We are planning a 3 day trip to the Boston area in mid July and would like to squeeze in a day trip to Cape Cod. This will probably be mostly sight-seeing from the car as we would like to see as much of the Cape as we can in 1 day. We will rent a car in Boston and this will have to be done on a Saturday . This will be our first trip to Massachusetts. What do we need to know? Too much traffic (in July)?? Too crowded?? Impossible to do in one day?? Need suggestions. Thanks!

traffic to any coastal area is usually a nightmare, as weekly rentals are traditionally saturday to saturday

Cape Ann, touring Essex and Ipswich and Gloucestor Manchester/Magnolia and Rockport might be a nice drive instead.

gyppielou is right - if you left early, you'd be lucky to make it to Orleans by noon, and a lot of that will be at a crawl. I'm afraid, yes, it is too crowded and therefore impossible to do in a day, although I wouldn't advise trying to do it in on a weekday in off-season either -- too much driving, too little time to see and enjoy.

gyppie's suggestion to head to Cape Ann is a great one, but start early.

Thanks gyppielou & cfc. Somehow I knew I'd better ask. Any more day trips you'd recommend? We like to shop and sightsee. And shop. And shop...........

With only 3 days in Boston, are you going to have time for a day trip? Do you need a rental car?

In addition to above, the main roads going from end to end on the Cape are not that all picturesque in many areas - they are just roads. Skip the Cape.

If you feel you must leave Boston (although I would spend all 3 days in Boston) either take the train to Salem or rent a car and drive to Gloucester and Rockport.

If you really want to do the cape take the ferry from Boston to Provincetown. Get a taxi to take you out to the National Seashore Visitor's center. Hike in the National Seashore (the best part of the cape), eat and shop and oogle in P'town and ferry back to Boston. The north shore is not as crowded but you will run into traffic there also. If you can arrange to rent a car in Salem, the train goes regularly from Boston to there and you could go up along the shore. Perhaps a whale watch from Gloucester or visiting Rockport for cute shops and artists at work.
Stop in Essex for seafood. Visit the Essex-Pebody museum in Salem.

Thanks everyone for all the valuable information. We were planning to rent a car for 1 day only - believing what we've heard about the traffic/parking situation in Boston. We plan to take the Commuter Rail to Salem on one of the days.

I'd like to add that sightseeing in Cape Cod by car just isn't worth it. The roads aren't very scenic. the Cape is about getting out, going to the beach, riding a bike on the National seashore, walking around town, and relaxing. It's probably the worst place in the world for a day trip. Especially on a Saturday in July. You do NOT want to be driving around the mid-cape area.

I think emalloy has the best idea. If you must go, take the ferry from Provincetown. the only problem is I think the ferry schedule doesn't give you a lot of time if you come back the same day.

Traffic to the north shore (Gloucester/Essex/Rockport) can be nasty on a Saturday too, if its a sunny beach day. Just be prepared. But its a nice place for a day trip and definitely easier to get to than the Cape.

Ditto to the ferry idea. Actually now that they offer the fast ferry, there is a lot more time to spend in Provincetown than there used to be w/the traditional ferry.

I do not like to tweak people's itineraries, as I know tastes vary, however if you have not been to Boston before and you are only here for 3 days, 1 day to Salem on the train and 1 day to the Cape does not leave much time for Boston.....

We did exactly the same thing in the summer of 2007! HAving rented a car and driven all the way to Provincetown and back to Boston in one (very long!) day.

That said- don't rent a car!! Take the ferry, spend the night in P-town if you can. Rent bikes- you won't need a car there at all.

Thanks to all of your very HELPFUL information we've decided to save the Cape for another trip and stick with Boston and maybe Salem. I have one more question...what is the best way to get from the airport in Providence to Boston at 11:00pm. (And no, my companions do not want to just crash in Providence for the night and go to Boston in the morning
--I already tried that.)

Your companions may not want to spend the night in Providence, but other than renting a car you may have no choice. I checked bus lines and Amtrak - latest bus from either TF Green or downtown Providence is around 8 PM. Latest Amtrak train from downtwon Providence to Boston is at 11:50 - you will likely not make that train with an 11 PM arrival at Green. Various airport shuttles I could find under "Ground Transportation" also do not run that late.

Thank goodness you've reconsidered going to the Cape on a Saturday in July. I got a headache just reading that.

The day trip to Salem is a good idea but I would still consider a rental car and explore Gloucester, Essex (antiquing and good restaurants), Newburyport. Get out to Plum Island to see the ocean and take a walk on the beach. Have a drink at the Plum Island Grill at sunset and see the sun go down over the sea marsh.

Thanks Bennie & Gail. I checked with a couple of taxi's and found that taxi fare is about $120 to $150 from Providence to Boston. Does that sound reasonable? (We saved about that much on airfare anyway by taking Southwest to Providence instead of the only other options we had, which were "Toy Airplane Puddle-Jumpers" to Logan.)

How on earth could that be a better option than staying in Prov (or near the airport) or renting a car?

We'll certainly stay in Providence if we have to but since we've already paid for a $369/nite hotel room that will sit empty that one night if we do, I just wanted to investigate any other possible options before making that decision. Hence, all my questions.

Yikes, I guess that answers my question. I'd still vote for car rental rather than a taxi.

What kind of hotel at that cost is not cancellable? Certainly not a Priceline hotel at that cost, I hope. Why not cancel one night and stay at some cheap airport hotel i Providence (which is really Warwick, but it doesn't matter)

Like I said, we are WILLING to stay in Providence, but we PREFER to stay at the hotel in Boston. We were hoping that someone who knows the area might tell us a way that we had not thought about since we have never been there.