Cape Cod and the Islands

Cape Cod is a peninsula shaped like a bent arm that extends about 100 km out from the mainland in southeastern Massachusetts. The Cape Cod Canal, opened in the early 20th century, separates it from the rest of the state, and two bridges connect it. The landscape consists of dunes, freshwater ponds, salt marshes, low pines and villages of wooden houses with weathered cedar shingles.

Hyannis, on the south side, is the main commercial center and the ferry port for the islands. The Kennedy family spent summers in nearby Hyannis Port, and a museum on the main street tells that story. The south side has calm-water beaches facing the Nantucket Sound; the Atlantic side, to the east, has surf, sand cliffs and the Cape Cod National Seashore, protected since 1961.

At the tip of the peninsula is Provincetown, where the Mayflower pilgrims landed in 1620 before continuing to Plymouth. The village has been an artists’ colony since the late 19th century and one of the country’s best-known LGBTQ+ communities, with galleries, theater and the granite Pilgrim Monument tower.

To the south, the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard made their living from whaling in the 18th and 19th centuries. Nantucket preserves a stone‑street downtown and captains’ houses; Martha's Vineyard has villages with different characters, like Edgartown with white houses, Oak Bluffs with colorful cottages, and the clay cliffs of Aquinnah.

This destination brings together 4 cities: Hyannis, Provincetown, Nantucket, Edgartown.