From Boston to Bourne, at the beginning of the Cape, is about 60 miles, one hour unless traffic is heavy. From Bourne to Provincetown at the far tip of the Cape is another 60 miles or a bit more, but will take closer to 2 hours because there's not a major highway.

What time of year?

Hi Welshgirl

With that kind of time you should consider going to Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard. You can get there by ferry with the Vineyard being much closer.

A lot depends on the time of year, and your interests. The Cape is a beach lover's paradise, with beaches of every description. It's also great for lighthouses, whale watching and bicycling. You could easily spend 5 days here if these things interest you. Other options would be a few days on the Cape, and a few days in Newport RI.

Zootsi has a good idea with either staying or taking a side trip to Newport.

Welshgirl, sounds like your from the UK and while you may have seen a lot of castles, the "cottages" in Newport are just spectacular. My favorite is The Breakers, the summer home built by Cornelius Vanderbilt.

It depends where on Cape Cod you are going. In any event, it will take longer to get there than you plan. Towns are joined by a highway that used to be known as "death alley."

Its actually called "suicide alley", but I think we all get the point!

I do a commute from Yarmouth (mid cape) to Boston once a week. Takes me about 1 hour and 15 minutes door to door, not during Boston rush hour.

5 days is a good amount of time to get an overview of the Cape with a day trip to either Nantucket or Marthas Vineyard

Someone on this thread said that Cape Cod was only beaches, lighthouses, biking and whale watching and then suggested you go to Newport to finish off the rest of your 5 days.

There is plenty to do on Cape Cod, without taking a long trip to Newport.

People stay here for weeks, months or entire Summers. Here is just a sampling of things to do here during your 5 day stay:

Summer Theatre: Dennis Playhouse Falmouth Playhouse, Melody Tent.

Museums: There are more than a dozen museums on Cape Cod. Here are some of the more popular: JFK Museum - Hyannis; Cape Cod Museum of Natural History; Heritage plantation in Sandwich; Pilgrim Monument & Museum, Provincetown.

Other attractions: Fifteen unique towns with hundreds of sites and villages; Dune tours; Harbor cruises; Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Woods Hole; Windmills; Scargo Lake; Cape Cod Baseball League; Nickerson State Park; Cape Cod Canal; Golf, Fishing; Hiking; Kayaking; Sailing and Shopping.

Newport: While Newport has attractions and is a destination vacation, on its own I don’t recommend leaving Cape Cod just to visit there.

The best of Newport is long gone: The Navy, Jazz Festival and America's Cup are no longer around and mansion viewing gets old pretty quick as well as the Cliff Walk which is crumbling.
Frankly, you can get a better idea of these places by watching videos of old movies such as “High Society” and “The Great Gatsby”.

Driving: Other posters gave you fairly accurate driving times. I’m sure you are aware that weekends in high season will be the worst. Since you have a lot of time, why not take routes 28 and 6A as alternatives

The Jazz and Folks festivals are still in fine health -- Jazz celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. Newport has a great waterfront site for festivals, which go on all summer long and this year include festivals that focus on chowder, Irish culture, and Japanese ships.