Barnstable Trip Overview
** Please purchase one tour per car.
Explore all that Cape Cod has to offer with this self-guided driving tour, from quintessential lighthouses to sandy beaches! As you drive, discover the Cape’s seafaring traditions, Pilgrim history, and miles of beautiful beaches. From Barnstable to Provincetown, visit Nauset Lighthouse (the unofficial Cape icon), First Encounter Beach (which the Pilgrims explored), Marconi Station (a must-do) & more!
Within 30 min, we’ll send you two things: a password and an app. Download the app, enter password & download the tour. When you arrive, go to the Cape Cod Visitor Center, launch the app, and follow the instructions! Stick to our recommended route and speed limit for the best experience.
NO EXPIRATION — THE TOUR IS AVAILABLE FROM THE MINUTE YOU BOOK UNTIL FOREVER!
THIS IS NOT A TICKET TO ATTRACTIONS ALONG THE ROUTE. CHECK COVID RULES AND OPENING HOURS BEFORE YOUR VISIT.
Additional Info
Duration: 3 hours
Starts: Barnstable, United States
Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Cultural Tours
Explore Barnstable Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States
** Please purchase one tour per car.
Explore all that Cape Cod has to offer with this self-guided driving tour, from quintessential lighthouses to sandy beaches! As you drive, discover the Cape’s seafaring traditions, Pilgrim history, and miles of beautiful beaches. From Barnstable to Provincetown, visit Nauset Lighthouse (the unofficial Cape icon), First Encounter Beach (which the Pilgrims explored), Marconi Station (a must-do) & more!
Within 30 min, we’ll send you two things: a password and an app. Download the app, enter password & download the tour. When you arrive, go to the Cape Cod Visitor Center, launch the app, and follow the instructions! Stick to our recommended route and speed limit for the best experience.
NO EXPIRATION — THE TOUR IS AVAILABLE FROM THE MINUTE YOU BOOK UNTIL FOREVER!
THIS IS NOT A TICKET TO ATTRACTIONS ALONG THE ROUTE. CHECK COVID RULES AND OPENING HOURS BEFORE YOUR VISIT.
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Cape Cod Visitor Center, Barnstable, MA 02630, USA
We begin our journey into America’s distant past at the Cape Cod Visitor Center. Prepare to dive into the Pilgrims, the nation’s origins and the long history of the Cape. As we begin our drive through picturesque Massachusetts towns, we’ll learn about the Nauset tribe, their legends and traditions, and why they were wary when strange ships appeared on the eastern horizon.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Scargo Tower, Scargo Hill Road, Dennis, MA
An optional detour takes us past the fish-shaped Scargo Lake. According to Nauset legend, this lake was built by a great chieftain to comfort his daughter, who could not stop weeping over three dead fish. We’ll also learn about the Nauset party who first spotted the Mayflower, and the fears they had about its approach.
Duration: 10 minutes
Pass By: Harwich, Harwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Another optional detour takes us to Harwich, a quaint Cape town known for its numerous beautiful beaches. If you fancy a swim, this is one of the best places on the Cape for it!
Stop At: Cape Cod Lavender Farm, Off, Weston Woods Rd, Harwich, MA 02645, USA
While in Harwich, we’ll visit the Cape Cod Lavender Farm, a secluded estate that’s just as gorgeous and fragrant as it sounds. Walk any of the woodland trails for free, soak up the smell of lavender, and pick up a few souvenirs!
