The Best Lighthouses in Portland, Maine: Where to Go + Tours
Some of the best lighthouses in Portland, Maine sit close enough together that you can see five of them in a single day, which is exactly what we did on our New England road trip. It turned out to be one of our favorite days of the whole trip.
You get Portland Head, the most famous lighthouse in Maine, plus tiny Bug Light, the walk-out-to-it Spring Point Ledge, and a couple more, all within about twenty minutes of each other.
In this guide I’ll tell you where to park, how to get the best view of each one, and which ones you can actually go inside.
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Portland Head Light
If you’ve only got time for one lighthouse in Maine, make it this one. It sits at the top of every best lighthouses in Maine list for a good reason.
Portland Head Light is in Fort Williams Park on Cape Elizabeth, and it’s the most photographed lighthouse in all of New England (one look and you’ll get why). George Washington himself commissioned it and it was first lit way back in 1791 making it the oldest lighthouse in Maine.
We actually went twice, once near sunset and again the next morning so we could tour the museum, and both times were absolutely gorgeous. Both were also packed (think charter buses of tourists). Pro tip: the earlier you roll in, the better your odds of a photo without a stranger wandering into the frame.
Portland Head is obviously the star of the show, but don’t sleep on the rest of Fort Williams Park. It spans 90 acres and has picnic spots, hiking trails, and even the ruins of an old mansion to poke around. Give yourself at least an hour here, more if you’re a wanderer like us.
And whatever you do, don’t skip the little museum in the old keeper’s cottage. It only takes 15 or 20 minutes and it’s so worth it, with several old lighthouse lenses you can get right up next to. The gift shop next door is tiny but mighty (we walked out with a Portland Head ornament and the cutest vintage travel poster). The gift shop line was somehow longer than the museum line.
Can you actually go inside Portland Head Light? You can, but only ONE day a year, on Maine Open Lighthouse Day in September. The date shifts around a little each year, and us? We missed it by exactly one week in 2025. I’m still sad about that one.
Anything else to know? Yes! Be sure to grab lunch at the Bite Into Maine food truck in Fort Williams Park. They serve up a unique selection of lobster rolls including wasabi and curry versions.
I went with the traditional Connecticut hot butter style and it was easily one of the best lobster rolls I tried on our New England road trip. Very fresh and loaded with buttery claw meat. There’s even a gelato truck on site. You’re welcome.
essential info
Address: Fort Williams Park, 1000 Shore Rd, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107
Hours: Fort Williams Park is open from sunrise to sunset. The museum and gift shop are open 10:00 – 4:00 from Memorial Day through mid-October.
Parking: The central parking lot closest to the Portland Head Light is a paid lot. The meters are card only. Also, there are approximately 10 handicap parking spots right next to the lighthouse.
Portland Head Light Website: www.portlandheadlight.com
Ram Island Ledge Light
The next lighthouse on this list is a two-for-one. While you’re standing at Portland Head taking photos, look out across Casco Bay and you’ll spot Ram Island Ledge Light sitting just offshore.
So, why two lighthouses so close together? Portland Head did a great job keeping ships off the coastline, but boats kept running aground on this sneaky line of ledges out in the bay. So Ram Island Ledge Light was built in 1905 to mark the channel and guide everybody safely through. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places today.
If you’ve taken a Boston Harbor Cruise or Lighthouse Cruise, you’ll probably recognize that the Ram Island Ledge Light is the twin sister of the Boston Graves Lighthouse.
Here’s a little trivia while you’ve got your camera out: Ram Island Ledge Light went solar in 2001 and was later auctioned off to a private buyer though the Coast Guard still keeps it running. I had no idea you could own a functioning lighthouse!
The lighthouse is not accessible to the public. However, if you want to get a closer look, you can book a Maine Lighthouses Tour that gets you up close and personal to several of the most famous Maine lighthouses.
essential info
Address: Fort Williams Park, 1000 Shore Rd, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107
Hours: Fort Williams Park is open from sunrise to sunset.
Parking: Parking is the same as for the Portland Head Light. The central parking lot closest to the Portland Head Light is a paid lot with meters that accept credit and debit cards only.
Cape Elizabeth’s Two Lights
Portland Head gets all the attention, but Cape Elizabeth has not one but two more lighthouses up its sleeve. They’re a matching pair built in 1828, and they’re the reason the area is called Two Lights.
You can really only get a good look at one of them. The western tower was decommissioned back in 1924 and is privately owned now, so it’s a little tricky to see. In fall and winter, once the leaves thin out, you can sneak a partial peek from Beacon Lane, but heads up, there’s zero parking on that residential street, so it’s a slow drive-by at best.
The eastern tower is the one you came for anyway. It’s still active today, flashing every 20 seconds, and the best view is from the end of Two Lights Road. Park at Dyer Cove. We just put The Lobster Shack into our GPS and it dropped us right at the lot.
Speaking of which I highly recommend eating at the Two Lights Lobster Shack. We were planning to skip it until a fellow photographer back at Portland Head told us it was the best lobster roll in the area. So we turned around and drove all the way back, and oh my gosh, it was worth every single mile
They serve whole lobster too, and since my 85-year-old dad had never had one, we figured this was the spot to check it off his bucket list.
Order at the window and grab a picnic table out over the rocky shoreline. It was raining the day we went, so we ended up at a window table inside instead, and the view was still gorgeous.
essential info
Address: 225 Two Lights Rd, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107
Hours: The lot at Dyer Cove is open round the clock. Be respectful of the nearby residential areas when planning your visit.
