Don’t just take a foliage drive this year. Take a vintage adventure.

Maine has brilliant and breathtaking foliage most years. But the state’s small towns are also filled with antique shops and vintage stores, where you can spend blissful hours browsing all sorts of historic gems or charming clutter. 

Happily, just like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, it’s easy to combine two great things into one. Whether you’re exploring the western mountains, the river valleys or the coast, you can easily find scenic drives that run right past antique stores. Below we offer suggestions for seven foliage/antique destinations around the state. 

Remember that Maine has had a long dry spell this year, which may shorten foliage season and make colors less vibrant in some areas. So before deciding when and where you want to go leaf peeping, check out the state’s weekly foliage conditions report at mainefoliage.com. 

BETHEL

Start in Bethel, a skiing and hiking town in the heart of Maine’s western mountains, where you can explore the rambling Stream Mill Antiques and Collectibles, located in an 1820 farmhouse. There’s also Bennett’s Antiques, with vintage toys, books, jewelry, gems and minerals. From Bethel, head north on Route 26 for about 30 miles to the New Hampshire border along the Grafton Notch Scenic Byway. The wooded roadway offers views of 3,812-foot Grafton Notch and there are several rest areas for stopping and photo taking, including at 23-foot-high Screw Auger Falls and at Mother Walker Falls, which drop some 40 feet. 

BRIDGTON 

The Lakes Region town of Bridgton, on Route 302, has several places with a wide variety of vintage, secondhand and antique finds, including Bridgton Antiques and The 207. From Bridgton follow 302 west to Fryeburg, famous for its fair, then head north on Route 5, past Kezar Pond to Lovell. Then you can continue east on Route 93 through Sweden and back to 302 in Bridgton. 

CORNISH 

Follow Route 25 west from Portland past Sebago Lake to Cornish, a picturesque old town among rolling hills near the New Hampshire border. There are several shops on Main Street in stately old buildings, including Cornish Trading Co., Evie’s Downtown and The Smith Company. Continue heading west on Route 25, then south on Route 160, to see the historic Porter-Parsonsfield Bridge. Built in 1859, this covered bridge spans the Ossipee River but is closed to traffic. Still, it makes for a great fall photo opp. 

FAIRFIELD

This old mill town near Waterville is home to Fairfield Antiques Mall, billed as the largest antiques and salvage mall in Maine. More than 100 independent dealers have their merchandise spread over five levels. From Fairfield, take Route 201 about 20 miles north to Solon. From there you can follow the highway another 78 miles to the Canadian border, along the Old Canada Road Scenic Byway. The road follows the Kennebec River part of the way and there are picnic spots and scenic overlook areas, including at Robbins Hill and Moxie Falls. 

HALLOWELL

Start in Brunswick by exploring Cabot Mill Antiques and the indoor Waterfront Flea Market. Both are housed in the Fort Andross mill complex near the Androscoggin River, but the flea market is open weekends only. Then follow Route 201 north through the small, pastoral towns of Bowdoin and Richmond, then along the Kennebec River to Hallowell. Antiquing opportunities in that quaint old riverfront town include the multi-vendor shop The Rusticators Emporium and the Hallowell Antique Mall. 

LIBERTY 

Route 3  west from Augusta leads through the pretty China Lakes region and eventually to the Midcoast seaport town of Belfast. In between there’s Liberty, just west of St. George Lake and home to the wonderfully quirky Liberty Tool Company, billed as the largest secondhand tool store in Maine. The four-story 1885 building is crammed with tools, hardware, antiques, trunks, used furniture, postcards, books, toys, etc. There’s a tool annex across the street, too.

OWLS HEAD 

Take a coastal foliage trek north on Route 1, through Bath and Wiscasset, the self-described “prettiest village in Maine.” But for your destination head to the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, near Rockland. There you can see a huge selection of vintage aircraft, cars, bikes, motorcycles and carriages. The antique planes include a little red 1923 Fokker with the words “Tacoma to Tokyo” written on the side, while antique autos date back to the late 1800s and include Oldsmobile, Mercedes, Fiat, Rolls-Royce and of course, the Ford Model T.