Fodor's Expert Review Pilgrim Monument

The first thing you'll see in Provincetown is this grandiose edifice, somewhat out of proportion to the rest of the low-rise town. The monument commemorates the Pilgrims' first landing in the New World and their signing of the Mayflower Compact (the first Colonial American rules of self-governance) before they set off to explore the mainland. Climb the 116 steps and 60 short ramps of the 252-foot-high tower for a panoramic view—dunes on one side, harbor on the other, and the entire bay side of Cape Cod beyond. At the tower's base is a museum of Lower Cape and Provincetown history, with exhibits on whaling, shipwrecks, and scrimshaw. There are also arrowheads, tools, and images of the local Native American Wampanoag tribe, the town’s first fire engine, a recreation of a 19th century sea captain’s parlor, a diorama of the Mayflower Compact being signed, and more.