Provincetown in Summer

CAPE COD.  If you are visiting Boston in the summer, consider taking a trip to Cape Cod without a car.

The ferry from Boston to Provincetown is a great way to travel, take in the scenery and avoid the traffic. The slower ferry is cheaper, but the fast ferry takes only ninety minutes. This means a day trip to Provincetown is very do-able. Leave Boston at 8:30am or 9:00am and leave Provincetown at 5:30pm or 7:30pm.  

Leaving Boston

What can you do if you reach Provincetown without a car? You can have a lovely day trip. The ferry docks in the Town Center.

There is a long main street, Commercial Street, offering many tourist shops and art galleries for browsing. You can select souvenir seashells, admire T-shirt logos, and meander through the gobs of clothes and knickknacks on offer. Art ranges from paintings to sculpture to photography to crafts. With so much to see, you’re bound to find something that makes the art galleries worth your while. Remember, you don’t have to make a purchase.

Cape Cod cod

You can admire the Pilgrim Monument or climb its 252 steps for a great view. Listen to the street musicians in front of Town Hall. Check out the Bob Gasoi Memorial Art Alley.

on Art Alley

If you are a planner, you can sign up for a tour or two in advance. Art’s Dune Tours leaves from the Town Center. As the name says, you get a tour of the sand dunes on the the Cape, lovely in most all weather and lasting about an hour.

Dunes on the Cape

The Anne Hutchinson Tour of Provincetown leaves from the Town Center and lasts about an hour. The reinvented Anne, dressed in drag, is keen to share her partially honest and partially glib take on Provincetown history. All but the most starched and straight-laced are likely to have a fun walk about with Anne.

There are cheap eats to be found about Provincetown. You might consider a frankfurter at John’s Footlong, a takeout place close to the wharf. The Portuguese Bakery is a dependable spot for pastry. Spiritus has pizza slices. The Box Lunch has reasonable sandwich prices.

The Post Office Cafe has changed much over the decades, but it’s still a solid bet for sitting down to a plate of fish and chips. Not cheap but not extravagantly priced.

The Provincetown Brewing Company is a fine place to stop in for a cold beer on a hot summer’s day. (I like the Goldenhook Pale Ale.)

The ice cream places aren’t cheap, but they are within range of most New England homemade ice cream vendors.  

Picture yourself at a picnic table, at a Center of Town Public Beach, overlooking the ocean and the ships and the sand, while enjoying the best cherry amaretto ice cream ever.

at a Town Center Public Beach

“Here’s to freedom, cheers to art. Here’s to having an excellent adventure and may the stopping never start.” – Jason Mraz

See Ode to Cape Code and Cotuit Talent for more on Cape Cod.

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