Help With Day Trip to The Cape

Sill a little confused about my day trip to cape cod. I will be leaving from the norwood area of boston. I need to know rather to take route 6 or 6a I would like to stop in three areas. Chatham, Cape Cod National Seashore and Provincetown. also any ideas of where to park for free at one of the beaches at cape cod national seashore and also parking in and around commerical street in provincetown.also any help with a one day itnerary would be appreciated.

Help With Day Trip to The Cape

Hi - Rt. 6 is the Mid-Cape Highway and you would take it to The National Seashore %26amp; P-Town. Rt. 6A is a scenic route that would take you along the towns on the bayside - pretty, but prone to ';in-town'; traffic during the season. Chatham is on Rt. 28 - the other major road on the ocean-side (you can get to Chatham from 6, but you have to work your way in) Here is a good link for you:

www.capecodtravel.com/gettingaround/maps/

As for free parking at the National Seashore %26amp; P-town, unlikely during the day, during the season, tho others may have inside tips. It is not expensive to park in P-town if you go to the Municipal Lot in the center of town where the whale watch boats are docked.

Help With Day Trip to The Cape

That municipal lot you mentioned is probably the best bet for affordable parking. There is no parking on Commercial St that I%26#39;ve ever seen. The street is too narrow to allow for parking, driving and pedestrian traffic. There are metered spaces on the side streets off of Commercial but they are hard to come by and, if you do get one, you have to keep running back to put quarters in the meter.

the National Seashore extends for a long way, from Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod, down to about Eastham or Orleans (just north of Chatham). There are quite a few places where you can pull off the road and go in to the National Seashore. One of the most popular is in Eastham (I%26#39;m pretty sure, but am not looking at a map) and is called ';Marconi Station';. There is a huge sign on your right as you head north. It%26#39;s worth stopping there, as you not only get a spectactular view from the cliffs (beaches going for miles in both directions), but there is all the historic stuff about Marconi and the first telegraph. The park (national seashore) up in P%26#39;town is also really wonderful. I just wanted to make sure you knew it is big, and is not only located in Provincetown. In P%26#39;town, though, I think it%26#39;s free to park near the beach at Race Point . . . do I remember correctly? You have to walk a ways from your car to get to the beach. You can also rent bicycles and follow the (very pretty) bike paths down to the beach.

Last summer, parking on McMillan Pier in P-town(near the Whale Watches) was $2/hour. Parking near the highschool (whenthe pier is full you are directed there) is slightly less. There%26#39;s also parking at ';Duartes Mall'; (not a mall at all - ha!). It%26#39;s also very close to downtown, is convenient but more expensive than the municipal lot unless you stay a while ... (I don%26#39;t remember exactly, but it%26#39;s like $6 for the first 2 hours and $1 an hour after that). Also, in the summer these lots do fill up. There are meters around, but they are starting to crack down on meter hogs and restricting the length of time you can stay, no matter how many times you run back and add quarters. Can%26#39;t remember if it%26#39;s 2 hours or something more ... it used to be unlimited. I%26#39;ve seen traffic enforcement folks writing down license plate number an returning to ticket those still there after the alloted time.

It%26#39;s definitely not free to park at Racepoint Beach prior to 5pm on any sunny summer day. If you think you might get away with parking at the tiny airport and walking to the beach ... think again, they monitor that, too.

You can park for free at the visitor centers (Eastham, Ptown)... maybe the previous poster meant the Racepoint Visitors%26#39; Center? ... it%26#39;s a decent hike from there to a beach.

Also, don%26#39;t be a %26#39;dumb tourist%26#39; and try to pull over for a scenic look or park for free along any of the roads through the dunes of Ptown cuz you%26#39;ll end up stuck in the sand and paying a tow truck to get you out which is a lot more than the $10(?) parking fee.

Also, I%26#39;m pretty sure that you still only need to pay ONCE a day to park at the National Seashore ... so if you go to Marconi beach and pay, then you show your receipt to gain entrance at Herring Cove.

One more thing to remember, is that on a busy weekend, the beach parking lots fill up by 9:30 or 10 and you cannot drive in ... it%26#39;s not as bad on weekdays ... but on a %26#39;perfect beach day%26#39;, you could be shut out.

Apologies if this has been covered already in another thread, but I looked and did not see it...

You say ';day trip';. You are aware how far away the Cape is, right? It is possible to do a day trip, but based on what you%26#39;re describing, you%26#39;ll be in the car a solid 5 to 6 hours. And that%26#39;s assuming you%26#39;re going midweek and there%26#39;s no traffic on the way there or back. Just so you know.

Wow! I beg to differ with the previous poster but a solid 5 or 6 hours in the car? ONLY, and I do mean ONLY if you are planning to do this on Saturday morning in July or August might it take somewhere near that long. Norwood to the bridge should take 60-90 minutes, then it is (maybe) 90 minutes to P-town on a busy day. I have gone from Arlington to P-town for a daytrip in my car in just about 2 hours - Chatham, the same. I do agree planning is key, but I don%26#39;t want zeetraveler to think it takes that long.

Uh, yeah. 60 minutes + 90 minutes = 2.5 hours.

Day trip = all in one day.

Round trip = 2.5*2 = 5 hours.

Unless they did not mean to say ';day'; trip?

okay, I get it.