Cape Cod: a Cape for all seasons

One morning every summer when I was a child, my mother would wake me at 3am and my family – whispering and giddy – would pile into our packed car and drive in the dark to Cape Cod. (My father insisted on the early hour so we could cross the Cape Cod Canal before the traffic.)

“The Cape” is rightly treasured for its majestic, trail-crossed dunes, its roses and weather-beaten cottages, its stately sea captain’s homes and cranberry bogs. Above all, the Cape’s greatest glory is its great swathes of sandy beach. Whatever you like, there’s a beach for you. Calm bay beaches with sand-flats at low tide; Sound beaches – that’s Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds – zebra-striped with jetties, sporting moderate waves; or wild ocean beaches with acres of sand, where the breakers pound (see morebeach.com for a map).

Beachcombing is best in spring, after winter storms (especially this year; it was a hard winter). For swimmers, water temperatures rise sharply in July, peak in August, and stay warm until the end of September. To get into the sea off-season, try a kayak tour (explorecapecod.com).

Cape Cod’s unsung asset is its year-round appeal. In spring, says Sandra Arnold, “the Cape rivals England for all things flowering.” Arnold is an Englishwoman who owns A Little Inn on Pleasant Bay, so she should know.

First, in mid-May, come the flowering trees – apple, pear, cherry – and in June, the Cape’s floral glory: royal blue hydrangeas. (Sydenstricker, a revered Cape glassworks, produces wonderful hydrangea designs; see sydenstricker.com.) In summer the breeze smells of honeysuckle, suntan lotion, and fried clams. In September and October, during cranberry harvest, the earth’s russets and reds blaze against the cobalt sea. In winter, if you’re lucky, you can walk beaches trimmed with graceful patterns of windblown snow (and you will have no trouble parking.)

At any time of year I like to walk or cycle on dune trails through the National Seashore – either at Nauset Beach or in the high dunes of the Province Lands, at Provincetown – through a glacial landscape of ponds and moraines and gnarled, scrub-oak forests. For a semi-secret hiking spot of shifting dunes and pines, try Great Island in Wellfleet, deserted now, but once home to Wampanoags and 17th-century English settlers. For cyclists, there is the 25-mile Cape Cod Rail Trail, from Dennis to Wellfleet.

If you would prefer to motor through the dunes, don’t miss Art’s Dune Tours (artsdunetours.com) in Provincetown. “P-town,” as locals call it, is where bay meets ocean, gay meets straight, art meets nature, and Europe meets America (wooden buildings crowd on narrow, European-sized streets).

Quiet in winter, P-town begins bustling in April when the galleries, shops and restaurants open for business. On a recent visit I had dinner at the Crowne Pointe Inn (crownepointe.com), lingering contentedly over crispy crab cakes with fennel remoulade, and a dreamy salad of roasted beet and goat’s cheese – each dish matched with a perfect glass of wine.

I stayed at Land’s End Inn (see Essentials, below), a spectacular 1904 shingled “cottage” on a bluff overlooking Provincetown harbour and the National Seashore. Sea views fill the porches and windows and wonderfully, wildly excessive Victoriana fills everything else. My room had a wealth of stained glass, its own deck, and a sumptuous private bath in a tower. I woke at 2am and opened my eyes to find a dense starscape shining through a window cut into the eave just inches above my head. When I woke again, at six, a fuchsia sunrise was in progress over Cape Cod Bay.

During breakfast – try the homemade cranberry muffins – a whale spouted in the bay below. For a closer look at the big wet mammals, try whale-watch cruises in P-town (whalewatch.com) and Hyannis (whales.net). Rather shop? P-town is arty and Hyannis commercial – home to Cape Cod Mall; Chatham and Sandwich fall in between, offering a range of shops, restaurants and boutiques in pretty white-clapboard and grey-shingled villages.

Antique lovers must drive Route 6A from Sandwich, where it begins (take a quick stroll on Sandwich’s marshland boardwalk, to Town Neck Beach, before carrying on), to Orleans. I once spent three weekends in a row trying to visit every antique shop on 6A and gave up before I had got halfway.

Cape Cod is to artists as bones are to dogs. For about £3 I would recommend investing in Arts and Artisans Trails of Cape Cod (www.capeandislandsartsguide.com), which organises shops and studios into regional driving tours.

The list below highlights some of Cape Cod’s finest waterfront lodging. I focused on smaller inns and b&bs, and so didn’t include the cape’s two world-class resorts, the Wequassett Inn (wequassett.com) and Chatham Bars Inn (chathambarsinn.com). For all-inclusive holidays, including tennis, golf, and spa, they can’t be beaten.

Where to stay

Note: the list is arranged in order of distance, from closest to farthest from Cape Cod Canal. All have off-street parking.

