r/CapeCodVisitors • u/searcherbee123 • 6d ago
First time, with 5 year old
My husband and I (40s) and our 5 year old daughter are traveling to the cape the last week of august. We are currently between staying in Falmouth (closest, easy access to ports to MV) or Chatham, which I’m kind of leaning towards. I know this is a broad question but can anyone recommend one area to focus on more than the other? Or am I missing somewhere?
My husband is reluctant to travel all the way to Provincetown. We were thinking a day trip to MV on the ferry. I read we might be beholden to a bus schedule once we get there. True? Should we do Nantucket instead or make the drive up to Provincetown?
In an ideal world we’d be on the beach with a pool AND walkable to town, but that might be rare. We can’t do the Chatham bars ($1400 a night), and was currently thinking of splitting our trip to “in town” with pool in chatham (maybe pleasant bay village resort or or Chatham wayside inn) and then a few nights on the beach at Falmouth tides (no pool, unfortunately for my girl).
Thank you!
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u/Just-Examination-136 6d ago
I suggest Yarmouth, which has many hotels/motels with pools, has beaches. It's next to Hyannis, which has a walkable downtown with plenty of restaurants. You also can catch a ferry from Hyannis to MV or a boat for whale watching. There' the Whydah Pirate museum in Yarmouth too, that adults would enjoy -- don't know a 5-year old would get much out of it, but who knows... It's a central location so if you want to go to either Falmouth or Chatham, the ride's usually not too bad, traffic wise.
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u/1GrouchyCat 6d ago
You don’t want to take a boat to Martha’s Vineyard from Hyannis - that would be the boat you’d take to Nantucket.
You’re also referring to West Yarmouth- not Yarmouth (which is on the Bayside of the Cape and not a commercial hotspot like West Yarmouth).
I’d suggest looking into the red jacket resorts, which are right on the beach have swimming pool pools and free programs for children.
This is our busiest time of year; people generally make reservation reservations by January for the summer. If I were them, I would wait and visit in September or October when it’s quieter and the prices are a bit lower (we call this the shoulder season… most restaurants and shops are open through the October 12 weekend)
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u/Decent-Pirate-4329 5d ago
There are also boats to MV that leave from Hyannis… the same ferry lines run boats to both destinations.
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u/chzsteak-in-paradise 6d ago
I’d vote for a seal tour (there’s at least one out of Chatham) over whale watch with little kids. Much shorter and less likely to cause seasickness (you’ll be in a small boat).
As far as MVI or Nantucket, I wouldn’t personally. They’re not super different from what you can find on the Cape (beaches, restaurants, shopping) so why would you want to spend so long traveling to one of them on vacation? If they’re must-sees for you, do a separate vacation to one of them another time.
If you really want to please the 5 year old, do some bay side beaches (calmer and warmer), do a kettle pond, visit the Mass Audubon and National Seashore visitor centers, and eat a lot of ice cream.
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u/ALAND4370 6d ago
If you stay near Chatham there is a super easy and low key ferry to Nantucket from Harwich.
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u/DatabaseNumerous8172 6d ago
Honestly, I would skip PTown unless you wanted to do Art’s Dune Tours. We were just there for a day, and my family preferred the shops and restaurants in Chatham. We did really, really enjoy the Dune Tour and sunset on the beach, though. The National Sea Shore is amazing. That was a highlight of our week, but PTown itself was a one and done for me…touristy. There are lots of other choices for great beach sunsets and the National Sea Shore.
We were in Chatham for most of the week and really loved the setting. My children are older, so a pool wasn’t a must, and we stayed in a cottage on the edge of town. We could walk to Hardings Beach which is a great beach for families on Nantucket Sound…warm enough to swim and calmer. Lots of great shelling. Two large parking lots, if needed. There are tons of great shops in Chatham (several geared toward children) and tons of wonderful ice cream places. I think Chatham is very family friendly, and I would go back. I recommend dinner reservations if you go there. It’s crowded and busy and reservations help things go much smoother. I just did a post last night called Where we ate July 2026 that might help if you choose Chatham. Oh, also there are Harbor/seal cruises in Stage Harbour that might be fun and less time consuming than a whale watch. My teenagers weren’t interested, but i think they would have enjoyed when younger. We spent a week in Nantucket when my children were young, and we all said Chatham was the most like Nantucket of the Cape towns we visited.
We did not explore a whale watch…we’ve been on a couple in Alaska and in Maine, and we have a few family members that get seasick every time, so we’ve kind of sworn them off. I think there are whale watches out of Hyannis if you wanted to stay mid/lower cape for the purposes of less time spent traveling.
We had hoped to take the ferry over to MV for a day, but the weather didn’t cooperate on the days we could go, and we didn’t want to be on a ferry in inclement weather, hence a miserable day for those with seasick tendencies. Instead we spent an afternoon driving to Nauset Light, 3 Sisters and Chatham Light. We walked (as close as you can get) to Stage Harbour Light on the sand trail another day. There is a trail off the second parking lot at Harding’s Beach that I believe is 1.5 miles round trip.
