Dugan is an expert tour guide and passionate about history! He provided a superb and detailed…read morehistory of African Americans in Portland, ME from the colonial era to the current day. We loved the amazing story of Susan Rice and her mother (Lois Rice) who each had a tremendous impact on education and public policy. Our family enjoyed learning about the many changes in downtown Portland from the 1700s to the 1950s and hearing the stories of remarkable leaders in the community over generations. We appreciated the enthusiasm and concern of Dugan to make sure the entire group was OK during the walk on a hot summer day (the shaded "rest breaks" were a plus). Also, he was open to questions and made everyone feel welcome. Overall, I would strongly recommend any of the walking tours! You are bound to discover something new.

Dugan was a very cheerful and knowledgeable tour guide. He began his walking tour promptly. Hubs…read moreand I enjoyed hearing about all the nuggets of history in Portland. I heartily recommend his tour for a pleasant two hours of familiarizing oneself with the Old Port surroundings.

Highly recommended tour in Portland, Maine. Gordon was our…read morevisual storyteller and he captured the attention of my whole family,most notably my skeptical 14 year old son who wanted follow up details to go ghost hunting while we are here. This tour combines ghost stories, local history, comedy, and some pretty fantastic storytelling while getting a nice walk in the evening in. Loved it!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Portland, Maine. Aside from some amazing lobstah…read morerolls, what else might you expect out of a historic, coastal New England town? You guessed it.....ghosts. Maine has always fascinated me, ever since I read "Pet Sematary" when I was about 12 years old. In fact, the 1989 version of the movie was just on television. Perhaps no one tackled the Maine accent as well as Fred Gwynn. Ayuh, he nailed his role as the old, weathered, local Maine neighbor, Jud Crandall. (John Lithgow provided a completely different interpretation of Jud in the 2019 version.) It's only appropriate that King, who grew up in Portland, based so many of his novels in the state of Maine. This place is saturated with ghosts, savory characters, and somewhat of a dark history. Last week on my layover I took a Wicked Walking Tour with Gordon, who was absolutely fantastic. Knowledgeable and funny, his theatrical, yet historic tour was well worth my time. Gordon made the tour interactive and got to know each of us on the tour. There was another Lori (spelled differently though), another couple from Cleveland, and some newlyweds amongst our group. We started by learning about some history of the city. Portland buried their dead 18 feet under. Gordon informed us this was to keep the vampires in and the grave robbers out. The Portland Waterfront and the many islands of Casco Bay have stories of pirates, witches, ghosts, fires, and abandoned ships that we learned of throughout the tour. In this particular part of the waterfront a mysterious woman clad in black wanders the dock area, stumbling over lobster traps in search of her sailor. Aside from an occasional wharf rat, there is not much trace of life down here at night. A building that I noticed while walking around the town was the Time and Temperature Building, a building with....you guessed it: the time and temperature displayed on the outside. Gordon talked about this building on our tour. The place is allegedly haunted by a female ghost with fire-engine red hair, who enjoys riding the elevators and who will often play on them, randomly sending them to different floors. Some workers in the building have claimed to have seen an unknown female walking through their offices, and when they follow her or try speaking to her, she vanishes around a corner. Electricians insist that there is nothing wrong with the wiring of the elevators. No one is certain of the back-story here, nor why she does this. Before running through a dark and sinister alley, Gordon pointed out an other creepy building. I don't remember the details, but I remember something about a woman seeing a mermaid, attached to the front of a ship outside her third story window. Apparently the water level used to reach this part of the town and there have been phantom ships, still weathering the storms, to this day. Check out Gordan's tour......I really enjoyed it. His stories are interesting and engaging. Maine is awesome. And the people here are wicked smaht.....

