Summer on the coast south of Portland settles into a rhythm of beach, tide and marsh. Mornings go to the seven miles of flat sand at Old Orchard Beach, long enough to walk for an hour at low tide without running out of beach. Afternoons go to the Scarborough Marsh, paddling its channels as they drain toward the sea, and by evening the whole crew is back under the awning at a resort big enough to run its own trolley loop.
It's a week built around the resort, which is why the motorhome stays put. Campgrounds sit on nearly every corner around Old Orchard Beach, and the biggest are full resorts with pools, trolleys and hundreds of sites, where a family backs in on the first afternoon and leaves everything set up until checkout.
Bayley's, Wild Acres and Paradise Park along the beach
Bayley's Camping Resort is the place most families picture when they plan this week. It's large enough to run beach trolleys out to the sand, and it offers kayaking through the Scarborough Marsh, so both halves of the day start from the site. Its site types mix 50- and 30-amp electric with water, sewer and cable.
Sun Retreats Wild Acres is the second big resort on the strip, and it sends guests out to the same marsh and north to Portland's Old Port for a day. It sells premium full-hookup sites at 30 and 50 amp alongside water-and-electric sites, which gives you a choice of how much hookup the week needs.
Paradise Park Resort sells itself on the walk, with the beach a short stroll from over 200 sites that include waterfront RV hookups. As of October 2026, its site posts it closed for the 2026 season, so confirm it's taking bookings before building a week around it.
Reserve the resort site before you book the rig. The site you land, full hookup or water and electric, decides how the week runs and which motorhome makes sense, and summer weeks on the strip are the ones everyone plans around.
Spring and fall are the quieter edges. Bayley's runs limited amenities in both shoulders, with the pools heated on weekends only, which suits a crew that came for the marsh more than the pool deck.
Portland's Old Port and a ferry to the islands
One day of the week belongs to Portland, with the night back at the resort. The Old Port's cobbled streets run down to the working waterfront, where Harbor Fish Market sells the day's catch over the counter and the island boats load at the ferry terminal.
From that terminal, Casco Bay Lines runs ferries to the Casco Bay islands all year, carrying passengers, freight, mail and cars alongside each other. The ride out is the easiest way to see the harbor from the water, and the Eastern Promenade makes the walk before the drive back south.
Sebago Lake, Bradbury Mountain, Wolfe's Neck Woods by Freeport and Camden Hills up the midcoast add up to a different trip, one that moves between state park campgrounds every couple of nights. For two people on that moving loop a smaller rig fits better, and the Portland campervan page lays it out.
Acadia's granite shore makes a longer leg north, and its campgrounds and what fits there are on the Acadia RV page. The rest of the state's rig trips are on the Maine RV page.