Driving advice Portsmouth/Logan/Cape Cod on July Saturday am?
 

We'll be vacationing in the Portsmouth area in mid-July and DD is flying out from Logan while the rest of us head to Cape Cod for another week. The flight is at 10:30am on Saturday July 18th. I'm expecting that there won't be much traffic in that direction on Saturday morning--is this right?? I've put the whole trip into Mapquest for directions, so I have those, just wondering about local beach/weekend traffic.

We'll be heading to Eastham on Cape Cod from there, also on Saturday morning, so any advice about what time of day to do that leg to avoid the Cape beach traffic would be helpful. If we leave Logan at approx 9:45/10am on Sat and head right to the Cape, are we heading right into a major traffic jam/delay?? If so, could anyone suggest something fun perhaps historic to do along the way that might make for an enjoyable half-day?? Any favorite veggie friendly restaurants heading out to the Cape?? Thanks for your help!

I've definitely seen a bit of a back-up on the Hampton tolls going south on Sat mornings. So you might want to give yourself an extra half hour or so to get to Boston. You'll be early enough so there may not be any traffic but you never know.

I expect the drive to the Cape to be pretty slow on a Sat morning but I haven't made the drive recently. You might want to spend the day in Boston and leave for the Cape mid to late afternoon.

Saturday is the busiest travel day on the Cape since that is when most cottage rentals begin. Expect delays unless you can get over the bridge by 9 am or after 5 pm. You could stop at the Plimouth Plantation off Rt 3 for a few hours of diversion...or just relax, take the drive to the cape as it comes, and get to your Eastham location in 3 hours (from Boston) instead of 2 hours.

Thanks for your good advice. We'll plan to stop for lunch and spend the afternoon in Plymouth since we've never been there and my husband is interested anyway, and do the rest of the drive after 5pm.

Our favorite part of the the day is sunset at First Encounter Beach so we're OK with not rushing right out into the traffic. If we get really delayed, are there other bayside beaches that we might stop at for sunset if we don't get as far as Eastham by then?

Just take a left off of 6A in any of the towns and you will run into the Bay! But I agree, First Encounter is my favorite too! Don't you just love how everyone applauds when the sun finally sinks into the bay? Have a great trip. Oh and skip Plymouth Rock...not much to see except a big boulder.

Good advice on the stop over in Plymouth. But I do feel compelled to point out the not too publicized truth. Plymouth is not the first landing and the rock is not the first step on our shores. The Pilgrims actualy landed in what is now Provincetown first and spent a few months there. The Mayflower Compact was signed in provincetown. They decided it was not inhabitable for the long term and then went to what is now Plymouth.

Thanks yellowbird for your advice on finding other sunset spots. We do love the festive nature of sunset at First Encounter Beach--only 2 more weeks till our trip!

Thanks seafox also for your tips. We've been in P'town a few times and have seen the tribute there to the Mayflower pilgrims. We were also impressed by how many Mayflower passengers came back to Cape Cod to settle later in life and are buried there, several in the old cemetary in Eastham.

Any new traffic/construction issues to be aware of on the way from Boston to the Cape? Anyone done the trip to the mid-cape on a recent Saturday want to weigh in on how it was??