This was a super interesting Locally owned tour of Portland . We visited some beautiful historic…read morelight houses and toured the downtown areas. The driver (and owner) had lots of local interesting information to share and he was enthusiastic and really made the tour fun for our group. Actually was one of the best local tours I have ever been on. Highly recommended when visiting Portland for the first time.

loved this tour! great commentary and good jokes! Very interesting and well done. I would…read moredefinitely recommend this trip!

We had a great time on this walking tour. Our guide Dugan brought Portland to life with interesting…read morefacts and stories. All questions were welcomed and answered. The tour starts on time, so don't be tardy to this highly recommended excellent tour.

Our group of five had a great tour with Pete on a crisp sunny day. Learned history and saw sites…read morefrom Monument Square to the waterfront area; the Eastern Prom, Portland Observatory and more. The guide was very knowledgeable and his sense of humor meshed well with our crew. It was pleasant 3+ mile walk that capitalized on some terrific views. The exercise helped whet our appetite for lunch at one of many restaurants Pete recommended.

My mum and I absolutely love red cloak tours!! The stories are very interesting and spooky. The…read moretour guide is really kind, and happily answers any questions. I went to the bath and wisscasset tours and found out so much about houses and places I may have overlooked if not for this new knowledge. Call me crazy, but I think I may have saw a ghost in the top window of a house in wisscasset, when nobody was home.

My family and I took this tour the other night. There were 12 people on the tour. Our guide…read morecombined stories about the history of the city as well as a number of different ghost stories. She was articulate and told some very good stories both as to the city and its origins and the different buildings that are haunted. At the end of the tour I kept looking in Opera House hoping to see the ghost that apparently still hangs out there. We all enjoyed the tour and would highly recommend it if you are visiting the town.

While visiting the Kennebunks, I decided to book my first ever foodie tour with Maine Day Ventures…read more This three hour tour not only covered delicious eats, but delivered in history. As our tour group visited each restaurant, we got a side of Kennebunkport history and the insider scoop as to where all of the locals dine. Marlene Brooks is an exceptional host and tour guide. She is a 13th generation Mainer and provided such detail about each local spot including the history behind our food. Her professionalism and Maine pride was evident throughout the tour. The ticket price for this experience was around $145. In my opinion, it is well worth the price because it is an opportunity to meet new people, learn more about Maine, and try different restaurants. Marlene took our group to some restaurants that my friend and I didn't know existed. Some advice would be to arrive on the tour hungry because you get to try so many delicious plates. By the end, my friend and I were full. Below please find some of the places we visited and the food we enjoyed: 1. Fiafia - mixed berry smoothie 2. Alisson's - lobster roll (you get a choice between three - the original, lemon garlic, or lobster chowder) 3. Federal Jack's - clam chowder with potatoes and a sample of beer 4. Mornings in Paris - whoopie pie and a choice of coffee or select tea 5. The Pilot House - fried haddock bites 6. Bar Harbor Cheesecake - cheesecake sample (can have more than one) This foodie tour encouraged me to try other food tours when traveling to new places. Marlene and Maine Day Ventures left a lasting impression and added great value to my Maine trip. The Kennebunks are filled with a rich history, excellent seafood, and the most friendly people. Thank you for a great experience!

A gourmet tour this is NOT. There is a world-class lobster roll place on the tour (Clam Shack), but…read morego there yourself and save yourself the rest of the garbage. Mead? Really? Undrinkable. Whoopie Pies? If you happen to like them, buy it yourself and the local grocery store. Our guide, a schoolteacher, treated us like idiots and managed to convey very little information. She couldn't even pronounce macaroon correctly, and she's leading a food tour? Do yourself a favor and skip this; go to one of the fantastic food tours in Portland ME instead.

