Voted the prettiest in Maine in 2009, Camden harbor's mix of working and pleasure craft includes a fleet of windjammer schooners, which began operating tourist cruises in 1936. Two-hour daytrips and three- to five-day live-aboard cruises depart from the Public Landing. Camden and adjacent Rockport harbor moorings also welcome small and large private vesels, drawn by deep water, a well-stocked port, and several boatbuilders, marinas, and storage and repair facilities. Each September, a family-friendly Windjammer Festival keeps the area's maritime traditions alive through schooner open houses, lobster crate races, a chowder cook-off, marine crafts demonstrations, and free live entertainment.

For more insight into this area's history, pick up the Historic Downtown Camden walking-tour map, identifying buildings that began as boathouses, woolen mills, ship captain's homes, and the former theater where "Peyton Place", filmed here in 1956, had its world premiere. In July and August, the Camden-Rockport Historical Society opens its 18th-century Conway Homestead and Cramer Museum.

Linger a while on the shady Village Green and view a classic New England scene: church spire, post office, and shopping bustle. Stroll to Harbor Park and its Amphitheatre, sit on the seawall to watch the harbor traffic and the Megunticook River waterfall, explore the gardens and trails at 66-acre Merryspring Nature Center, or wind along Bay View Street and Beauchamp Point, where shore views peek in and out, passing rambling cottages built by summer folk from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia during the age of steamboat travel.

This scenic coastline nestles into the Camden Hills, among them Mount Battie, part of Camden Hills State Park. From its 790-foot summit, reached by 26 miles of hiking trails and an auto road, the panorama stretches from Rockland and its islands to the Blue Hill peninsula. Camden resident and Pulizer Prize-winner Edna St. Vincent Millay immortalized this vista in her 1912 poem "Renascence": "All I could see from where I stood was three long mountains and a wood. I turned and looked the other way and saw three islands in a bay." On the shore side of U.S. Route 1, the park contains hiking trails and picnic areas.

Facing inland, Mount Battie's stone tower offers dramatic views to Lake Megunticook--popular for summer boating, fishing, and swimming--and Ragged Mountain, site of the Camden Snow Bowl. This four-season recreation area offers tennis, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, and February's annual national toboggan championships.

Shops in Camden's compact downtown offer clothing, jewelry, gifts, art supplies, toys, home furnishings, and more--all within walking distance of the harbor, dining, and lodging. Many authors, musicians, and artists call this area home, so there are several bookstores and galleries, as well as the HarborArts show in July and October. Throughout the year, Victorian-era opera houses in Camden and Rockport schedule concerts, plays, dance events, the Maine Literary Festival, Camden International Film Festival, and thought-provoking gatherings such as PopTech! and The Camden Conference. See our Calendar of Events for details.

Event attendees, residents, and seasonal visitors have nurtured the towns' growing lodging options, from oceanview cottages, motels, and resorts to gracious inns and bed-and-breakfast accommodations. Dining venues range from creative sandwich shops and dockside seafood spots to restaurants serving five-star international cuisine