stretch of sand.

If you looked no farther than the tight cluster of streets and lanes around Dock Square, you could easily believe that gallery hopping and shopping are the two most popular things to do in Kennebunkport. More than a dozen art galleries are within a five-minute walk of the square and bridge, and there are even more gift shops and boutiques.

To see Kennebunkport's rocky coast, islands, and landmarks from a different point of view, see them from the water on a cruise. The two-masted Schooner Eleanor, a traditional gaff-rigged schooner, was built right here in Kennebunkport, long a center for shipbuilding.

The tiny little fishing hamlet of Cape Porpoise is about two miles from Dock Square on Route 9, or an eight-mile bike ride along Ocean Avenue and Shore Road. Here, you'll find a busy working harbor, with fishing boats unloading their catch and a couple of places to have lunch on decks overlooking boats bobbing in the inlet.

Backed by a fringe of grass-covered dunes, the three miles of powder-soft sand at Goose Rocks Beach is not exactly a local secret, but is less well-known than the three on Beach Avenue. Protected by an off-shore rock barrier, the beach has gentle surf for swimming.

One of 17 active Episcopal summer chapels in Maine, St. Ann's by-the-Sea would look right at home in an English village. Set in gardens overlooking the Gulf of Maine, the church was built in 1887 of sea-smoothed stones hauled up from the shore below.

Among the best beaches in the Northeast, Kennebunk Beach is actually three. Gooch's Beach, Middle Beach, and Mother's Beach adjoin each other in a long arc of soft sand and gentle ocean surf beside the mouth of the Kennebunk River.

At the far end of Ocean Avenue is Walker's Point, a peninsula where generations of the Bush family have spent summer vacations. The substantial gabled "cottage" has hosted not only two US Presidents, but foreign heads of state.

Ocean Avenue begins at Dock Square and follows the shore around Cape Arundel as far as Walker's Point. Leaving the village, it follows the river, passing the large Nonantum Resort and the Kennebunk River Club before reaching Colony Beach.

In what's known as the Lower Village, Dock Square is the heart of Kennebunkport's shopping and dining scene. It sits alongside the busy harbor, not far from where the Kennebunk River flows into the Atlantic.