Best Cape Cod Towns Vacation (Falmouth, Sandwich: middle-class, rental, house)

[Beachcomber4]

Spring has sprung and so have the ubiquitous “best of” and “most exclusive”’designations. One such made me chuckle- Sandwich and Hyannis were listed. Full disclosure, I live in Sandwich and love it. But I wouldn’t say it was the best and it definitely is not exclusive. It’s a sleepy residential village with little variety in cuisine, a small quaint downtown and some interesting historic sites that can be seen in one afternoon. Sidewalks roll up by 8 pm. At the latest.

Hyannis. We avoid it as much as possible.

So, that said. What towns would you put on these lists and why?

[CaseyB]

Chatham.

[mwj119]

Chatham. Ptown. Falmouth.

I do like Sandwich, by the way.

[P Larsen]

Sandwich and Truro are my favorites because I like quiet and am not looking for Things To Do to busy-fy my vacation. Truro is well-known for that, Sandwich far less so, being better associated as Drive-Over Country on the Cape (Bourne is nearly entirely forgotten except by its devotees).

Falmouth is more like a middle-class version of prepster Chatham, and manages to stay that way because of being somewhat throttled in high season by ferrygoing vehicles.

[GeoffD]

Depends on what you're looking for. Personally, I'd vote for not on the Cape. A 1 month rental at Nonquitt in South Dartmouth. Private beach. Golf course. Clay tennis courts. They run a day camp for kids so they're not underfoot the midweek days. There are three other gated communities in town but with less amenities. You generally have to go through a realtor. The associations frown on AirBnB and VRBO.

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by P Larsen

Sandwich and Truro are my favorites because I like quiet and am not looking for Things To Do to busy-fy my vacation. Truro is well-known for that, Sandwich far less so, being better associated as Drive-Over Country on the Cape (Bourne is nearly entirely forgotten except by its devotees).

Falmouth is more like a middle-class version of prepster Chatham, and manages to stay that way because of being somewhat throttled in high season by ferrygoing vehicles.

That is exactly why we moved to Sandwich. Maybe I need to consider renting out my house!

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by mwj119

Chatham. Ptown. Falmouth.

I do like Sandwich, by the way.

Love living here. ❤️ Those are my top 3 as well.

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Chatham.

Love Chatham. So many cultural events that begin in spring and continue through New Years.

It’s becoming a real foodie haven with so many ethnic choices. Several
restaurants with a Caribbean flair have opened. The owners of Mom & Pops is opening a Filipino restaurant after a successful run of Wednesday night themed dinners.

[MikePRU]

As others have said, it depends on what you're looking for. If you want quiet places like Truro and Brewster are great. If you want a town with a little more to do there's P-town, Falmouth, Chatham, Osterville, etc.

I tend to spend most of my time in Mashpee when on the Cape. Mostly because I get free housing there. . However, I do like that it's more "built up" than some other areas of the Cape so if it's raining I can go to the movies. When my kids were little we went to the Children's Museum. If we want to go out to dinner or get takeout there are numerous choices.

Bottom line, there's a lot of good choices for places to go on the Cape and certainly a variety of places which makes it a good fit for a lot of different people.

[lrfox]

If I were a multi-millionaire, I'd have a house in P-Town. The dense, active "in-town" area is constrained be the topography and the National Seashore. The result is an extremely cool, vibrant, historic town center with plenty to do immediately adjacent to a wild, quiet, and beautiful stretch of dunes, pine barrens, and beaches. It's the perfect blend of everything packed neatly into a small area as far as I'm concerned.

That said, I grew up frequenting the cottages communities of Brewster, so between the nostalgia and the general appeal of the quaint cottage communities, the flats and calm bay beaches, etc. Brewster would be on my list. Truro and Falmouth round out my list.