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Cape Cod Travel Guide

New England's favorite summer beach playground...

 

 

This 70-mile-long (113-km) arm of sand curled into the Atlantic (map) was formed by glacial action and was given its name by an early (1602) visitor to the New World, Bartholomew Gosnold.

"The time must come when this coast will be a place of resort for those New Englanders who really wish to visit the seaside. At present it is wholly unknown to the fashionable world...."—Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod, 1865.

Cape Cod didn't stay "unknown to the fashionable world" for long.

Each Cape Cod town has its own distinct character. Here they are, from west and south through east and north, as you might approach them when driving from the mainland.

Sandwich

Falmouth

Woods Hole

Barnstable

Hyannis

Yarmouth

Dennis

Brewster

Chatham

Orleans

Eastham

Wellfleet

Truro

Provincetown

Two graceful bridges span the canal—one at Bourne to the south (MA 28), one at Sagamore to the north (US 6)—and both are very busy—sometimes hopelessly jammed— in the warm months. More...

Strictly speaking, Cape Cod is an island, separated from the rest of Massachusetts by the Cape Cod Canal, a deep waterway built from north to south across the base of Cape Cod in the early part of this century.

Once a collection of fishing towns, then a getaway vacation spot for Bostonians, Cape Cod is now among America's most popular seaside resort areas. Its pretty towns are packed with visitors each summer. Reserve your lodgings in advance!

The Pilgrims landed in the New World at Provincetown and drew up the Mayflower Compact before heading on to the mainland at what would become Plymouth.


Cape Cod Tourist Information

Suggested Itineraries

Cape Cod Transportation

New York City to Cape Cod by Bus

New York City to Cape Cod by Train & Bus

Massachusetts Homepage

 

Cape Cod Beach

A couple enjoying the surf on Cape Cod National Seashore: 50 miles (80 km) of preserved beach and wilderness.