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Bank Street Beach, 16 Bank St, Harwich, MA 02646
Next, our Harwich detour will take us to Bank Street Beach, the perfect place to relax or dip your toes into the Atlantic.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Eastham, Eastham, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
As we continue our drive, we’ll enter Eastham, a perfectly picturesque little Colonial town. We’ll also hear about the embattled first encounter between the Pilgrims and the Nauset, the daring assistance offered by Squanto, and the very first Thanksgiving, where the Pilgrims and Nauset celebrated a truce.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: First Encounter Beach, 1699 Samoset Rd, Eastham, MA
Continuing down the Cape, we’ll arrive at First Encounter Beach, where that dramatic skirmish between Nauset and Pilgrims took place. The beach now bears a plaque commemorating the encounter and the eventual truce.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Salt Pond Visitor Center, Route 6, Eastham, MA 02642
A little farther on, we’ll arrive at the Salt Pond Visitor Center. This miniature museum is the perfect opportunity to catch up on some extra Cape history, use the bathroom, or just stretch your legs.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: 2 Nauset Light Beach Rd, Eastham, MA 02642-1729
As we continue our drive up the Cape, we’ll spot the Nauset Light, the quaint little lighthouse that features in every quintessential Cape Cod photograph. We’ll also learn about its importance, and how the Cape’s rough waters earned the nickname of “ocean graveyard” before the lighthouse was built.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Nauset Lighthouse, 120 Nauset Light Beach Rd, Eastham, MA 02642-1729
As we continue our drive up the Cape, we’ll spot the Nauset Light, the quaint little lighthouse that features in every quintessential Cape Cod photograph. We’ll also learn about its importance, and how the Cape’s rough waters earned the nickname of “ocean graveyard” before the lighthouse was built.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: The Three Sisters Lighthouses, Cable Road, Eastham, MA
Continuing our drive, we’ll come to three squat white lighthouses called the Three Sisters Lighthouses. What’s peculiar about these lighthouses is that they’re not on the coast at all! They’re actually nestled among a thicket of trees pretty far inland. Hear about why that is, and how they came to be there. We’ll also learn about how the Cape transformed from Nauset land to Colonial fishing towns, and then from fishing towns to a tourist hotspot.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, 291 US-6, South Wellfleet, MA 02663, USA
Another optional detour takes us to the Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary. With five miles of trails through four different biomes, and more species of birds and other critters than you can count, this stop is bound to delight nature enthusiasts, bird watchers, and avid hikers alike.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Marconi Wireless Station, Six miles north of Salt Pond Visitor Center, Wellfleet, MA
As we continue driving, we’ll pass Marconi Station, the first radio station to ever send a wireless message across the Atlantic! The station also played a pivotal role in an infamous oceanic tragedy: the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Learn how a radio station hundreds of miles away saved lives on that fateful day!
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail, Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trl, Wellfleet, MA 02667, USA
The next optional detour takes us to the Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail, a perfect spot for hikers of all experience levels to stretch their legs and take in Cape Cod’s varied terrain. Within a single, short mile lies a beach, a freshwater marsh, a deciduous forest, and a salt plain! Continuing our drive, we’ll also hear about Cape Cod’s former whaling industry.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Pilgrim Spring Trail, Route 6, Truro, MA 02666
As we continue driving, we’ll pass the Pilgrim Spring Trail, a short hike which leads to one of the first places the Pilgrims came after landing on the Cape. Here, the weary travelers found their first freshwater spring–an essential find in helping them survive. Afterward, we’ll continue on toward Provincetown.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: MacMillan Pier, Provincetown, MA 02657, USA
As we drive through P-Town, we’ll arrive at Macmillan Pier, where thousands of ships have launched over the years. Here, we get to see how past and present really intermingle on the Cape. These days, the pier is mostly used to launch whale watching expeditions.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum, 1 High Pole Hill Rd, Provincetown, MA 02657, USA
Our penultimate stop is the Pilgrim Monument: the tallest all-granite monument in the entire country! Every year since its completion in 1910, thousands of tourists climb the steps of this 250-foot colossus to get a panoramic view of the ocean from the top. It’s well worth the trek! Next, we’ll hear about the Mayflower Contract, the rough set of laws the Pilgrims set for themselves upon landing in the New World.
Duration: 10 minutes
Stop At: Pilgrim’s First Landing Park, West End of Commercial St. Downtown Center, Provincetown, MA 02657
Finally, we’ll end up where it all began: the site where the Mayflower first struck land. Explore the park and imagine what it must have been like for the settlers, after ten harrowing weeks at sea, to step onto Nauset soil right here on November 11th, 1620. Our tour officially ends at this historic stop.
Duration: 10 minutes
