We're heading to the Falmouth & Woods Hole area. What's the parking situation there during the week? We are NOT taking the ferry to MV, we just want to spend a couple of hours in each town and walk around.

I read that there are about 110 metered spots in Woods Hole, not sure if they all get filled up quickly in the morning? Alternatively, we can park in Falmouth and take the Whoosh trolley to Woods Hole. http://www.capecodtransit.org/whoosh-route.htm#map
Looking at the map, can we park at Colonial Plaza (assuming it's a mall w/free parking?) , then walk into town for lunch/sightseeing, then catch the Whoosh to Woods Hole? I'm thoroughly clueless. I tried googling parking information as well as looking at Falmouth's Chamber of Commerce website; but the only information I could find was the parking lots for the Steamboat Authroity to get to MV.

Any assistance you can provide would be much appreciated.

Hey - there are spaces in Woods Hole for street parking. Or park near Main Street Falmouth and hop that cute WHOOSH trolley. Or, if the Steamship has space in the "Palmer Avenue" lot, park there ($11 I think) and take their free bus down. Just dont mention that you are not taking the ferry. They dont ask, just dont tell

OR, park in one of several "day park" lots right in the middle of Woods Hole for $25 per day.

Does that help?

You don't say when you are going.

I would not expect weekday trouble after Labor Day. At least I have never had any. There are metered spots pretty well all the way around the "Hole".

What you cannot do without getting towed is park on Steamship property or in the MBI or WHOI lots, except in a visitor space.

All bets are off on a rainy day, everywhere on the Cape, and early arrival is rewarded.

P.S. What about parking on Main Street (Rt 28) in Falmouth? Are there parking lots/metered parking? Anyone know if there's a time limit for street parking on Main Street? [If it's 2hrs or less, that won't work for us if we want to take the trolley to Woods Hole.]

When are you going, yk?

We have never had a problem finding a space in the lots in the center of town in Falmouth on week-days and I do not have any memory of the time being limited to 2 hours in any of them. The meters on the street are timed but the lots that are just off of Main Street, in downtown Falmouth--one on each side of the street--are not limited as far as I can remember. The parking lots I am referencing are free and I don't remember ever seeing anyone patrolling them, nor any time limit signs. They know that many people park there and go off on their bikes....

Woods Hole is a very different situation and daytime parking there can be all but impossible!

Taking the trolley into Woods Hole is a good idea. And downtown Falmouth is a fun place to stroll as well.

PS Not sure what Colonial Plaza even is! (Probably the shopping center where WalMart is,) You can park in downtown Falmouth, which is way closer!

Thanks very much, socialworker. I'll look for the parking lots off Main Street. We plan to head down there tomorrow! I'll wave to you from the other direction of the highway when we head back on Friday.

One more PS....I see from the map that Colonial Plaza is the name of the shopping center just beyond downtown---not the one way beyond downtown that I was thinking it might be--so if the downtown lots were full, you could continue on down Main Street and park there.

bcolt, Ackislander, & socialworker,

Thanks again for your input. We decided to be safe than sorry, so we drove to Falmouth. No trouble finding a parking spot in the lot (S side of Rt 28 across from Chamber of Commerce), and took the Whoosh trolley to Woods Hole & back. There are no meters in Falmouth at all - none on the street parking spots nor in the large parking lot, and no time limit posted.

I was very glad w/this decision as I've never been to Woods Hole before. I had no idea it's so tiny, and the streets are so narrow. I did see an empty metered spot pop up every now and then, but they got taken up quickly. More chances of finding an open spot near the MBL campus but all spots are paid meter w/2hr limit.

So glad it worked out! BTW, the Woods Hole meter people are Johnny on the spot for giving tickets, so that is another issue with parking there even if you *do* find a space!

Yes, WH is tiny! The first time I ever went to Woods Hole I was wondering where the rest of it was.