Stay near town or off island???

We are planning a family trip to the Bar Harbor area and Mt. Desert Island this August (2009). Having never been there before, we can%26#39;t decide if we should stay in the more expensive town area on the trolley route on the island. OR stay either off-island or away from the crowds. If we stay away, we could go a bit cheaper and thus spend a whole week instead of a few days, BUT is the parking hassles I hear about and the traffic issues worth it?

Any suggestions?

Stay near town or off island???

I don%26#39;t think there are ever crowds, parking issues or traffic that should sway anyone from coming to Bar Harbor or staying on the island (except maybe the 4th of July, but that%26#39;s probably true of most locations).

The in-town area features so many B%26amp;B%26#39;s, hotels, and cottages in such a variety of price ranges that I can%26#39;t believe you can%26#39;t find something in your price range. That being said, if you stay farther away than Trenton or Ellsworth, you%26#39;re going to spend half your time in the car going back and forth.

Read the response from Bonniemaev to the post earlier this morning. She sums up the crowds and the traffic.

My advice is to stay somewhere on the island. Since you are probably looking at a place with a kitchen, proximity to restaurants doesn%26#39;t matter and you are close to various entrances to Acadia National Park no matter where you stay.

Stay near town or off island???

There are so many choices on Mount Desert other than Bar Harbor and you shouldn%26#39;t have to go off-inland. The %26#39;quietside%26#39; (Southwest, Bass Harbor, Bernard, Manset, West Tremont, etc - acadiachamber.com) will offer all sorts of options in all price ranges and the Island Explorer routes cover most parts of MDI so you can take the shuttle into Bar Harbor. The %26#39;quietside%26#39; is close to the less-travelled parts of Acadia and great trails like Ship Harbor and Wonderland.