Maine Day Ventures

My boyfriend and I had a blast on the Maine History Tour in Portland with Tyler. Tyler has an incredible talent for bringing history to life. The way he used old photos and maps on the tour to draw comparisons between then and now was a really cool touch, highlighting his genuine passion for Portland's history.

I was especially impressed by Tyler's friendliness and attention to safety. He consistently looked out for our group, ensuring we didn't create chaos in traffic or inconvenience pedestrians. Following the tour, my boyfriend and I wandered through the city, actively spotting architectural details that Tyler had pointed out -- things we likely would have overlooked otherwise.

I'm giving a big thumbs up to Maine Day Ventures. Already eyeing their Foodie Tours for our next adventure. Thank you, Tyler!

Tyler was great. knowledgeable and personable. it felt like you were walking around with a friend. Portland has a deep history.

The food on our tour was great and it was fun to try the local beers. Our guide, Timothy, was very informative and clearly passionate about his city. The information he provided about the food, history, and residents of the city of Portland were interesting and realistic.
He also gave us information for the rest of our stay in Maine and convinced us we need to return to Portland for a much longer visit next time.

We had a FABULOUS historic tour of Portland with Marsha! It was horrible weather, but Marsha didn't flinch, and she proceeded to walk us and teach us for two full hours - SO much cool stuff in Portland, and we really feel we know the city now - can't wait to go back. FIVE stars for amazing tour guide, Marsha!!

We didn't do a foodie tour per se but there were mentions of restaurants and a little background about some of them. It was a history tour largely and a lot of rich details about the passing of time from the founding of Portland to the present.

Our tour guide Mike did a terrific job. He mentioned that his regular job was that of a teacher and it showed.

It was cool to walk all around town learning the significance of a lot of the buildings and little 'did you know?' facts about them.

So much was covered including the lobster trade, numerous fires and rebuilding around town, Portland's role in U.S. wars, relations with Canada, the efforts of abolitionists, oldest buildings and restaurants, famous poets and artists who lived there, approximate areas of where historical events happened, and much more. It was a great way to move about town with a guided tour and get context on everything around you.

If you're a history buff and like to walk and the weather is decent then you can definitely enjoy this. If you check the website assume there is a difference between this tour and one offered where it focuses solely on food and restaurants. Choose the one that suits you, but I can definitely recommend the history tour.

My girlfriend and I recently went on the Seafood Lover's Lunch in Portland with Maine Day Ventures with Kate as our tour guide. We had a nice time and the food was good, but there were several issues with this experience that would prevent me from providing a positive review. If you are considering booking a tour with this company, I encourage you to read my brief review and make an informed decision.
1. Tour Guide: Although Kate is a nice person and was clearly trying hard, her lack of experience and local knowledge was evident. We have gone on several food tours in cities around the country. Each tour guide had a unique local perspective and added an element beyond the food. While Kate was able to answer our questions to some extent, she was not able to go above and beyond and really give us a feel of Portland. Often times she would walk ahead of the group, look at her phone, and not engage with the group. I would recommend asking for a different tour guide if you decide to book with this company.
2. Food: To be fair, the food provided on the tour was good. Probably a solid 4/5 stars. However, when you compare this to the average food in Portland, it does not stand out. We went to several restaurants prior to the food tour and enjoyed the food at those establishments more (Sopo Seafood, Crispy Gai, Standard Baking Co.). Further, the portion sizes were quite small. After a good food tour, I am typically stuffed. My girlfriend, who is a very small eater, was able to eat everything and was still hungry at the end. When I booked the tour, we were promised to indulge in oysters, scallops, and other seafood specialities. However, we made no such stops to enjoy these delicacies. The only food we ate was one fish taco, a small seafood chowder, and a lobster roll, plus a few desserts. This may sound like a decent amount of food, but when you pay $150 plus tip, it no longer is. You could easily buy this food for less than $100. If the tour guide added value, this would be acceptable. However, this was not the case for us. Finally, the drinks were very small as well. You get 2 small portions of beer, each of which are about 4 oz. The total amount of beer is less than one bottle. Thus, the price for this tour is not justified in terms of the food/drinks provided, nor the service of the tour guide.
If you come to Portland, skip this food tour. You can easily find food just as good, if not better food and pay half the price.

Tour was informative and entertaining. Our guide, Kate, was great, very knowledgeable and comfortable with the group. Choice of restaurant stops was superb, food was delicious everywhere!
We would highly recommend this experience!!!

Recently participated in the Old Port Culinary walking tour. In hindsight, it was such a great way to start our Maine adventure. Our guide, Timothy, really imparted a lot of great information that helped us to enjoy the rest of our vacation even more. Plus, the food was awesome, but the stories were better!

Our tour guide Ross was absolutely amazing. He was very knowledgable and entertaining. We had a great time and learned much about Portland and it's rich history. I would definitely recommend taking this tour the first day you are in town.

The tour was really really really good. We stopped at Gilbert's Chowder House first. OMG the seafood chowder was ABSURDLY great. We then went to Andy's Old Port Pub and had a fresh haddock fish taco which was really good too. Haddock was boat fresh. Then to Gritty's for a lobster roll. It was good. Basic lobster roll. Nothing to rave about but good.
Our tour guide was Andrew and he was awesome. Really enjoyed his commentary and he had a great attitude and personality. Definitely would recommend him as your tour guide. Great job Andrew.