Cape Cod Area? About This Page:

[phoebec]

I am trying to plan a trip for our "off year" from Disney next summer. I would happily go there every year but my husband insists there is more to the world than Disney. I was thinking about Cape Cod, but not familiar with the area at all. We are used to Outer Banks beaches where the houses are right on the beach. Is it that way in Cape Cod or is it more you get a house in town and drive to the beach? Does anyone have any recommendations for rental agencies or nice places to stay? Any help would be appreciated, as I know nothing about the area. There would probably be a total of 7 or maybe 8 people going (3 kids).

Thank you!

[OneLittleSpark]

There are some houses on the beach as well as resorts. But not a lot. Most are drive or walk to, near the beach.

[disney_duke]

I spent a quick girls weekend there and most beaches are hard to get to without driving. Now we were trying to do it on a budget (my friend had recently graduated law school and was still paying that off) and due to our short time there, we didn't look for a house or beach location, so I can't help you much there. We stayed in Hyannis simply for the location - right in the center. That made it easy for driving to explore Chatham, Dennis and Falmouth. Loved Chatham, that was my favorite by far! We did a little boat tour there which took us out to the ocean, saw some seals/sea lions (I forget now), and dropped us off at a mostly deserted beach for a few hours. That was really nice! We also spent some time in Dennis (or somewhere in that general area) at a more popular beach at low tide during sunset and that was very peaceful as well.

In our driving experiences, we were surprised to see so much forest. I guess we thought it'd look more like a beach/coastal town where you can see the ocean all the time. But you can't. We stayed at a hotel directly across from the harbor, Hyannis Holiday. Very bare bones, but it included a light continental breakfast and was walking distance to the main street, so it worked for us. We also took a harbor cruise (on a sailboat, which made me very nervous, I don't like water that much!) out of the Hyannis Harbor and got to see the shoreline which included the Kennedy compound.

Overall, it was a pretty nice vacation, but we were on the move so much to explore all we could in our short time there. I can see how it would be easy to stay a week and relax more, for sure! Good luck!

[OneLittleSpark]

Here is a good thread on this same topic. I thought you might be interested in.

http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ip-boston.html

[modisney]

The Cape is a great place but it is CROWDED in the summer. It can take quite some time to make the short trip there to an from Boston. A couple of ideas might be to make it a Wednesday to Wednesday trip or something like that or fly into Providence RI. It's not the straight shot of a drive as from Boston but it's the same timewise. There are some houses on the beach but not many. Good luck in you search.

[Huntermom]

We used to get a condo at Ocean Edge in Brewster. We would rent through a real estate agent, not the resort and it was pretty reasonable that way. It is a golf resort with multiple pools, tennis and basketball courts and family friendly restaurants on site.

I've also seen the condos rented on cyberrentals and VRBO. As far as I know, all Cape house/condo rentals are Sat-Sat which makes getting on and off the Cape very difficult. I would also try to go at the beginning of June or the end of August to avoid the crowds. Before the kids were in school, we would go the week after Labor Day. the weather was still great and the crowds were diminished.

[magic mickey]

Cape Cod is so crazy in the summer! My DS just came back after a week with a friends family. They had a house near the beach somewhere around Truro. It took them over 3 hours to get off the Cape because of traffic. They did have a good time and if you like I can get to the name of the rental agency. I personally only like to visit the Cape off season, but this is my opinion.

[CynBeth]

We just did a combination Cape Cod and Boston trip. We were in CC for July 4th weekend. We had a dog with us so we were limited where we could stay. We were in Hyannis at the Cape Cod Harbor House Inn which was right across from the ferry dock. They had a continental breakfast but my husband has food allergies so it was a short walk to Main Street. But, the room we were in had a kitchenette so you could bring food with you and make meals. It also had dishes and silverware. It was a long drive for us so the whole first day was spent driving there. In the few days we were there we visited Provincetown and climbed the Pilgrim's Monument and walked around town. We also took the hy speed ferry to Martha's Vineyard one day and the hy speed ferry to Nantucket the other day. Hyannis had a late afternoon 4th of July parade and fireworks at night. The day we left to head to Boston we stopped at the Cape Cod Potato Chips Factory and we also stopped in Sandwich to see the Sandwich Glass Museum. We also spent a few hours in Plymouth. In Boston we went to the Franklin Park Zoo, did a whale watch that we did through the New England Aquarium and spent some time at the aquarim, walked the Freedom Trail, and did a side trips to Concord and Salem.

[Shawnam1868]

I know I am late to chime in here, but I live less than an hour from Cape Cod and my opinion....skip it. Can it be nice, yes, but traffic in the summer is less pleasant than ripping your own eyeballs out. Seriously. What about staying closer to the city (Boston) and renting a car and doing day trips? Plum Island is beautiful, and less than an hour from the city, as is Plymouth. You could even do a day or 2 in Newport.