dec528

I'm traveling to Boston and cape cod for 1 week with a friend. Have been to Boston and ptown in the past as an adult, and hyannis and other parts of the cape as a young child.
planning to spend sat and sunday in boston, then pick up a car monday am and head to the cape. we would return to boston the following saturday and overnight before flying out on Sunday.

so we are working on filling in Monday - Friday to get a feel for the cape.. Most likely we would like to spend thursday and friday in ptown, then drive back to Boston on saturday. would like to visit Martha's vineyard and nantucket, and other towns on the cape on the way (down?) to ptwon. Am thinking of spending one night in Martha's vineyard (maybe Monday or Tues) and doing nantucket as a day trip. Any suggestions on which other towns to spend the other 3 nights? we are not heavy shoppers. plan to do sightsee in hyannis, so maybe overnight there, or one of the nearby towns? would like to see some of the towns by bike, spend some time on the beaches,etc.

any suggestions are appreciated

Ackislander

Are you male or female?
What month are you traveling?
Are you interested in arts/crafts/antiques or sports/beaches or food/hanging out?

Hyannis isn't very interesting. The towns along route 6A from Sandwich to Brewster are. The towns along Buzzards Bay from Sandwich to Bourne to Falmouth to Woods Hole are also interesting. Both of these areas require good local maps that you will have to buy because much of the good stuff is off the main roads.

You could leave Boston by bus for Woods Hole to take the ferry to the Vineyard for Monday night. There is a ferry from Oak Bluffs to Nantucket, where you could spend a second night (take the fast ferry). Wednesday, take the Steamship fast ferry to Hyannis, where you can rent a car from Budget at the Steamship Authority Terminal. You would only be leaving a rental car parked for your first few days, so why pay for it until you need it?

Use the car to explore the 6A route and past the Atlantic beaches down to Chatham (great place to spend the night)before turning north to Provincetown. You can return the rental car at Logan (no drop off fee last time I did it) and stay at either the Hilton or the Hyatt (the only two airport **** hotels on Priceline.

None of this will work if you are coming off season.

Bowsprit

And if you're coming 'in season' you may be running into minimum night stay requirements.

dec528

excellent, thanks for the suggestion. I will look into it. we are actually arriving in boston this coming saturday, so kind of late planning but that was due to that four letter word "work".

Bowsprit

Do you have hotel reservations in place?

dec528

looking into it now and realize that there may not be rooms available on marthas vineyard

Bowsprit

Why not just base yourself in Falmouth and take the ferry from there. You can use the hotel finder feature on trip advisor if you go to that site.

Bowsprit

One option: You can book one Queen bedded room at the very basic Seaside Inn in Falmouth for 4 nights for $620.00 for all 4 nights on booking.com. You can take day trips to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket from nearby Woods Hole.

rhkkmk

many places may require a 2 night stay--beware..

i prefer driving rte 6A from the cape cod canal to ptown vs rte 6 highway..

suggest you pick on or the other of the islands.. from hyannis you can take the fast ferry to nantucket--the more interesting island, imo.. 1 hr ride... make a res in advance--steamship authority...

chatham is a really nice town about 1/2 way down the cape.

the falmouth side of the cape is less interesting..

Bowsprit

I have a house in Chatham so am definitely biased, but I must say that I find the 'Falmouth side' (wherever that is....) to be quite charming. Falmouth is similar to Chatham in that it has a very walkable and vibrant downtown. Its proximity to the Oceanographic Institute and ferry access to M.V. and ACK in Woods Hole is great for families and the Shining Seas bike trail has been expanded. It's a nice area with plenty to do with good beaches and interesting restaurants.

bachslunch

Unless I'm mistaken, you can get to Martha's Vineyard via ferry from Wood's Hole, but not Nantucket. If memory serves, the latter is only reached from Hyannis or (in season) Harwich.

I'm also with Bowsprit. Nice as Chatham is, I don't think Falmouth/Wood's Hole are any less pleasant places to base oneself on the Cape. Chatham feels a little more upscale and Falmouth to me feels a little more like a suburban style downtown, but I'm not sure there's a significant difference in desirability here. Chatham is more centrally located, of course.

Ackislander

Yes, you can get to Nantucket from Martha's Vineyard if you time it right, but you can't get there from Wood's Hole without changing in Oak Bluffs.

From Hyannis, you can take either a fast or slow ferry at the Steamship Authority or the Hy-Line. Hy-Line costs more. Steamship fast ferry takes an hour; Hy-Line fast ferry takes about an hour and ten minutes.

There is a smaller, much smaller, passenger ferry from Harwich or Harwichport to Nantucket, but I haven't taken it.

Bowsprit

Yes, my mistake. You can get to Nantucket from Hyannis. I take the high speed ferry for day trips to Nantucket out of Harwich Port at Saquatucket Harbor, right next to Brax on route 28. The parking is plentiful and free (not so in Hyannis) for the day, but the schedule is limited; book well in advance. Here's the link for the Freedom Cruise Line:

http://nantucketislandferry.com/