I'm a little bit of a history geek, what can I say? I was the kid that relished the opportunity to…read moretalk to my grandparents about their lives growing up, what our community used to be like and look like, what their parents experienced. Finding old photos of towns and cities that I'm familiar with now are unbelievably fascinating, and preserving that which was is something near and dear to my heart. Which is why I'm a little in love with the The Greater Portland Landmarks, the safeguards of Portland's history via buildings, neighborhoods, and outdoor spaces. Through education and advocacy these great stewards of urban conservancy have helped to maintain some amazing spots throughout the city of Resurgam, while thoughtfully bridging the gap from the character of the city that was to the character that the city's beginning to have. I've had the opportunity to explore some of their catalog of public offerings, including Portland Observatory tours (https://www.yelp.com/biz/portland-observatory-portland), Custom House tours (https://www.yelp.com/biz/united-states-custom-house-portland), and a tour of the Homes of Portland's Golden Age (where we walked around the Spring Street Historic District [which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in '71] and viewed an array of impressive architectural styles throughout the past couple centuries. That's just some of their ongoing events; they also host a lot of other awesome shindigs (like an annual decade-specific themed gala at a large mansion in Portland). The folks who work at GPL are dedicated, passionate, and well-versed in all things Portland. I care deeply about the past, present, and future of this great city, and I feel rest assured that there are others that do so as well!

Take their tours, donate, support this worthy and well-run cause…read more... In August, I was visiting Portland to eat and relax and look at the water. When my companion suggested (ah-hem, insisted) that we take the Greater Portland Landmarks walking architectural tour, I agreed but had no idea what I was getting into. Like, what? The headquarters or main building is on Spring Street behind the MFA, where I'd been several times already. It's a straight ten-minute walk from the Old Port area, so pretty easy to access. When we got there, we were greeted warmly by the staff and invited inside to wait for the tourists to gather. They allow (and encourage? insist upon?) on-line reservations, which we had. We pad electronically with credit cards using their portable chip reader. It was good to see historic preservation embracing technology. Ten bucks each, totally worth it. Our group of about ten tourists was led by two men, both school teachers, who tag-teamed the direction of the group and the speaking. They were warm and funny and kind and helpful and full of information. When one of them knew that the other was the expert, he'd say, And now XXXX is going to talk about the roofline of Federalist style buildings. Or some such. And the information is transferrable. I was recently in downtown Philadelphia where I was able to identify architectural styles that I learned about in Portland. The walk isn't that long distance-wise because they essentially keep close to the neighborhood around their building but it is strenuous and takes a while because they cover so much, including the Victoria House (from the outside). They encouraged questions and engagements and were helpful and attentive to those with limitations (slow walkers, the deaf, etc). At one point, we Zillowed the price of a house that was on the tour, which connected past and present. The guides even got us an inside tour of the private Cumberland Club. I would do it again. I would do their other tours (including of the Observatory on Munjoy Hill). If I lived in Portland....

