The great hook of Cape Cod makes one of the defining landmarks of the East Coast, not to mention one of America's most fabled seaside playgrounds and R&R escapes. It is, without question, a magical place: so close to and accessible from some of the Eastern Seaboard's major metropolitan areas, yet feeling worlds apart: a maritime realm on the far margin of the country, gesturing toward the thrilling vastness of the North Atlantic (into which it extends some 65 miles).
Indeed, busy as this mighty glacially sculpted peninsula can get, it still offers ample opportunity to slow down and soak up coastal vibes—and plenty of sand-between-your-toes rejuvenation. An anchoring point of the so-called "Outer Lands" archipelago that also includes such nearby islands as Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, Cape Cod very much retains its multifaceted allure today.
With a 100 Collection-facilitated stay here, you can get the most out of your coastal vacation. Here are just a few ideas for the best things to do in Cape Cod!
Cape Cod's one of the ecological jewels of the Northeastern coast, and there are few better ways to sample the natural magic than laced up in hiking boots (or shoes)!
An inspiring chunk of the peninsula falls within protected lands, most extensively and spectacularly the Cape Cod National Seashore. Accounting for nearly 45,000 acres on the Outer Cape, this National Park Service-managed gem includes a marvelous quilt of maritime habitats: from sandy beaches (more on that shortly!), dunes, and tidal saltmarshes to forested freshwater swamps, pine-oak barrens, and heathland.
Nearly a dozen designated hiking trails thread through the National Seashore, giving you a fine taste for that ecogeographic and biological diversity. Check out the lovely and mysterious innards of Cape Cod "pocket wildernesses" along the boardwalks of the 0.8-mile Red Maple Swamp Trail (especially dazzling in fall, when the namesake maples put on a colorful show) and the 1.2-mile Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail. Wander amid pale, smooth trunks and glittering leaves via the milelong Beech Forest Trail, skirt coastal wetlands on the 1.3-mile Nauset Marsh Trail loop, and mix in a little bit of history with your nature appreciation on the 0.7-mile Pilgrim Spring Trail, which visits a water source akin to one the Mayflower contingent likely tapped for freshwater back in the 17th century.
Another highlight of Cape Cod National Seashore's trekking system is the Great Island Trail, the full extent of which covers almost nine miles and takes in seaside, marshland, and pinewood vistas as well as the site of a long-vanished tavern of Colonial vintage.
Keep your eyes peeled on the National Seashore trails for wildlife: everything from piping plovers, eastern box turtles, and cottontails to red foxes, eastern coyotes, and white-tailed deer.
Additional standout hiking awaits at 1,900-acre Nickerson State Park, where (for example) the 3.2-mile Cliff Pond Loop circumambulates a 204-acre kettle pond formed as the epic Pleistocene glaciers that shaped Cape Cod retreated.
The classic mental image that comes to mind when someone mentions "Cape Cod" is surely a postcard-perfect Atlantic beach, backed by grassy dunes on one side and the vastness of the ocean on the other. With about 560 miles of seashore, most of it plush and powdery strand, the Cape ranks among the most iconic beachgoing destinations in the U.S. Some quality time spent with sand-and-surf is most definitely in order—and, for many vacationers, the primary agenda—on a Cape Cod getaway!
From Sandy Neck Beach (Barnstable), Covell Beach (Centerville), Breakwater Beach (Brewster area), and Sagemore Beach (Bourne area) to the two-mile-long Nantucket Sound frontage of West Dennis Beach and the outstanding beaches of the Cape Cod National Seashore—Race Point, Herring Cove, Marconi, Coast Guard, and others—you are, to put it mildly, spoiled for choices in this department. Besides the surfside sands themselves, the Cape's rolling dunes are marvels in and of themselves, composing about a third of the National Seashore and covering about 8,500 acres between Chatham to Provincetown. Some stellar examples of sand dunes help define the far northern Outer Cape extremity historically known as the Province Lands; soak them up (and weave in visits to several beaches as you do) along the six-mile Province Lands Bike Trail.
Sunbathing to sunrise-strolling, swimming to paddleboarding: There are many ways to savor the Cape Cod beachfront, and they're likely to occupy a goodly portion of your stay here—for good reason!