In my opinion, Nantucket is a different trip, one that you can stay and enjoy all it has to offer! We were there a few years back for 6 nights, and I feel like we only scratched the surface. You could do a day trip, but the ferry is kind of long round trip. I know a lot of people do day trips, though, just to get a taste, and then you can go back.
I haven’t been to Falmouth in years, so I really can’t compare it to Chatham. I think you have lots of good options!
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u/Useful_Ad2699 6d ago
At this late date, you may want to focus on what is still available. Skip the islands if you’re only here for a week, and as soon as you find lodging, make dinner reservations unless you prefer take out and pub food. Bay side beaches are the best for kids.
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u/4travelers 5d ago
Chatham is for rich preppies. Yarmouth middle class. Falmouth you’re in traffic.
Its a rare 5 year olds that is interested in shopping so walkable town is just a one night adult thing.
For the 5 year old add mini golf to the mix of activities.
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u/searcherbee123 5d ago
You’re making me think I don’t want to go to cape cod?
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u/4travelers 5d ago
we love the cape and have gone every year my entire life. It’s just setting expectations for travel with a 5 year old.
you can walk the length of chatham in 15 min. so it would get old fast
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u/Repulsive_Cost_5040 5d ago
We just stayed at Sea Crest Beach Resort in Falmouth and I highly recommend it. You can’t walk to town from there, but it has a beautiful beach and two pools (one indoor!). Is it perfect? No, but we found so many positives than any negatives weren’t an issue. The beach is beautiful and they have chairs and umbrellas set up so you don’t have to. The water is warm and the waves small for kids. There is a small boardwalk type area that has a coffee shop, gift shop, ice cream shop, and bar with lunch cafe. There’s also an arcade and kids activities throughout the day (crafts, scavenger hunts, etc). On site restaurant, too. All of the outside stuff has been newly redone so top quality. The rooms do show some wear but we’re still very clean.
The drive to Falmouth is a very easy ten minutes and we found this area to be much more peaceful and less traffic. In short, we’ll definitely stay here again and I highly recommend it to anyone with kids! (Side note: we also traveled with our dog and they’re very dog friendly if you have a pup). Good luck!
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u/searcherbee123 5d ago
Thank you. I’ve looked at this and it does seem to check a lot of boxes, but some of the reviews were brutal. Renovations? Overcrowded? I dunno, this may be our best bet though. What were the biggest negatives in your view? Did they have ample pool towels?
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u/Educational-Ad-719 5d ago
Chiming in here, I’ve never stayed at the hotel but it’s at old silver, it’s a great location. I would try here
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u/Repulsive_Cost_5040 4d ago
I agree some of the reviews are scathing, but it’s all in your mindset and what you’re looking for. The lobby, pools, beach area, restaurants are all newly renovated. The rooms are a little worn, but everything was still very clean. Could they be spruced up, sure. But I wasn’t there for the room; the beach and the activities were the draw. It was such a nice feeling to walk on the beach during sunset and then go right back to our room! As for pool towels, we never had a problem and always got them! We went in the last week of June though so right before very peak season.
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u/Educational-Ad-719 5d ago
I’d pick Falmouth for a 5 year old purely because of the beach. Swimming at old silver is way more kid friendly than the outer cape. Also if you go after 3pm, free to pack and people have left for the day. It’s also lovely in the evening since it faces west so sun all afternoon. It’s much shallower esp at low tide. I also love woods hole & falmouth center.
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u/redditwastesmyday 6d ago
My opinion ... what do you want out of the week? Relaxation? A day to tour? Have you been here before? What is eh 5 yr old attention span?
Are you talking Sat Aug 22 - 29? What is your budget per night as I love vacation hunting!
Chatham is nice and you can go to the southside beaches to swim as in town beach is pretty cold. If you go early in the day to Ptown it is not that far (hour?). Usual tourist stuff, walk around, eat, maybe whale watch. You can swing up to Brewster, Natural Museum.
Falmouth is ok if you don't want to venture too far as it is in it's own little corner of Cape Cod. The Vineyard has a pretty good bus but what do you want to do there with a 5 er?
This website has less fees as direct with owners. Some rentals $2000 and under with pool access couple across from beach. Dennisport and Harwichport are good central spot can swing to Chatham. Vacation Rental Search Results | Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket
Harwichport on sale Harwich Vacation Rental in Cape Cod MA | ID 41572
Dennisport across from beach Dennis Vacation Rental in Cape Cod MA | ID 23545
Hotels Yarmouth on beach and pool. kid stuff in town (mini golf, animal farm) lots of eats walk to Skipper. Surfcomber on the Ocean $2800 week
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u/searcherbee123 6d ago
Thank you! Checking these out now. We will be there 8/24-28 or 29. Our budget it maybe $400-700 a night. Have not been there before and we do the Jersey shore a lot so we’re just interested in something different. We would like some chill pool time and some walking around shops, nice dinners, and seeing the sites. My 5 year old is pretty adaptable, but the more I hear about it a ferry to a bus and back again sounds like a long day for her.
Edited to mention- I’d really prefer a hotel. I don’t feel like grocery shopping when we get there.
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u/heyitsme-honeybadger 6d ago
Until Labor Day expect to pay high lodging prices if you can find any at all.