Summer (late June through September) is the main season, when the harbor is busy with windjammer schooners, the Maine Lobster Festival runs in late July and early August, and the Farnsworth is at its most active with events and programmes. The weather is reliably good, if occasionally foggy along the coast — that fog is part of the atmosphere.
Shoulder season (May and October) is excellent if you can avoid the Lobster Festival crowds — the town is quieter, accommodation is cheaper, and the fall foliage in the surrounding hills can be spectacular from mid-September through early October.
Winter is quiet and cold. Some restaurants close; the windjammers are in dry dock. But the Farnsworth remains open year-round and the town has a genuine year-round character that feels more authentic than the summer version.