Cape Cod: Tips

Book way in advance Despite having over 300 hotels, 250 B&Bs, and countless vacation rental homes, finding accommodations in peak season is challenging, especially if you don’t want to pay top dollar.

Pack casual In all but a few places, informal is the dress code. However, don’t expect to be welcomed in without a shirt or shoes, and if you’re going to a sit-down restaurant the attire is smart-casual.

Bring a sweat shirt Summer days are warm, but nights are almost always too cold for a T-shirt; pack something cozy for when the sun goes down.

Clambakes Preparing your own clambake on the beach may sound charming, but it takes hours of ditch digging and underground steaming, not to mention a massive cleanup effort. Remember: you can get a clambake to go in every town.

Harwich Cranberry Festival Every September the bogs are blazing red with cranberries. This calls for celebration – cranberry soap, cranberry jelly, cranberry ice cream, etc.; there’s also a large crafts fair.

Chatham First Night On New Year’s Eve Chatham shakes off the winter and hosts a day and night filled with non-alcoholic, family-friendly activities. The highlight is the midnight fireworks show over Oyster Pond.

Henry David Thoreau Walking the length of Cape Cod four times between 1849 and 1857 inspired the famous transcendentalist to write his 1865 book Cape Cod.

Sand dunes and salty air Patti Page’s song “Old Cape Cod” is loved locally and paints a perfect picture of the region: If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air / Quaint little villages here and there / You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod.

Fried-seafood shacks They’re ubiquitous, serving everything from shrimp to scallops; but the fried whole-belly clam roll is the classic summer snack.