Ultimate Lesbian Travel Guide to Ogunquit, Maine
We decided to go to Maine on probably one of the most spontaneous trips we’ve ever done. We only booked this trip 3 days before leaving and really didn’t know much about the town we were visiting. Ogunquit is on a lot of lists of Best Towns to Visit in the New England Area, but that’s kind of where all the tips stop. We couldn’t find too much info on where to eat, shop, and what else to do besides hit up the beach so we said “let’s just go figure it out ourselves!” Honestly, one of the best decisions we ever made. Ogunquit is a beautiful coastal town in southern Maine — only about 20 minutes passed the New Hampshire border. It’s one of the most welcoming small towns we’ve ever visited and we’re shocked more people aren’t talking about it.
How To Get to Ogunquit
We were leaving from NYC and decided to take my trusty car Hillary. It’s about a 6 hour drive but we made some strategic pit stops along the way in Hartford, Connecticut and Portsmouth New Hampshire. No offense to Hartford, but we probably wouldn’t need to visit there again. Portsmouth, however, was such a cute, trendy town by the water that we definitely need to go back and visit properly one day.
Where To Stay
Ogunquit is a pretty popular town to visit in the summer months, so booking last minute we didn’t have too many options of places to stay. We chose to stay at the Blue Shutters B&B and really loved it! The space was exactly what we needed and the location was perfect, only about a 5 minute walk to town and the path to Marginal Way was right in the backyard! Breakfast was also included but we were only there for a few days and wanted to try some of the local restaurants for breakfast instead. There are a lot of other accommodation options though ranging from Airbnbs, to hotels & luxury resorts, so however you prefer to travel Ogunquit has got you covered.
Best Things To Do
Chill out on Ogunquit Beach
Walk the Marginal Way
Stroll through the town and pop into some local shops
Grab some treats at Harbor Candy Shop
Visit Perkins Cove
Check out Nubble Lighthouse
Watch a free movie at the Leavitt Theatre
Take the trolley
Watch a performance at the famous Ogunquit Playhouse
Where to Eat & Drink
Loveshack Juicery
Wild Blueberry
Bread & Rose’s Bakery
Scoop Deck (the best vegan soft serve ice cream we have ever had!)
Treehouse Taqueria
The Lobster Shack
La Pizzeria
Maine Street (New England’s largest gay club!)
The LGBTQ Scene
We were pleasantly surprised with how welcoming & accepting Ogunquit was of the LGBTQ community. There were rainbow flags hanging from nearly every storefront & restaurant which made us feel totally comfortable being ourselves. Ogunquit is also home to New England’s biggest gay club called Maine Street which we sadly didn’t have time to go to. But the town itself was so warm and inviting & even though it is a popular destination for families, no one seemed to care that we were a same sex couple.
There is a nearby town called Kennebunkport that we visited one day which had the total opposite vibe. Kennebunkport is well known because former President George H.W. Bush had a summer home there. Safe to say that town was the complete opposite of welcoming & we did not feel comfortable being ourselves there (watch our second Maine vlog below to see what we mean). We basically left immediately after we arrived & breathed a sigh of relief that we chose to stay in Ogunquit instead.
Our road trip to Ogunquit was definitely one of the highlights of our summer and we were so glad to visit a new U.S. state together that we both had never been to before! Watch our road trip to Maine vlogs below to see more of our travel tips for Maine!
Road Trip to Ogunquit, Maine
Last Stop on our New England Road Trip