We came to Maine very VERY early season (March 20th-24th) and were looking for something to do…read more Most of the area is still in full 'pre season' mode, with many restaurants and services closed, especially during the week. We found the walking Food tour on Viator and jumped at it - and boy were we glad that we did! Because of the time of year, my wife and I were alone on the tour and as such got to spend around 3 hours with our guide, Ray Sapirstein. Putting aside Ray's obvious love for Portland and food in general, he was a charming guy - keeping us engaged and entertained with stories about the area for the entire duration of the tour. Ray is a PHD trained historian and, as such, was able to fill in a lot of color about the area, going beyond the 'food' aspects of the tour, describing the 'hilly roads' which were sand dunes were covered up to build out the city. Add to that the fact that he took us to several places that we NEVER would have found via googling for 'best ofs' and would have been a HUGE failure to miss! Andy's Old Port Pub - a neighborhood bar (don't call it a dive, though in my mind it qualifies). Spend some time chatting with Thomas, the owner, and Steve the bartender - and had what I can only describe as the single best haddock taco I've ever had in my life. Do not judge a book by it's cover: this place is AWESOME. Great craft beer tap list, and a warm and friendly environment. If I lived in the area, this would be my regular. From there we went to Gilbert's Chowder house right next door - Ray was again right: don't sleep on the seafood chili - it was RIDICULOUSLY amazing. After that we paid a visit to the Harbor Fish Market where we got to see the recent catches, and as Ray pointed out the 'transparency' of the thing: fish are cleaned and prepped for sale right where the customer can watch, and all fish are labeled as 'fresh' (with VERY few pre-frozen exceptions). This is also the place to go if you want to buy Maine swag. From there we proceeded to Rigby House, an unassuming 'coffee shop and workspace' that Ray promised us had nothing short of the best lobster roll in Maine: I've had some good lobster rolls so I can't quite commit to that, but the bread it was built on was FANTASTIC, baked locally from one of the bakeries rated tops in the nation right in Portland. This stop came with either 2 samplers or 1 full pour from their 20+ menu. Don't miss the blueberry ale. It's a rare treat and again, came from Ray's love of his city. From there, we visited Dean's Sweet shop for a couple of truffles and terrible jokes, and then Fiasco's Gelato to round up our day - try the lobster gelato, it's weird and not something I'd necessarily do again...but glad to have had the experience. The whoopie pie gelato was top notch and the blueberry was one of the best gelatos I've ever had. For a 3 hour tour, with all food included, we were certainly full and happy. The walk was short - I don't think we wandered more than a mile in total - and when we were showing signs of being "Help me I'm not from Maine cold", Ray took us into Grittys, another neighborhood bar just for a warm up.

I attended the Portland: Old Port Culinary Walking Tour on Sunday, June 14, 2026 at 10:30 am with…read moreAnne and Ross. Usually, there is only one tour guide and it was supposed to be Anne only but Ross joined in as well. The Old Port Culinary Walking Tour is a foodie tour with a mix of history and culture. Our group consisted of 13 people. The tour starts at Andy's Old Port Pub with an introduction from our tour guides. At Andy's Old Port Pub, we were seated in the backroom and had a seasoned, grilled fresh haddock with house-made pickled vegetables, pico de gallo and lime crema in a corn tortilla and Andy's house Lager. Ross talked about the suspicious happenings and history at Andy's Old Port Pub. They both talked about Harbor Fish Market which was right across the street and how the seafood never see the back of a truck. I thought the fish taco was okay and was probably my least favorite food item from the whole tour. Andy's house Lager was very smooth and I really enjoyed it. Then, we walked next door to Gilberts Chowder House where we had a choice of Clam Chowder, Haddock Chowder, Corn & Chicken Chowder, Seafood Chowder, or Seafood Chili. I chose the Clam Chowder. The Clam Chowder was thick and not as creamy as I usually like my clam chowders. Here, Anne was showing us pictures of lobster abnormalities. After having our chowder, we walked to the historic U.S. Custom House and old fishing docks. We even got a postcard of the old fishing docks which was a nice souvenir. Next, we stopped at Rigby Yard and were seated in a small private room. We were offered several drink options; I chose a glass of prosecco. We had the Fresh Maine Lobster Roll with fresh Maine lobster meat Maine-style, tossed lightly in mayo, lemon, and sea salt served on a brioche roll with chips. The lobster was definitely fresh and good. The last two stops were dessert spots: Dean's Sweets and The Gelato Fiasco. We had a needham which is a confectionery dessert bar made from sugar, chocolate, coconut, and potato and we had the option to choose another truffle. I chose a blueberry one. At The Gelato Fiasco, we were able to choose 2 different flavors. Funny enough, I had went to The Gelato Fiasco the night before and it really is delicious gelato. I was glad to try different flavors. The tour finished about 1:45pm. The tour guides thanked us for spending our time together. The Portland: Old Port Culinary Walking Tour was fun and I enjoyed meeting the other people in our group. Anne and Ross were very knowledgeable with Portland's history and food scene. They had good recommendations for other things to do in Portland. The food we had on the tour was okay according to my opinion, but it was definitely a good variety of Maine dishes.