Outer Cape

There's a sense of abandon here, in the hedonistic summertime frenzy of Provincetown and out on the windswept landscape of dunes and marshes. As you drive down here, the land flattens out, vegetation gets sparser and more coniferous, and the sea feels closer as the land narrows. Wellfleet is a quiet town, with art galleries, upscale shops, and a calm—but active—harbor. With an expanse of high dunes, estuaries, salt marshes, pine forests, rivers, and winding back roads, Truro is the least-populated, least-developed town on the entire Cape. Provincetown has two faces—a quiet little fishing village in winter and a magnet for throngs of pleasure seekers, including a substantial gay and lesbian community.