New England Part 2 (Cape Cod)
This is a must stop on your road trip, steeped in history with lots to do. The International Tennis Hall of Fame is a must if you like your Tennis, you could spend all day here if you had the time. The grounds are free to walk around and The Museum was only $20, great value.
We walked the Cliff Walk, 4 miles of scenic coastal path, although its not all paved and easy, you have to choose your sections carefully. But if you can make it across rocks in some parts, you will be rewarded with beautiful scenery.
We also boarded a Trolley Tour, which was excellent, you learn the fascinating stories behind the celebrity mansions past and present.
The food in the town was delicious, the marina very picturesque, a great town to mooch around.
After a 2 night stay we drove to Falmouth, Cape Cod Masachussets (1 hour) and checked into our room with a view of the Harbour.
Falmouth is a lovely looking town with a concentration of shops, restaurants, etc along Main Street, this is the main focus for tourists.
We were just over the road from the ferry to Marthas Vineyard but unfortunately the Ferry stopped 2 days earlier, but just 5 min drive away is the shuttle bus to the closest ferry terminal, so within 15 mins you are at another ferry port and a 45 min ferry you have reached Marthas Vineyard.
We had already ordered our bicycles to pick up on arrival and we spent the day cycling. You can only cycle less than half the Island due to the roads, it's flat and quite an easy bike ride.
We rode to Edgartown which is a bustling town passing Jaws Bridge and took the little ferry over to Chappaquiddick, not something that is needed really as you are just riding on roads with no ocean views, our aim was to get to the lighthouse, but we didnt have time so we turned back.
Marthas Vineyard was full of huge houses, lots of beaches and very quaint, if you dont cycle you can take your own car across or use the Island bus service and you would probably end up seeing a lot more of the Island if you only have a day there.
Our last stop in Cape Cod was an hour further East to South Yarmouth. Our property was next to a small harbour and on the River too.
It doesnt really have a town centre so you go into Hyannis (10 min drive) or Chatham (25 min drive). Hyannis has a bustling Main Street and is the area to go for tourists for shops, food, etc
Hyannis Harbour takes you to Nantucket by ferry, which we did for the day. The high speed ferry is expensive but only takes 1 hour rather than 2hrs 15min, so for a day trip you dont want to waste 4.5 hours travelling.
Again we hired bikes, Nantucket is only approx 55 miles round. We cycled to Siaconset Town, sat on the beach and watched seals swim the coastline, it was amazing.
The bike path is very easy to cycle on but I would say not that interesting for a view, it was lovely to ride on a nice day but my preference was Marthas Vineyard for views. There is a bus service to take you around the Island or take your own car.
It's a pretty Island with shops to mooch around plus restaurants, a lot of shops were closed as its getting later in the season but in Summer it is really busy, especially on the bike paths.
From our base in Falmouth, we drove 25 minutes to nearby Chatham, what a beautiful area this is. Large houses, nice shops and a lovely beach, we saw seals in the Harbour, its a great place to explore and another picturesque town.
After a walk around Chatham we drove to Provincetown (1 hour from Chatham), this is a much larger town, very LGBT+ friendly and is full of shops, bars, restaurants and right on the beach, lots going on here and anything goes.
And so to our last day before our evening flight home from Boston, we drove towards the airport to Sandwich, its the oldest town in the USA, its quaint and to be honest there isn't a great deal to do here but as it's the oldest town in the US we wanted to visit it.
Then onto Plymouth, which is where the Pilgrims settled after arriving into Sandwich, so it completed the story for us. Plymouth is amazing, it has so much history in a very compact walkable area, the Mayflower ship is there as well as very impressive monuments and statues, the walkway runs along the waters edge, another pretty town, what a way to end a fabulous holiday.
I would highly recommend New England, we covered 6 US States, drove 1400 miles, no jetlag due to short flight times so we hit the ground running. All 6 states were very scenic and you can do them which ever way round you prefer but we liked slowing the pace down at the end with less driving in between properties.