Guide
Cape Cod With Kids: Which Coast, Which Age, Which Day
The postcard beaches are the wrong ones for small children. The bay flats at low tide and the freshwater kettle ponds are the two things that make a Cape family week work.
8 min read
Margaret Thorne
Senior Editor
Beat: Getting Around, Best Time to Visit, Towns of the Cape
Margaret has edited New England travel coverage for fourteen years and owns the practical pages here: which town sells a beach sticker to whom, what the Sagamore queue does to a Friday in July, and which half of the Cape is shut in February. She quotes fees as bands because towns revise them annually, and she says plainly when a number is unconfirmed.
4 guides · 4 news posts
Last updatedMargaret's most recent update to this site was .
Long-form
Guides by Margaret Thorne
Reported guides to Cape Cod, each with its own publication and last-updated date.
Guide
FeaturedA First-Timer's Guide to Cape Cod
Most first trips here are decided badly at the booking stage. Pick the stretch of the hook and the coast before you pick the cottage, and the rest of the week arranges itself.
8 min read
Guide
Getting to Cape Cod and Around It
Two bridges from 1935 carry every vehicle that has ever reached Cape Cod. Knowing when to cross them is worth more than any other piece of local knowledge.
8 min read
Guide
FeaturedWhich Part of Cape Cod to Stay In: Upper, Mid, Lower or Outer
Sixty-five miles, one spine road and two bridges. The stretch of the hook you sleep on decides how much of your week you spend driving, and it is the one booking you cannot undo.
9 min read
News desk
News under Margaret Thorne's byline
Shorter, dated pieces about what is changing in Cape Cod.
How this was written. News published under Margaret Thorne's byline was drafted by machine from primary sources — operator notices, government and municipal releases, published schedules — and every factual claim in it was matched to one of those sources before it published. A Cape Cod Guide editor can change or pull any of it. Our editorial standards.
Closure
The Shutdown: What Closes on the Cape After Columbus Day
The Cape's season is sharper than almost anywhere on the American coast. Knowing which half of the peninsula stays open is the difference between a good winter trip and a wasted one.
Development
Where the Bridge Replacement Programme Actually Stands
Two 1935 spans carry every vehicle that reaches Cape Cod. The replacement programme is real, partly funded, and has moved more than once.
Beach update
FeaturedWhat the National Seashore Gates Charge, and When They Are Staffed
One fee schedule covers all six ocean beaches, the gates take no cash, and passes are sold at the beach entrances only. The collection season is shorter than the summer.
Travel alert
Car Space on the Island Ferries Goes Long Before Foot Passage
The Steamship Authority is the only operator carrying vehicles to either island. For a day trip the answer is almost always to leave the car behind.