We went to Maine and discovered all the fun and family-friendly activities to do in Portland, Maine with kids! From outdoor train rides to kid-friendly breweries, there’s plenty to do in Maine with little kids!
My husband and I absolutely LOVED Portland, Maine. After visiting this seaside town together, we decided we had to come back and visit Portland with our kids! We found lots of kid-friendly things to do in Portland, Maine that kept us entertained all week.
15 Fun Things To Do With Kids In Portland Maine
1. Go on a lighthouse tour
If you’re visiting Portland Maine with a car, please make sure you take the short drive and go check out some of the greater Portland historic lighthouses!
Our very favorite was Portland Head Light, the iconic lighthouse which is just as postcard-pretty in person. This is the oldest lighthouse in Maine and was commissioned by George Washington.
It’s the most kid-friendly place we found in Portland!There are all these little trails around the lighthouse and my boys ran around for hours and didn’t want to leave. (I’ll be honest…with those insane views, I didn’t want to leave either!)
Another fun option is Bug Light Park, which is a bit closer to downtown Portland and overlooks the Portland Harbor. You can enjoy the scenic views, climb on the rocks, and just generally soak up the view. It’s also a great spot for picnics because there’s a lot of grassy area!
2. Day Trip To Peaks Island
We actually ended up renting a home on Peaks Island and staying for a week because we loved it so much! But you can just take the Ferry across Casco Bay and enjoy a few hours on this adorable island.
There’s a public beach where you can swim, an insanely good lobster restaurant that has a huge backyard area where the kids can run around after they eat chicken fingers and fries (or a lobster roll if your kids are adventurous!) and craft beer and other yummy adult bevs for the parents.
3. Ride the Narrow Gauge Railroad
I actually didn’t know the significance of a “narrow gauge railroad” before I did this fun activity with my kids in downtown Portland.
They have tickets available multiple times a day, and the train ride is very short and sweet with views of the Portland harbor.
My kids are really young so they just watched the scenery and enjoyed the train ride, but my husband and I enjoyed the historical lessons that were given on the overhead speakers.
This is an out-and-back train ride that’s about 30 minutes long. At the halfway point, they let everyone get off the train, talk to the Conductor and ask questions, and take photos before getting back on and traveling home.
4. Visit A Portland Maine Brewery
You don’t need a car for this because there are SO many good ones in downtown Portland! Here are a few of my favorite kid-friendly breweries in Portland Maine:
Allagash Brewing: the outdoor space here is huge and gorgeous, so it’s afun place for kids to run around. Bonus: there’s one of those amazing Bite Into Maine food trucks here…one of the best lobster rolls in Maine!
Austin Street Brewery: perfect for a warm summer day or a cold blustery winter day, because there’s lots of indoor AND outdoor seating! There’s a big bookshelf full of board games, coloring books, and crayons, so our little 4-year-old was entertained for about 2 hours here while my husband and I tasted flights of beer.
Oxbow Blending and Bottling: I mention this one because, as parents, we also want to visit the best restaurants in Portland Maine…and Duckfat has a location at this brewery! It’s a walkup window called Duckfat Frites Shack, and you can get that famous poutine to enjoy with your beer. (The original Duckfat restaurant location is so lovely, but it’s not the most kid-friendly place because it’s so small. This Frites Shack is the perfect alternative.)
Maine Beer Co: you’ll need a car to visit this one, but OMG! Amazing! Their award-winning beers are obviously insaenly good, but I also loved it for the massive outdoor covered patio, fun coloring sheets for our toddlers, and excellent wood-fired pizza that the whole family enjoyed.
5. Deering Oaks Playground
Life can be divided into two stages: before and after we started looking for playgrounds on every vacation we took…
So if you’re in the same boat as me and you’re constantly looking for fun playgrounds for your kids to enjoy on a family trip, Deering Oaks Playground is pretty epic.
This is the big central park/playground in Portland, and it’s seriously massive! When you look on a map, it’s that big green space in the middle of Portland, Maine. There’s a fun playground with swings and slides that’s shaded by a lot of trees.
6. Walk Around Washington Ave
We ended up spending a lot of time here because there are so many great restaurants, breweries, shops, oyster counters, and just charming ambiance!
It’s not necessarily “kid-friendly” per se, but it’s just a generally great place to walk around for all humans (regardless of age) to soak up the Portland charm.
7. Go Swimming At East End Beach
There’s one public beach in Portland Maine called East End Beach, and it’s very popular in the summer for swimmers and kayakers.
The water is consistently cold here (like 65 degrees…brrrr!) but my boys wanted to get in when the sun came out and the air warmed up to 80. And if your children don’t want to swim, they can jus play in the sand. There are also nearby kayak rentals that are open daily in the summer where you can get a single or double and go out on the water for a few hours with your kids.
8. Ride The Casco Bay Lines Ferry
Even if you don’t have time to spend a full day on Peaks Island or one of the other ferry destinations, a ferry ride is a really fun adventure for young kids!
Kids under 5 are free, and all other kids are just $7 for a roundtrip fare as of summer 2024. (Adults are $14).
The ferry ride is a nice way to enjoy the water, soak up the sunshine, and (maybe, if you’re lucky?) enjoy a few minutes of rest after a full day of running around with kids in Portland.
8. Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine
Full disclosure: we didn’t end up getting here, because the weather was SO gorgeous and we wanted to stay outside! But a lot of people recommended the Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine to me as a fun family-friendly activity in Portland.
Glancing at the website, it looks like a pretty typical children’s museum…which means that most kids will love it! There’s also the children’s theatre component, which is such a wonderful thing to enjoy on a cold or rainy day.
9. Holy Donut
They’re kind of famous for the potato donut (which is my personal favorite), but all of the donuts at Holy Donut are insanely delicious. Look out for the lines if you’re there on a Saturday or Sunday!
11. Whale Watching In Portland Maine
You can go whale-watching in Portland with New England Eco-Adventures! This is a summer only activity and kids have to be at least 6 years old and 48” tall, but it’s a pretty cool thing to go out on the water and see these gorgeous creatures and other marine life in their natural habitat.
New England Eco-Adventures has excursions that last 3 hours and cost $99 per person. Not cheap, but also a pretty cool experience to enjoy.
I did a few whale watching adventures as a kid and those memories have stuck with me all these years later!
12. Wander Through Old Port
The cobblestone streets, the shops, the historic landmarks…Old Port District is a bit touristy, sure, but it’s also BEAUTIFUL!
I think this area is especially pretty in Autumn (October was UNREAL!) but I also love it in the warmer summer months!
Portland has such a rich history and so many incredible family activities. I 10/10 recommend this city for a family-friendly vacation and I can’t wait to go back again with my two young sons!
