Cape Cod, Massachusetts
When you reach Race Point at the tip of Cape Cod, you might feel you’ve come to the end of the earth. Beyond this long, thin crook of glacial sand lies the broad Atlantic, stretching all the way to Portugal. The Cape’s fishing fleets haul the sweetest scallops and richest tuna; virtually every cove harbors a hamlet founded by farmers whose grandchildren turned to the sea. Its beaches extend for 30 miles (48 km), from Chatham to Provincetown, comfortably accommodating the thousands of swimmers and sunbathers who flock here.
Cape Cod Welcome Center • Jct. Rtes. 6 and 132, Hyannis • 508 362 3225 • open daily during summer
1. Cape Cod Canal
Dug to save ships from the treacherous Nantucket Shoals, the canal marks the Cape’s sedate beginning. Pedal the bike paths or cast a line from the banks for striped bass and ferocious bluefish.
2. Sandwich Boardwalk and Town Beach
Songbirds whistle as you clip-clop over Great Marsh on the Sandwich Boardwalk. The gentle waves and warm waters of Cape Cod Bay make Town Beach ideal for small children.
3. King’s Highway
More shady lane than highway, Route 6A strings together the salty Cape Cod Bay villages filled with the mansions of Victorian sea captains, antiques dealers, and the studios of potters, glassblowers, and other artisans.
4. Nickerson State Park
Eight crystal-clear glacial kettle ponds dot this wooded parkland far removed, both physically and ecologically, from the Cape Cod seashores. Watch rare songbirds, canoe and fish the ponds, and camp at more than 420 sites.Nickerson State Park • Rte. 6A, Brewster • 508 896 3491 • 877 422 6762 (camping reservations) • open daily • park: free; camping: adm • www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr
5. Cape Cod Rail Trail
One of the most invigorating ways to see Cape Cod, the trail begins in Dennis, crosses fields and forest, skirts a quaint fishing harbor, and follows dune cliffs into Wellfleet.
6. Falmouth and Woods Hole
Marine researchers dominate tiny Woods Hole, a harbor of professors who look like pirates. Falmouth proper is a quintessential New England town of neat houses and tall churches.
7. Hyannis
Hyannis is Cape Cod’s market town and transportation hub, thanks to its airport and two ferry lines that shuttle back and forth to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
8. Chatham
An iconic lighthouse marks the dangerous shoals off Chatham’s astounding and ever-shifting barrier beaches, where seabirds flock and seals bask in the winter sun. Home to the Cape’s main tuna fleet, Chatham is also a yachtsmen’s harbor.
9. Cape Cod National Seashore Beaches
When glaciers receded 15,000 years ago, they left behind a vast swath of fine sand hammered by relentless waves. Beaches for swimmers, kite-flyers, surfers, and sunbathers stretch all the way from Nauset Beach to Race Point with its historic Life-Saving Station.Cape Cod National Seashore Salt Pond Visitor Center • Rte. 6, Eastham • 508 255 3421 • open daily Sep–Jun: 9am–4:30pm; Jul–Aug: 9am–5pm • adm (beach and parking) • www.nps.gov/caco
10. Provincetown
It’s always party time in P-town. The Cape’s most colorful community is at once a Portuguese-American fishing village, a major art colony, and a leading gay resort destination.
Tip: If you’re traveling with children, drive Rte. 28 to enjoy its rich array of mini-golf courses, ice cream stands, and other diversions for the “are-we-there-yet?” set. Tip: Kream ’N Kone, Rtes. 28 and 134, West Dennis, 508 394 0808 serves some of Cape Cod’s best fried seafood.