Most people probably know Cape Cod's a world-class beachgoing destination. Fewer likely are aware the peninsula is also one of the finest whale-watching launchpads anywhere.
From ports such as Barnstable, Plymouth, and Provincetown, you can join guided whale-watching cruises to the globally significant Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, the only one of its kind in New England. This approximately 840-square-mile oceanic preserve, the southern boundary of which is a mere three miles off the Outer Cape's northern tip across Race Point Channel, protects the Stellwagen Bank, a submerged platform between Cape Cod and Cape Ann that's a regional epicenter for marine biodiversity.
Strong tidal currents and upwellings around the Bank make for nutrient-rich waters and big-time primary productivity, a smorgasbord attracting the great whales of the Gulf of Maine bioregion. Heavyweight species here include humpback, fin, sei, and minke whales as well as the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.
On a whale-watching foray to the Stellwagen Bank—the main season is summertime—you might also spy a wide range of other sealife, including the grey and harbor seals that also haul out on Cape Cod itself as well as harbor porpoises, Atlantic white-sided and common dolphins, sea turtles, and perhaps even a shark or two—maybe (if you're lucky) one of the majestic great whites that have rebounded in local waters.
In 1620, rerouted by storms from their intended destination of the Colony of Virginia, the Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower ended up anchoring in today's Provincetown Harbor. Their Cape Cod sojourn would last several weeks, and see, among other notable events, the onboard signing of the Mayflower Compact.
That sojourn is commemorated in the tallest all-granite structure in the country: the 252-foot Pilgrim Monument, which looms over Provincetown as one of Cape Cod's most iconic landmarks. Patterned after Italy's Torre Del Mangia, the tower went up in the early 20th century, none other than President Theodore Roosevelt laying its cornerstone in 1907.
The view from the Pilgrim Monument is a showstopper one, and at its base you'll find the fascinating Provincetown Museum, well worth some of your time.
So is the best-known of the numerous lighthouses studding the Cape Cod oceanfront: the Nauset Light, a cast-iron, brick-lined beacon erected back in 1877. Originally situated in Chatham and later moved to Eastham, the lighthouse was shifted again in modern times: With the assistance of the Nauset Light Preservation Society, it was moved about 300 feet back from an eroding cliff that threatened to topple it.
The lighthouse is tourable between late spring and early fall, and can be appreciated year-round as part of the viewshed from Nauset Light Beach in the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Cape Cod's a stellar place for angling, whether you want to cast for bass and trout on a pine-barren pond or set your sights on saltwater trophies. Speaking of the latter, you can do everything from casual surf-casting along the Cape's beaches or land yourself an offshore sportfishing charter, seeking out bluefish, stripers, cod, flounder, mackerel, and other common gamefish.
Longer charters out of Cape Cod can go ply the warm flow of the Gulf Stream, which seasonally brings such Bluewater beauties as marlin, wahoo, and yellowfin tuna into daytripping reach.
Cape Cod's bedecked with charming towns and villages, from the largest hub of Barnstable to Bourne, Falmouth, Eastham, Provincetown, Wellfleet, and Chatham. Besides the many unmissable restaurants and cafés, the main drags of these hamlets are tailor-made for an afternoon of leisurely shopping.
It's easy to land a souvenir or three at shops such as Marine Specialties (235 Commercial St., Provincetown), with its nautically themed, throwback, and surplus-store goods; Ducks in the Window (507 Main St., Chatham), which claims to stock the biggest collection of rubber ducks on the planet; Gustave Gourmet (400 Main St., Chatham), with its top-shelf and globe-spanning collection of olive oils, vinegars, and other artisan foodstuffs; or Just Picked Gifts (13 Willow St., Yarmouth Port), with a bevy of Cape Cod- and New England-made products, from housewares to toys.
For the perfect home-away-from-home while checking off your Cape Cod things to do list, look no further than the 100 Collection's painstakingly curated lineup of vacation rentals courtesy of our local partner Nauset Rentals. Whether you want to be right in town or settled along some secluded seashore, you won't find a better selection of rental properties on the peninsula!
