cape questions
 

my choices are falmouth or eastham. how to differentiate?

First let me say that I am biased....I love Eastham.

Totally different locations. Falmouth is one of the larger towns, fairly commercial, and located on the upper Cape. A perfect location if your desire is to shop and visit MV. Beaches are calm, on Buzzards Bay and great location for sailing. Day trips from Falmouth to Mashpee Commons Mall for shopping, Sandwich for sight-seeing, Woodshole for visiting the Woodshole Institute or ferry to MV make this a good location. Also, Falmouth is about 15 minutes closer to Boston, 30 minutes from Sagamore Bridge. Shining Sea bike path is popular as well.

Eastham, is on the outer cape, and is one of the National Seashore towns because of its natural beauty and proximity to the popular villages of Chatham, Orleans, Wellfleet, Brewster and Provincetown. The town is only 3 miles wide from ocean to bay, and 7 miles long bounded by Orleans and Wellfleet, and full 50% of the land is considered water. World-class beaches on the Atlantic Ocean (waves and cold water) and Cape Cod Bay (very tidal with gentle warm water), as well as fresh-water kettle ponds, walking trails, Salt Pond Visitor's Center at National Seashore, and easy access to the Rail Trail, bike trail, make Eastham a popular destination for visitors who love a more natural, less commercial location. Eastham is 45 minutes from the Sagamore Bridge. The Hyannis ferries to MV and Nantucket are 30 minutes from Eastham. Shopping on the outer cape features boutiques, art galleries and unique shops....no malls on the outer cape.

Kayaking and biking are popular in both locations. Generally, traffic is less on the outer cape unless it is a rainy day.
Hope this helps!

You've convinced me. we were in Eastham before and I longed to go back anyway.

Agree with much of the above - only qualifier is - how long are you staying? If just a weekend, I might pick Falmouth since travelling at peak times to Eastham can be gridlock and you waste some precious hours.

The outer cape is such a different experience, myself I love Truro because the further out one goes the wilder and , in my opinion, the more beautiful it gets.