Sightseeing Tours in Cape Cod

Boat Tours

Cape Cod Canal Cruises (two or three hours, narrated) leave from Onset, just northwest of the Bourne Bridge. A Sunday jazz cruise, sunset cocktail cruises, and Friday and Saturday dance cruises are also available. Children 12 and under cruise free on Family Discount Cruises, Monday-Saturday at 4. Cruises cost between $11 and $17.

Patriot Boats has two-hour day and sunset cruises from Falmouth Harbor on the 74-foot schooner Liberté II in July and August. Another sunset cruise, which operates on Friday and Saturday evenings, passes six lighthouses in the Falmouth area. Fishing charters are also available.

Hy-Line runs one-hour narrated boat tours of Hyannis Harbor, including a view of the Kennedy compound. Sunset and evening cocktail cruises are also available; ticket prices for all tours range between $12 and $15.

The gaff-rigged schooner Bay Lady II makes two-hour sails, including a sunset cruise, across Provincetown Harbor into Cape Cod Bay; fares are $15 to $20. Private charters are also available.

Fees & Schedules

Bay Lady II (MacMillan Wharf, Provincetown. 508/487-9308. www.sailcapecod.com). Cape Cod Canal Cruises (Onset Bay Town Pier, Onset. 508/295-3883. www.hy-linecruises.com). Hy-Line (Ocean St. dock, Pier 1, Hyannis. 508/778-2600 or 800/492-8082. www.hy-linecruises.com). Patriot Boats (227 Clinton Ave., Falmouth. 508/548-2626 or 800/734-0088. www.patriotpartyboats.com).

Train & Trolley Tours

The Cape Cod Central Railroad offers two-hour, 42-mi narrated rail tours from Hyannis to the Cape Cod Canal (fare $17) from late May through October; trains generally run daily, but call for a schedule. You can have your fill of cranberry bogs, marshes, and woodlands, as well as such unusual sights as the Barnstable House of Corrections, where you'll spot inmates farming in the fields. From Hyannis, sit on the right side of the train for the best views. The second hour and its narration are a bit subdued, as you're traveling back the way you came, but the scenery and loud whistle blasts ought to keep you alert and engaged. There's also a three-hour, adults-only dinner train where you can settle back and watch the scenery as you nosh; it runs Thursday through Saturday in summer and less frequently spring and fall. The cost is $59.95 per person. Another dinner train, geared toward families, with a kids' menu and activities, runs on Tuesday evening and costs $39.95 for adults and $25.95 for kids under 12. A lunch train operates midweek from June through October and costs $36.95 per person.

The Provincetown Trolley offers 40-minute narrated tours of Provincetown, leaving from outside town hall every 30 minutes daily 10-4, and every hour daily 5-7 PM. The ride takes you through downtown, out to the Provincetown Monument, and by the beaches. The fare is $9.

Fees & Schedules

Cape Cod Central Railroad (Hyannis Train Depot, 252 Main St., Hyannis. 508/771-3800 or 888/797-7245. www.capetrain.com). Provincetown Trolley (508/487-9483. www.provincetowntrolley.com).

Walking Tours

Colonial Lantern Tours offers guided evening walking tours April through November of the original Plymouth plantation site and historic district, as well as the nightly "Ghostly Haunts and Legends" tour highlighting Plymouth's more macabre history. The cost is $15.

Liz Villard's Vineyard History Tours leads walking tours of Edgartown's "history, architecture, ghosts, and gossip," including a stop at the Vincent House. Tours are run from April through December; call for times. Liz and her guides also lead similar tours of Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven. Walks last a little over an hour. Sixth-generation Nantucketer Gail Johnson of Gail's Tours narrates a lively 1½-hour van tour of the island's highlights.

Fees & Schedules

Colonial Lantern Tours (5 North St., Plymouth. 508/747-4161 or 800/698-5636. www.plimouth.com). Gail's Tours (508/257-6557. www.nantucket.net/tours/gails). Vineyard History Tours (508/627-8619. www.mvpreservation.org/tours.html).