We are thinking to spend a week September 8-15 on the Cape Cod. I wonder if it won't be too cold and if we can swim there. What would be the best places/towns to stay? We used to go to MV in August for several years in the row but never visited Cape. Thank you all for your help.

Best week in the year. Crowds gone except on weekends, everything still open.

Unlikely to be too cold to swim, in fact, the water on Nantucket Sound will be at its warmest for the year. I think the north shore of the Cape is too cold to swim ever, and the Atlantic is the Atlantic.

Could you get a cool and blustery day? Sure. That's when you shop and go to museums.

Agree, best month of the year, warm days, cool nights, traffic is better and we can actually get into restaurants without long lines. If you stay in one of the towns where the "elbow" bends you can easily go in either direction for sightseeing.

September really is the best time to visit the Cape. The village of Chatham is central Cape, or where "the elbow bends". Lovely town with lots of nice inns
(Captains House Inn is our favorite) and other accomodations, good restaurants, shops, and easy distance to all Cap attractions.

September really is the best time to visit the Cape. The village of Chatham is central Cape, or where "the elbow bends". Lovely town with lots of nice inns
(Captains House Inn is our favorite) and other accomodations, good restaurants, shops, and easy distance to all Cape attractions.

weneedavacation.com

has some great rentals all over the cape and the islands. rates drop, and the passed few years September has had glorious weather

I prefer the lower cape, or you could split your nights to explore two areas

You can spend the entire week in one place or perhaps split it up if you want to explore the entire cape with a trip to MV. My preference is to stay on the outer cape on Fort Hill in the National Seashore with proximity to Provincetown, Wellfleet, Orleans, Brewster and Chatham. There is more than enough to keep you busy on the outer cape and the Eastham location means that you will be close to National Seashore ocean beaches, bay beaches (warmer for swimming) and fresh water ponds. Coast Guard beach and Nauset Lighthouse beach are both lovely. Nauset Marsh is great for kayaking if that interests you.

Orleans, Eastham's neighbor to the south, is the major town on the lower cape so there are lots of great restaurants there as well as shopping, galleries, theater etc. Provincetown and Hyannis are 30 minutes away from Eastham, Wellfleet is 15 minutes and Chatham is only 20 minutes.

If you decide you want to take a day trip to MV to revisit some memories then perhaps you would like to locate, for at least part of your week, in one of the upper cape towns, like Falmouth or Sandwich. However, if you would like to take a day-trip to Nantucket then you would take a ferry from Hyannis or Harwich making a location on the outer cape for the entire time feasible.

Thank you all for your great help!!!