First Time to Cape Cod

Me and my wife planning to visit Cape Cod in August for about 5 days...

This is first time we are visiting so need help. I have been reading various forums but can%26#39;t find my way..leaning towards Chatam from my reading

We want to stay in a place where it%26#39;s not very commercialized and has reasonable night life. We are in mid 30%26#39;s.

Looking to spend around 200 per night for lodging.

First Time to Cape Cod

Chatham is very crowded in the summer. I%26#39;m not sure about the reasonable night life you mentioned. What is reasonable to you? Every town has the local ';watering hole'; and a few restaurants with nice bars. Chatham is not known for its night-life.

Perhaps you should consider staying on the outer cape...less commercial, closer to Provincetown (THE night-life town on the outer cape), and only a short 20-30 minute drive to Chatham for a day trip to shop on Main Street. Towns you might consider are Orleans (the largest town on the lower cape), Eastham (National Seashore Visitor%26#39;s Center and beaches), Wellfleet (great ocean beaches and home to Beachcomber for night-life), Truro (sleepy town but closer to Provincetown with motel accommodation that might appeal to you), and of course, Provincetown with all it gaiety!

You can check out the lodging choices at the local chamber of commerce sites: www.eastham.com and www.wellfleet.com should get you started. My favorite is Fort Hill in Eastham...they have a suite for $235 that will give you a full breakfast and no additional tariffs. They are small and fill up fast, as do many of the smaller lodging places on the outer cape.

First Time to Cape Cod

Yellowbird,

Fort Hill B%26amp;B hasn%26#39;t sold out those 3 rooms yet for the season?

Will, to tell you the truth...I dunno. Made my reservations in January....just in case! :-)

One of the reasons I mention the place so often is that they are small and not that many people know of them. I mean, they have their ';regulars'; who mostly do not talk about how great they are because they want to be able to call and get a reservation, and then there%26#39;s a whole lot of folks who would never consider a small B+B...even though this one is more like a inn not a homestay. Last year we decided to do a last minute (which is a month or so in advance for us) cape run in July and we got reservations over the busy 4th. So ya just never know. It%26#39;s always worth a call.

How about you Will? ever stay in a B+B?

Hi Yellowbird,

I%26#39;ve stayed at B%26amp;B%26#39;s in Europe, New Hampshire and Vermont, but it%26#39;s been 7 years since I%26#39;ve stayed in one. As with anything, some were better than others. That said, I would definitely stay in one again.

Treat yourself and try the Fort Hill Bed and Breakfast. The cottage is our favorite but the suites in the house are very private as well.

The entire Cape is busy in the summer. There%26#39;s no respite from the flood of people here from late June until mid-September.

Something to consider: Try to pick a place that offers you the choice of lodging close to restaurants, shops, beaches that don%26#39;t require you to Drive anywhere. Driving is He(( on the Cape in the summer. If you stay in Chatham, there is a plethora of gorgeous inns, hotels, motels, resorts, B%26amp;Bs to choose from that will put you within walking distance of restaurants, shops, beaches, etc.

I%26#39;d much rather Walk through a crowd than sit in my car in traffic, bumper to bumper, in the heat and/or humidity, on that awful highway route 6 watching my gas indicator flop to empty as I try to drive away from Fort Hill on route 6 to get a lobster roll. Or a newspaper. Or a bottle of wine. And good luck making a Left turn on rt. 6 from Fort Hill in the middle of the busy season! Truly, you don%26#39;t need this hassle while you%26#39;re on vaca.

Fort Hill b%26amp;b wouldn%26#39;t be on my short-list in the summer. It isn%26#39;t everyone%26#39;s favorite; it%26#39;s out of the way of Everything and reminds me of a rest home or funeral home in it%26#39;s atmosphere. Other than yellowbird, I%26#39;ve never read a positive review from anyone who posts on the forums nor have I ever seen anyone else on the forum recommend it! And it%26#39;s expensive.

If Chatham lodging is over your budget check out the charming towns of the Harwiches. Great choices there as well and less expensive (general statement here) than Chatham.

Unfortunately, I can%26#39;t think of a seaside summer resort destination on the East Coast that isn%26#39;t commercialized!

However, Hyannis on the Cape has a large business base and is the commercial hub of the Cape. Plenty of big box stores in Hyannis.

shaime, there are many opinions on this forum...some are first hand and others are just negative opinions meant to dissuade people from going anywhere but Chatham. You will have to decide for yourself. Check other sources including the popular guidebooks like Fodor%26#39;s, Frommer%26#39;s and Kim Grant%26#39;s Explorer%26#39;s Guide to Cape Cod and the Island. By the way, Fort Hill B+B comes highly recommended in every guidebook I have read...and it%26#39;s #1 for B+B%26#39;s in Eastham on TA. So to each his own. Good luck!

shamie,

Feel free to look into staying in Sandwich. It%26#39;s a very historic Cape town with enough nightlife to keep you two happy. There%26#39;s no dance clubs there, but it has pubs and taverns. Sandwich also has a fantastic beach called Sandy Neck, a wonderful boardwalk to it%26#39;s other town beach and an enjoyable marina area. The Country Acres Motel is well within your budget and gets great reviews on TA. Having 5 days on the Cape will allow you to take day trips to whatever towns you want to see. The Melody Tent is a 20 minute drive and has national acts playing nightly. Check their schedule to see if anyone is playing while your here that you might want to see.

Any town besides Hyannis or Falmouth seems to be what your looking for. I happen to enjoy both of those towns as well, regardless of them being larger and more commercialized.

Hi there Shaime,

Would you like to stay ON the beach in a mid-cape location for $200. per night? You can stay on a beautiful strand of beach directly on Nantucket Sound during high season in Dennisport for that price. Check out these two places and if you don%26#39;t find space let me know so I can give you more suggestions.

www.colonybeachmotel.com

www.threeseasonsresort.com

You will be on the beach and just a bit south of an uncrowded (and south of Rt. 28) road that runs through Dennisport so that you can reach restaurants. Of course, in summer, there%26#39;s a wait for so many of them but the terrific Ocean House within walking distance, does take reservations as does Oyster Co. and Ebb Tide which will make life easy for you as it should be on your vacation. Both motels have a pool and I know Colony Beach has a fridge (or more) in the room. Maybe the other one does as well.

If you only want a fun bar scene at night you can find that in Dennisport but you%26#39;d have to leave for dancing. This is a convenient jumping off point for exploring the Cape if you want to do that too. And there%26#39;s plenty of charming shops of all types in Harwich, just minutes east or on the beautiful 6A side of Dennis - the north or Bay side. Good luck.