Advice please on Cape Cod

My husband, myself and 10 year old daughter are planning a vacation to Boston and then to Cape Cod. We have never been to either. Will be arriving early in the week perhaps Monday or Tuesday. Is it best to drive straight to Cape Cod? We would like somewhere with great shopping, beautiful scenery, and perhaps a cottage where we can step right out onto the sandy beach. I understand some places like a minimum stay of a week. We will not be in Cape Cod for that long. More like 3-4 days. I%26#39;m hoping that there will be enough to do and see. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Jodi

Advice please on Cape Cod

You probably be able to find a nice motel, hotel room on the beach but first : When are you planning to come to the cape ,what type of accomodations are looking for , and what amount of money would like to spend per night.

Advice please on Cape Cod

Of course the busiest time, August 20th (week of). I%26#39;m concerned with all of the negative reviews towards the hotels, motels, B%26amp;B%26#39;s. We are willing to pay around $200/night. I am REALLY having trouble figuring out which town to even stay in. Like I said, shopping , beautiful beaches and great food are what we tend to strive for. Provincetown sound too ';wild'; with the gay and lesbians with the drag queen and what not. Chatham sounds great but very expensive. Where are the great sandy white beaches to swim in and the great shopping and restaurants? A place where we won%26#39;t get bored in!

Jodi

That may not necessarily be the busiest time. Ask around. We were there around that time, and many families had returned home to start the school year, so there was more availability than we expected.

A couple of years ago when I was researching the Cape and the best place to stay, I looked at the Cape magazines(available at Barnes and Noble). If an ad for a certain store, B%26amp;B, or restaurant caught my eye, then i knew that place would fit our tastes. It turned out to be Chatham. I booked our reservations and it lived up to our expectations and more. Now, we visit at least 4 times a year and still haven%26#39;t seen everything on the Cape. So far, I love the beaches along the National Seashore and First Encounter when the tide is out. Shopping depends on your taste...antiques all over rt.6A...fun/kitschy stuff in Provincetown...chain stores in the Hyannis mall and Mashpee Commons...or..classic clothing and home stores in Chatham. As for food, great restaurants are everywhere.

It is best to drive to Cape Cod and if you can, try to avoid going ';on Cape'; and ';off Cape'; on Saturdays as that is rental turnover day and traffic giong over the two bridges is a bear

. If you want a real feeling of Cape Cod, Chatham is a great bet! Typical Old New England Main Street (about 1 mile long) with little shops and good food.

To me, Hyannis is full of tourists and isn%26#39;t what the symbolizes Cape Cod. Granted all of Cape Cod has tourists during the summer but Hyannis is full of Tourist Traps. Making a day trip to Hyannis would be enough.

I would recommend renting a cottage over going to a hotel.

Try www.capecodrental.com and search Mid and Lower Cape areas. Dennis and Yarmouth are both nice as well.

Ditto on the Hyannis atmosphere.

Take a look at places in Dennisport, Harwich or Chatham

Dennisport : Edgewater Resort, By the Sea , Colony Beach ( ask about effeciencies or newly removated rooms)

Harwich : The Sandpiper

Chatham : Hawthorne or the Tides

These are all on the water .

It would be nice to be on the water with access to a pool for your daughter

The week of the 20th will see a slow down - Many schools in Massachusetts may begin the following week as well as kids attending college will have started back at this time as well.

These areas will allow an easy drive time to anyplace on the cape - such as the the National Seashore or to Woods Hole

There is access to river cruises or seal or bird watches or whale watching areas. Shopping and a diverse assortment of dining and ice cream!

Check these Hotels out and check out the reviews too - most will send you brochures through the mail or speak with you as well

I%26#39;d rather be driving to the cape on a Tuesday Wednesday than on any other day of the week. Traffic can be really really unpleasant.

There%26#39;s lots to see on the Cape and there%26#39;s something about the atmosphere of some of the small mid-cape towns. The air on the Cape is indescribable, fragrant...wildflowers and seagrass... just exquisite. You can go biking and walking and enjoy nice little New England style town squares with fudge shops and pottery boutiques, that sort of thing. I%26#39;m in Boston and several of my friends, faculty members, take their vacations on the Cape year after year (Wellfleet) for the relaxing pace.

On your way from the Cape to Boston, you can always stop in Plymouth --- Plimouth Plantation is a nice take and there are nice restaurants in Plymouth. Plus, there%26#39;s a neat Mayflower replica in Plymouth harbor that you can explore. Your daughter is at the perfect age for that.

Hope you have a great trip.

i stayed in hyannis for the summer last year and loved it... there is a really great mall, gorgeous beaches, relaxed atmosphere and lots of restaurants with a good variety. Spankys clam shack by the harbour is amazing! the British beer company, and roobar on mainstreet are also very good.

hyannis harbour is great-you can go fishing/ out to nantucket on the ferry. Another great thing to do in hyannis is whalewatching- drive to barnstable harbour (about 10 mins) %26amp;but a ticket (~30$). it was fantastic!

I travelled around cape cod and found that places like chatham and falmouth were nice...but very small with limited amounts to do. a lot of craft shops...!

I would recommend renting a cottage-there are lovely places around ocean street/on to hyannisport. veterans beach is lovely, craigville is the nicest.

While Hyannis gets a little touristy during the season it%26#39;s still a really nice area. My fiance and I went their last year and stayed in a nice motel on main st, very cheap, but not dirty. We went the week before the ';season'; started officially so we got a good rate and not as many people since kids still had another week or so of school.