1. White Swan Bed & Breakfast
City: Plymouth, MA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (508) 224-3759
Address: 146 Manomet Rd.
Description: Between the cheery innkeeper, full gourmet breakfasts, and garden grounds, you won’t want to venture too far from this 1820 farmhouse inn. Each of the 3 large guest rooms is done up in New England country style (think floral wallpaper, oak furniture, and claw-foot tubs) with Wi-Fi throughout. The inn is located just a 5-minute walk from White Horse Beach.
2. Pilgrim Sands On Long Beach
City: Plymouth, MA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (508) 747-0900
Address: 150 Warren Ave.
Description: At this prime beachfront location—just across the street from Plimoth Plantation—Pilgrim Sands is a find. The well-maintained but utilitarian accommodations are pleasant—ask for a room facing the water. This is an especially good choice for families; besides swimming at Long Beach kids will enjoy the indoor and outdoor pools. All rates include a basic continental breakfast and free Wi-Fi.
3. Plymouth & Brockton Street Railway Co.
City: Plymouth, MA
Category: Getting Here, Getting Around
Telephone: (508) 746-0378
Address: 8 Industrial Park Rd.
Description: Plymouth & Brockton probably handles the most Cape travelers and commuters, as they service the entire US 6 stretch from Provincetown into Boston’s South Station and on to Logan International Airport. From Logan International Airport to Hyannis, a one-way ticket runs $25 and round-trip fare is $45; from South Station the prices are $19 and $34, respectively. Traveling all the way to Provincetown from Logan International Airport costs $35; a round-trip ticket is $63. At Logan International Airport, your tickets may be purchased from the driver when boarding the bus. Reservations are not necessary. Ask about discounts for seniors and children. P&B also offers 10-ride commuter books at reduced rates. There are 12 bus stops on Cape Cod: Sagamore, Barnstable, Hyannis, Harwich, Orleans, Eastham, North Eastham, South Wellfleet, Wellfleet, Truro, North Truro, and Provincetown.
4. Mayflower Ii
City: Plymouth, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (508) 746-1622
Description: The Mayflower II is a full-scale replica of the 1620 ship that set sail from Plymouth, England, bringing 102 colonists or “Pilgrims” to the New World. Built in England in the 1950s, the Mayflower II, like its namesake, sailed across the Atlantic. The ship is moored in Plymouth Harbor, where you can climb aboard and learn about the hardships endured on the 66-day journey—close quarters, disease, storms—from the point of view of both the Pilgrims and sailors. Open mid-March through Thanksgiving weekend.
5. Plimoth Plantation
City: Plymouth, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (508) 746-1622
Address: 137 Warren Ave.
Insider Pick:
Description: Travel back in time at Plimoth Plantation, a living-history museum that showcases daily life for the Pilgrim colony and a typical Wampanoag Indian village during the 17th century. Throughout the site, interpreters describe the sometimes uneasy relationship between the two cultures and give a more honest account of the first Thanksgiving. You’ll first encounter the Wampanoag Homesite, located along the Eel River. Visit a mat-covered wetu where local Wampanoag (and other native people) wearing traditional dress demonstrate age-old Native American skills and talk about their culture and history from a modern point of view. You’ll then pass inside the wood stockade of the English Village, where several framed thatched-roof 1-room cottages, a meetinghouse, and a barn represent the colony’s earliest buildings. Costumed guides are engaged in activities typical of early 17th-century life, such as gardening, military drills (including firing muskets), carpentry, and meal preparation. Visitors—especially children—are encouraged to ask questions and there is a hands-on element throughout; kids may be asked to stack firewood or help weed in the garden. In the crafts center, modern-day artisans practice making native hand-coiled ceramic pots, hand-woven blankets, and simple joined furniture.
6. Plymouth Rock
City: Plymouth, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (508) 747-5369
Description: Located next to the Mayflower II under a granite portico on Plymouth Harbor, Plymouth Rock symbolically marks the spot where the Pilgrims first landed in the New World. And although more recent scholarship confirms that the Pilgrims first came ashore at the tip of Cape Cod near present-day Provincetown five weeks before they settled in Plymouth, the not-very-big boulder inscribed “1620” is nevertheless unexpectedly moving.