Entry Fee: None
Parking: Dyer Cove has 8 – 10 parking spots. We visited twice and saw only one other car, so parking should not be an issue.
Spring Point Ledge Light
Here’s one of the best lighthouses in Maine you can actually go inside. Built in 1897 to protect Portland Harbor, it’s the only caisson-style lighthouse in the country you can walk to. (Caisson just means the lighthouse sits on a cylindrical base anchored to the seafloor, instead of on dry land or a ledge).
The broken rock breakwater was added later. The walk out along the breakwater is half the fun. Just make sure you have sturdy shoes. The path is very uneven.
Tours run Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other Saturday in summer, and a tour is the only way to get inside, so check the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse site for exact dates before you go. Take the tour if you possibly can. We hadn’t planned to, but volunteers were down at the base greeting people, and they offered to walk us through and let us settle up afterward at the office.
The inside was hands-down the best part. The keeper’s room and living quarters are still set up exactly how they would’ve been used. Keepers spent weeks out there at a time with only an assistant to talk to. One carved wooden ducks and birds that have since sold for over $100,000 at auction.
The light is automated and runs all on its own now under the car of the Coast Guard, so sadly there’s no more keeper these days.
Fun(ny) Fact: The foghorn is run by an app, which means any boat captain (or anyone else) with the passcode can set it off when needed. Our guide rolled his eyes telling us about a local tour operator who fires it up every single time he brings a tour group by. The horn then blasts every 10 seconds for a solid hour, to the volunteers’ endless annoyance. It was sounding off the entire time we were out there.
essential info
Address: 2 Fort Rd, South Portland, ME 04106
Hours: The breakwater is open year-round, dawn to dusk. The lighthouse interior is also open for tours on selected days during the summer
Parking: Park at Southern Maine Community College. Public parking lots are nearby.
Bug Light (Portland Breakwater Light)
Save the cutest lighthouse in Maine for last. Bug Light is just 26 feet tall and sits at the end of a short breakwater in South Portland. But don’t let the size fool you, this lighthouse packs big style into a tiny package.
Architect Thomas Ustick Walter, famous for his work on the US Capitol, built the Portland Breakwater Light in 1875. So instead of your standard-issue lighthouse, he modeled this one after an ancient Greek monument complete with fluted columns and crown-like detailing.
Get up close and you’ll notice that those columns secretly hide the seams in the cast-iron construction. Engineering disguised as decoration? Genius.
These days Bug Light anchors Bug Light Park, a 9-acre stretch of waterfront that tells the story of South Portland’s shipbuilding past. The parking lot is even shaped like a Liberty ship. This was the spot where we saw the most families walking the paths, enjoying the park, and checking out the Liberty Ship Memorial at the end of the lot.
essential info
Address: Bug Light Park, S Portland Greenbelt Pathway, South Portland, ME 04106
Hours: Open year-round, sunrise to sunset. The lighthouse itself is not open to visitors.
Parking: Free parking at Bug Light Park with walking trails and picnic areas.
Best Lighthouses in Portland Maine Map
Want to see how it all fits together? Here’s a map of the Portland, Maine lighthouses, plotted in the order we drove them. I’ve dropped each lighthouse, the parking, and both lobster shacks on here, so you can follow the same loop or rearrange it to fit your day.
Best Guided LighthouseTours Near Portland Maine
Every lighthouse on this list is easy to see from land, which is how we did it. But a few of these lights (Ram Island Ledge especially) really only make sense from the water, and Portland Head from a boat is a different photo than the one everyone takes from the cliff path.
We didn’t take a cruise on this trip, so consider this the honest rundown: what each boat actually is, and who each one is for.
Before you book, a few honest notes. Whatever the forecast says on shore, it’s colder on the water, so bring a real layer even in summer (it’s the single most common thing reviewers wish they’d known). Sunset cruises are the romantic golden-hour pick and sell out first; morning cruises tend to have the calmest seas and the best light.
And keep your Portland Head expectations flexible: how close a boat gets depends on the captain and the chop that day, so pack a zoom if the perfect shot matters.
FAQs About the Best Lighthouses Near Portland Maine
How many lighthouses are in southern Maine?
Southern Maine has more than a dozen, and the five in this guide are the most iconic and the easiest to see in one day. Maine as a whole has more than 60 lighthouses, which is how it earned the nickname “the Lighthouse State.”
Can you go inside any of the lighthouses?
Portland Head Light has a museum, and Spring Point Ledge Light sometimes offers seasonal tours. Most others are closed to the public, but the grounds and views make them worth visiting.
What’s the best time of year to see the lighthouses in Maine?
Summer offers warm weather and longer days, but fall is ideal for cooler weather, smaller crowds, and beautiful foliage.
What’s the best lighthouse cruise in Portland, Maine?
It depends what you’re after. The Best of Maine Lighthouse Scenic Cruise is the most popular all-around tour, the Casco Bay sunset cruise is the prettiest, and a private lobster-boat charter is the splurge. We break down every option, including a bike tour, in the guided tours section above.
Can you see all the Portland lighthouses in one day?
Yes, and that’s exactly what we did. The five in this guide sit within about 20 minutes of each other, so you can hit all of them in one relaxed day with time left for a couple of lobster rolls. Start at Portland Head early to beat the crowds, then work your way around to Spring Point Ledge and Bug Light.
Are the Portland lighthouses free to visit?
Mostly, yes. Bug Light Park, the Spring Point Ledge breakwater, and the Two Lights viewpoint are all free. The main cost is paid parking at Fort Williams Park (home to Portland Head Light), plus small fees if you tour the Portland Head museum or go inside Spring Point Ledge.
