Which Route and where to stay

Hello

Could you please tell me which is the scenic road to drive on the Cape - I%26#39;ve read about route 6 and 6A and am a little confused!! Also we want to spend a week on the Cape staying in a couple of places. We do not like commercialised towns but prefer lovely scenery - can you please suggest where is best?

Many thanks for your help.

Which Route and where to stay

Rt. 6 is the Mid-Cape Highway - you take it to get where you are going. Rt. 6A generally parallells it and is the scenic route. There%26#39;s not a huge amount of commercialization on the Cape as a whole, but the towns further down towards P-town will probably suit your needs. Here are a couple of suggestions: Brewster, Orleans, Wellfleet, Truro, Chatham (the last is not on Rt. 6) If you were adventurous - a fun trip might be to stay in Falmouth (other end of the Cape) and work your way up to Provincetown.

Which Route and where to stay

Thank you - that is a good idea to start in Falmouth - we will have a week so we could take it easy and really enjoy the trip. Many thanks

Where ever you stay, explore the Cape via 6A. There are two thru routes, other than 6 which is a limited access highway, from the canal to Orleans, 6A along the north shore, and 28 along the south shore. A lot of 28 will be thru commercial areas and strip malls. 6A is much more picturesque. At Orleans, follow 6, now a local road, to Provincetown, getting off to explore Wellfleet and Truro. Chatham on the south shore is a nice place to visit, but cut across the Cape from 6A somewhere farther out like 137 from Brewster, rather than follow 28. If you get as far as Provincetown, 6A reappears in North Truro. Take that instead of 6 for the last few miles.

Every town has some lovely scenery but some towns have mostly private views that are not accessible to visitors. For the most consistently accessible views you need to search out the public beaches, overlook parking lots and public board-walks that each town has. Or go to the outer cape, starting in Eastham, where the Cape Cod National Seashore has preserved most of the land and beaches on the ocean side. Eastham, Wellfleet and Truro have preserved more of their small-town feeling with limited commercial and residential development.

My favorite place on Cape Cod is Fort Hill, in the National Seashore in Eastham. And because there is a wonderful B+B in the historic area, Fort Hill Bed and Breakfast, we always try to stay there. The Nantucket cottage has its own ocean views and the renovated suites in the antique house have a gracious personality. The B+B is quite small, however, and it fills up fast so we are not always able to book a room there. When they are full, we check out the local chamber of commerce sites for Eastham and Wellfleet to see who has vacancy. None of the ones we have stayed at can match the full breakfast, ocean views and trails and privacy that Fort Hill offers, but we have met some really nice innkeepers and other travelers along the way.

To get a feeling for the National Seashore and the outer cape try some of these links: boston.com/travel/…

yankeemagazine.com/issues/…bestbeaches

http://www.nps.gov/caco

http://www.easthamchamber.com

I love the 6A drive from Sandwich to Orleans. It%26#39;s on the Scenic Byway list for a reason. There%26#39;s lots to see along this route. Route 28 does nothing for me. It runs through too much commercialization. Route 6 is the main east-west highway on the Cape and runs right through the middle of the Cape. It%26#39;s used for getting from point A to B the fastest but there%26#39;s nothing scenic about it until you get to the outer Cape and National Seashore. Here%26#39;s a little info on 6A

seeamerica.org/byways/…MAold.html

Thank you so much everyone - you have really helped me and given all the info I need. I really appreciate all the input - just can%26#39;t wait to go now!!

chap balm