High Pointe B&B, West Barnstable (001 508 362 4441; hpinn.com)

This spacious, serene 1989 home, with immaculate gardens and a 75-feet deck, overlooks a knotty treescape and Cape Cod Bay – on a clear day you can just make out Provincetown’s Monument 26 miles away. Contemporary bedrooms are luxurious – two have fireplaces – and equipped with binoculars and birding guides. Debbie and Rich offer complimentary cordials in the bright great room or cosy sitting room. Only 10 minutes from Cape Cod Canal by car, it’s a fine base for day trips to Boston, Newport, and the islands – or superb Sandy Neck Beach, five minutes away. In-room spa treatments are a nice plus.

Essentials: four ensuite rooms with bay views, including one suite with separate entrance and fireplace. Rates range from £114 to £175 per double room with gourmet breakfast.

Inn on the Sound, Falmouth (508 457 9666; innonthesound.com)

Low dunes and Nantucket Sound fill the windows of this gorgeously renovated 1872 beach house, which would be afloat if it were any closer to the water. Jen’s décor and Howard’s carpentry—I loved his beadboard ceilings —define casual sophistication with sumptuous materials and contemporary colours and lines. No fussy froufrou here. There are two comfortable sitting areas, one with a massive beach-stone fireplace, plus Bob the cat and K-zue the dog for fussing over. Only 20 minutes from the Canal and close to island ferries.

Essentials: 10 ensuite rooms, seven with a view of the sound, one with kitchenette and private patio. Rates range from £94 to £238 per double room with continental breakfast (try the homemade biscotti).

Anchor Inn, Hyannis (508 775 0357; anchorin.com)

The Anchor Inn is an upmarket motel in a tremendous location: smack on Hyannis harbour, next to the Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket ferries dock. If you—or your children—would rather swim in a heated pool, watch yacht traffic, and walk to downtown Hyannis’ shops and restaurants, than hole up in an exquisite b&b, this is a find. Rooms vary from lavish to simple. Don’t be put off by the plain, street-side exterior: the view’s at the back.

Essentials: 42 ensuite rooms (three with kitchenettes) with a range of harbour views (Osterville and Hyannis rooms have the best). Doubles with continental breakfast cost between £48 and £200.

A Little Inn on Pleasant Bay, South Orleans (508 255 0780; alittleinnonpleasantbay.com)

This gem, replete with rose-covered trellises, sits on a knoll overlooking Pleasant Bay and—beyond its finger-thin sandbar—the Atlantic. The house was built in 1798 and extended in 1900. The current owners, Sandra and Pamela, sisters from England, and Bernd, Pamela’s husband from Germany, restored the place to the highest standard of comfy sophistication: wide, gleaming floorboards (with a trap door, from the house’s days as a stop on the Underground Railroad); comfortable furniture with antique accents; spa showers. Guests enjoy a parlour and sunroom, both with fireplaces, and ample outdoor patios. Swim off the inn’s dock or watch sun and moonrise over the bay.

Essentials: nine ensuite rooms, seven facing the bay, two the exquisite back garden. Rates range from £159 to £218 per double room with European-style continental breakfast.

Fort Hill B&B, Eastham (508 240 2870; forthillbedandbreakfast.com)

This 1864 Greek Revival farmhouse is the only lodging within Cape Cod’s finest feature: the dune-backed, Atlantic-beaten National Seashore. The main house features a living room with wood-burning fireplace and two graciously decorated bedrooms. Nearby is Nantucket Cottage, a high-ceilinged retreat hand-built by Gordon, decorated with a light, airy touch by Jean. Only the cottage has a distant view of the sea, but Fort Hill’s location is still unbeatable. Walk two minutes and you’re looking at a panorama of Nauset marsh, and Nauset and Coast Guard beaches. Spectacular walking and kayaking.

Essentials: one bedroom with ensuite bath, the others have dedicated bathrooms; cottage has a kitchenette. Rates per double room from £138 to £230 including full breakfast.

Oyster Cove B&B, Wellfleet (508 349 2994; oystercove.com)

Three of four guestrooms in this contemporary, three-storey home gaze directly across an oyster-filled cove to Great Island reserve, and the white-clapboard town of Wellfleet. The top floor, ensuite Captain’s Studio is bright and spacious with a private deck. On the ground floor (the owners, Sandy and Dick, live in between), three bedrooms share a sizeable kitchen, living room, bath, and patio: great for families with children. The view, thoughtful additions — beach toys, microwaves and coffee pots, individual thermostats—and warmly attractive furnishings make this place memorable.

Essentials: Rates per double room range from £155 to £342, including continental breakfast.

Land’s End Inn, Provincetown (508 487 0706; landsendinn.com) See description above.

Essentials: 17 ensuite rooms and suites, 15 with waterview. Rates per double room from £107 to £400, including continental breakfast. “Bay Tower” room is pricey but spectacular.