wellfleet or eastham

we like to walk to town and to the beach. we are looking for a cottage rental. should we look in wellfleet or eastham. we are torn. which area offers more. i envision strolling to the coffee shop in the morning. can you do that in wellfleet. or strolling for ice cream at night. or do you always have to go by car. how far is one from the other. we have a decent cottage on hold in eastham but i am having secondthoughts.

wellfleet or eastham

It depends where the cottage is whether you can walk to shops. That applies to any of the towns. We have stayed in East Orleans in walking distance of coffe shops, restaurants etc. and also in Orleans centre within walking distance to everything in the town. But mostly we stay closer to the beach and do our walking there. You really need your car for the Eastham/Wellfleet area. Where in Eastham is the cottage you are thinking of? Perhaps I can comment on its location.

wellfleet or eastham

I should have said that for the most part in the Orleans/Eastham/Wellfleet area, if you are close to the beach then you need your car to go to shops, restaurants etc. And vice versa.

the cottage we have in mind is 6/10 of a mile from Thumpertown beach. the street is calledMillbrode avenue. we will have a rental car. we were trying to find a place close to the beach. are you saying that we either choose close to the beach, or to town, but impossible to achieve both?

First of all there is really no town centre as such in Eastham. The restaurants and shops are strung out for several miles along Rte 6.

There are a couple of small general stores selling basic food etc. but for a supermarket you will need to go into Orleans.

Wellfleet has a small, pretty ';downtown'; area but it is not in walking distance to the beach.

Orleans is quite a large town, by Cape standards and has a busy town centre with restaurants, shopping etc. It is possible to rent within walking distance of the town but again you would not be in walking distance of the beach.

Everything is very close if you drive. It%26#39;s only a few minutes from the centre of Orleans to several beaches, on the Bay side and on the ocean. The same with Eastham, one almost continuous beach for miles on both the Bay and ocean. From Thumpertown area you will only be minutes away from restaurants, shopping, coffee, icecream etc. but you will need to drive as far as I know. There is a restaurant on Rte 6 which has a donut shop which is open early mornings which you could possibly walk to. There is also a Ben and Jerry%26#39;s ice cream store which is a fair walk and you have to cross very busy Rte 6 to get to it.

Hope this helps.

Just rent bikes!!! after all the most picturesque ride is from the Salt Pond Visitor Center to Coast Guard Beach. The Rail Trail towards Orleans is also nice... takes you right to the Stop and Shop. However, I find the Eastham Superette has everything we need for the week including a great deli. hubby and I ride our bikes to the Hole in One for donuts with the locals...or a sit down breakfast in the Fairway dining room. Lots of restaurants in Orleans including the Cottage Street Bakery for morning coffee and croissants. Wicked Oyster in Wellfleet serves a good breakfast too!

It sounds like you want to stay in the Town of Wellfleet. It’s probably one of the more charming, historic old whaling towns on the Cape. No Starbucks – but you should be able to find a cup of coffee and the paper easily enough. You can also walk to Mayo Beach and the Town Pier from almost anyplace in that general area. And the Town Pier is the perfect place to get ice cream at night. I will say Mayo Beach (being in a busy harbor) is NOT my favorite beach for swimming or sunbathing but it’s nice for a drink and a sunset. And if you want to rent a skiff Jeremy Point is close by water and it’s one of the best spots for swimming and shell seeking (just ask at the boat rental at the pier – easy enough for a beginner) but for a really great beach by land you’ve got to hop in the car (or bike) and head a mile over to the ocean side.

But really hopping in the car is no big deal (it can be very rural out there) and the place in Eastham sounds great. I wouldn%26#39;t stress over this.