Cape Cod Day Trip from Boston: Beaches, Lobster Rolls & Lighthouses

Cape Cod, the famous hook-shaped peninsula extending 65 miles into the Atlantic, is Boston's most beloved summer day trip — a 1.5 to 2-hour drive (or summer ferry from Provincetown) delivering pristine ocean beaches, fresh lobster rolls, charming seaside towns, and the classic New England coastal scene that has defined this coastline for centuries. The Cape Cod National Seashore protects 43,000 acres of beaches, cliffs, ponds, and trails along the Outer Cape — Coast Guard Beach in Eastham and Race Point Beach near Provincetown are routinely ranked among the USA's finest. Wellfleet's excellent oyster bars serve bivalves harvested that morning from the bay. Provincetown at the cape's tip is a famously LGBTQ-friendly resort town with excellent galleries and whale watching tours. Avoid Route 6 on summer Friday afternoons — go mid-week or take the Plymouth & Brockton bus from South Station to avoid parking misery.