Provincetown
Beach Town · Provincetown, Massachusetts
The town at the very tip of Cape Cod, where the arm curls back on itself and the land runs out. The Mayflower anchored here first, in November 1620, and the passengers signed the Mayflower Compact in this harbour before deciding the ground was too poor and moving on to Plymouth. It has been a Portuguese fishing port, the oldest continuous art colony in America, and for decades one of the most important LGBTQ+ destinations in the world — usually all three at once, along three miles of a single street.
Commercial Street, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 02657, United States
A working town, always open, at the tip of Cape Cod. Most businesses run from roughly May to October and a great many close entirely in winter. The fast ferry from Boston is seasonal, about 90 minutes. Race Point and Herring Cove are National Seashore beaches with parking fees and seasonal lifeguards. Carnival week in August books a year ahead.