Cape Cod is the 65-mile glacial outwash sandbar that curves northeast into the Atlantic. Four nights here gives Plymouth (the Mayflower landing site, 30 miles south of Boston), Sandwich (the oldest town on the Cape, with the boardwalk over the Town Neck salt marsh), Hyannis and the Kennedy connections, and the Cape Cod Rail Trail - the 22-mile converted railway through the pine and scrub oak of the Lower Cape.
Getting There
Car hire is the practical route: Boston to Plymouth (40 minutes south on Route 3), then Plymouth to the Bourne Bridge onto the Cape (30 minutes), then east along Route 6 to whichever town you are staying in. The Cape is too dispersed for public transport to cover well; a car is strongly recommended.
Without a car: Plymouth and Brockton bus from South Station in Boston to Hyannis (approximately 90 minutes), with local Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA) buses connecting towns. The CCRTA Route 3 and 7 buses cover the Upper and Mid-Cape; the Lower Cape (Wellfleet, Truro, Provincetown) is harder without a car.
Plymouth (Day 1)
Plymouth Rock: the granite rock in the Plymouth waterfront pavilion identified by tradition as the landing site of the Mayflower Pilgrims in November 1620. The rock is smaller than expected (it was split in the 18th century and the two halves reunited in 1880) and the pavilion was designed in 1920 to make it look more substantial. The history around the rock - the Wampanoag land and people who were there before the Pilgrims, the diplomatic relationship with Massasoit, the catastrophic epidemic of 1617-1619 that had depopulated the region - is more interesting than the rock itself.
Plimoth Patuxent (entry approximately $30 for the combined site): the living history museum on the hill above the waterfront, with a recreated 1627 Pilgrim village (costumed interpreters in character) and a Wampanoag Homesite (Native interpreters speaking in their own voice, not character, about Wampanoag history and culture before and after the English arrival).
Mayflower II (moored at the State Pier, entry approximately $18): the full-scale reproduction of the Mayflower, launched 1957 and returned to Plymouth after a major restoration. The ship is 27 metres long; standing on the deck makes the 102-passenger, 66-day Atlantic crossing visceral.
Sandwich (Night 1 and Day 2)
Sandwich is the oldest town on Cape Cod (incorporated 1637). The town centre is a 17th-century grid of clapboard houses, the Sandwich Glass Museum, and the Heritage Museums and Gardens - accessible on post-marathon legs.
The Sandwich Boardwalk: a wooden boardwalk over the Town Neck salt marsh, 1,350 feet from the car park to the beach on Cape Cod Bay. The boardwalk was destroyed by Hurricane Bob (1991) and rebuilt by the community in a weekend - each board is inscribed with a donor's name. The marsh on both sides in April has the returning shorebirds; the bay end has the bay beach and the view north to the Cape Cod Canal entrance.
Sandwich Glass Museum (entry approximately $9): the story of the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company (1825-1888), which produced the distinctive pressed glass that defined mid-19th century American domestic glassware. The collection is the most complete in the world.
Heritage Museums and Gardens (entry approximately $20): 100 acres of gardens (the rhododendron collection is in bloom in late May/June, not April) with the Shaker round barn, the automobile museum (the 1930 Duesenberg Model J is the set piece), and the vintage carousel. April is before the gardens' peak but the barn and auto collection are worth it.
Hyannis and Hyannisport (Night 2 and Day 3)
Hyannis Harbour: the working harbour of the mid-Cape, with the ferry terminal for Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket (ferry to Martha's Vineyard: 45 minutes; Nantucket: 2 hours 15 minutes by traditional ferry, 1 hour by fast ferry). April ferry schedules are limited; check HyLine and Steamship Authority in advance.
The John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum on Main Street (entry approximately $15): a compact museum of JFK's relationship with the Cape - the summers at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, the political career, and the assassination. The adjacent Veterans Memorial Park on the harbour has the JFK Memorial.
Hyannisport: the Kennedy compound itself (private residential area, not open to the public) is in the residential neighbourhood west of the harbour. The drive past is the closest available.
Cape Cod Rail Trail (Day 4)
The Cape Cod Rail Trail is a paved multi-use path on the former Old Colony Railroad right-of-way, running 22 miles from Dennis (at the Dennis Park trailhead) to Wellfleet. The trail is entirely flat (former railway gradient, maximum 2%); the surface is smooth asphalt; the route passes through pitch pine and scrub oak forest, cranberry bogs, salt marshes, and several town centres.
For post-marathon recovery cycling: the full 22 miles is achievable in 2-3 hours by bicycle (bike hire at multiple trailheads). The section from Nickerson State Park in Brewster to Wellfleet (approximately 9 miles each way) passes through the most unspoiled landscape of the Lower Cape. Nickerson State Park has 2,000 acres of Kettle Pond ponds created by glacier melt - swimming ponds at 22°C in summer, cold but clear in April.
Provincetown at the tip of the Cape (an hour further north from Wellfleet by road) has the Pilgrim Monument (the tallest all-granite structure in the United States) and the art galleries that have been the destination for painters since Charles Hawthorne arrived in 1899.
Practical Notes
- Exit: Boston Logan Airport (BOS): approximately 90 minutes from Hyannis by car (Route 6 west to Route 3 north). Allow extra time on Sunday evenings - the Cape traffic on Route 6 westbound is significant.
- April on Cape Cod: 8-14°C. Many seasonal businesses do not open until Memorial Day weekend (late May). Call ahead to confirm opening.
- The Cape Cod Rail Trail: bike hire at Idle Times Bike Shop (Brewster, Wellfleet) and several other operators along the trail.
- Bourne Bridge and Sagamore Bridge are the two road bridges onto the Cape: Sagamore (Route 6) is the more direct from Boston; Bourne (Route 28) is better from Plymouth.