Cape Cod Attractions, Events & Things to Do

Introduction

Heading for the Cape from either Boston or Providence, you pass southeastern Massachusetts towns that range from intriguing historic villages to former industrial cities to a handful of bucolic seaside communities with perhaps as much charm as -- and far fewer crowds than -- the Cape itself.

Along Boston's South Shore, the city of Quincy celebrates the legacy of two hometown presidents, John Adams and John Quincy Adams. It's well-worth exploring the Adams National Historic Park, which comprises 11 historic buildings. A bit farther south, the region's must-see draw is Plimoth Plantation, a stellar living-history museum in the family-friendly town of Plymouth. If you're approaching from the south and west, Fall River's Battleship Cove provides a floating piece of WWII history, while New Bedford gives a powerful image of the country's whaling days and early industrial era. These cities are both a bit rough around the edges, but these key attractions merit a visit.

If you have time to meander, do venture off the interstate and pass through the pastoral seafront villages of Westport, South Dartmouth, and Marion, which hark back to the old-time New England pleasures of lobster boils, sugary beaches, and long summer days. The Upper Cape The region nearest the bridges is at once the most suburban and sprawling chunk of Cape Cod as well as the most historic -- increasingly, it's also becoming more and more upscale in character each year. Affluent Boston and South Shore commuters continue to snap up homes in the area's two biggest towns, Falmouth and Sandwich. Many old B&B's have been turned into private homes, but the infusion of money has also led to a better selection of fine restaurants and shops that remain open year-round. Proximity to the bridges also makes this a relatively more accessible area than the rest of the Cape, making it handy for short getaways.

Along the northern bay side lie the Cape's oldest towns -- Sandwich was settled back in 1637. Nearby Mashpee, where more than 600 residents are descended from the original Wampanoags, is one of two Massachusetts towns with Native American-governed areas. The west coast from Bourne through North and West Falmouth mixes residential suburbs with hidden coves and beaches lining the bay, while Falmouth proper is an established year-round community with a particularly strong fine and performing arts scene. Nearby Woods Hole brims with maritime attractions and is where a ferry chugs year-round to Martha's Vineyard.

The Mid Cape has a bit of a Jekyll-and-Hyde complex. Along the northern fringes, narrow Route 6A snakes through a series of peaceful, all-American, colonial hamlets, such as Barnstable, Yarmouth Port, and Dennis. It's a sophisticated, adult-minded area abundant with antiques shops, smart taverns, and romantic B&B's with creaky floorboards and wavy-glass windows. At the southern end of the area, booming Hyannis acts as a transportation and social hub for a more family-oriented, in some places honky-tonk, patch of seaside fun. It's chockfull of both hip and casual restaurants and galleries and has dozens of motels as well as some charming country inns.

Traffic-clogged and rather tacky, Route 28 cuts east from Hyannis into South Yarmouth and West Dennis, the Cape capitals of motor lodges and mini-golf course. In the other direction, though, Route 28 runs west through the more low-keyed, old-money enclaves of Centerville, Cotuit, and Osterville. The Lower Cape The Lower Cape is really a microcosm of everything that is Cape Cod. Brewster is a continuation of the subtle, historic charms of Route 6A, while Harwich Port and Orleans both see some of the same commercial exuberance, if excess, along Route 28 and other parts of Cape Cod's southern shore.

Pristine and lightly developed Eastham is the gateway to Cape Cod National Seashore (stop by the Salt Pond Visitor Center for information) and marches to a laid-back vibe that's similar in tone to the Outer Cape towns. And blue-blooded Chatham feels like a cross between the tony sections of Falmouth and Sandwich mixed with the restrained elegance of Nantucket -- it's more expensive and conservative than just about any town on Cape Cod. In addition to the Cape, nature lovers can explore remote Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge as well as dozens of inviting ponds and beaches, plus one of the best stretches of the Cape Cod bike path.

There's virtually nothing on Cape Cod -- opulent inns and resorts, casual lobster shacks, funky galleries, historic lighthouses and windmills -- that you won't find in considerable abundance in the Lower Cape. The Outer Cape Technically part of the Lower Cape, the Outer Cape is nonetheless its own entity, forming the wrist and fist of Cape Cod. There's a sense of abandon here, in the hedonistic summertime frenzy of Provincetown and out on the windswept landscape of dunes and marshes. As you drive down here, the land flattens out, vegetation gets sparser and more coniferous, and the sea feels closer as the land narrows. Much of the region is undeveloped, protected by the Cape Cod National Seashore. Long, straight, dune-backed beaches appear to go on forever; inland, trails wind through wind-stunted forests of scrub pine, beech, and oak.

Wellfleet is a quiet town, with art galleries, upscale shops, and a calmly active harbor. With an expanse of high dunes, estuaries, salt marshes, pine forests, rivers, and winding back roads, Truro is the least-populated, least-developed town on the entire Cape.

The promise of solitude has long drawn artists and writers out here. Provincetown has two faces -- a quiet little fishing village in winter and a magnet for throngs of pleasure seekers (including a substantial gay and lesbian community) in summer, who come for the rugged beaches, photogenic streets lined with historic homes, zany nightlife, shops selling everything from antiques to zoot suits, and the galleries, readings, and art classes that carry on Provincetown's rich history as an art colony.

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