Explorer's Guide Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, & Nantucket

by Kim Grant

The bestselling guide to the Cape―with a brand-new look The most detailed and trusted guide to Cape Cod is back in its eleventh edition. Sporting a fresh and vibrant new design, Explorer’s Guide Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, & Nantucket offers travelers helpful and intelligently organized information on all the natural beauty and fun attractions the Cape and its islands have to offer, no matter your taste or budget. Read hundreds of dining reviews ranging from America’s best clam shacks to elegant four-star bistros. Plan an unforgettable whale-watching excursion, satisfy your nostalgia at an old drive-in theater, or simply find the perfect beach spot to enjoy that local Cabernet. Each section features must-see sites and curated day-trip itineraries to meet the hopes of any Cape journey. Whether interested in a serene retreat, an outdoor adventure, or local culture, the Explorer’s Guide series is unparalleled in its tradition of giving travelers the tools and information they need to discover every corner of their next destination. 100 color photographs and 10 maps

Genres: Travel

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Kathleen Flynn]

Travel books are definitely a hard sell in an internet age, but this one does a good job of providing a helpful overview and curated lists of interesting things. Well-organized and pleasing to read.

[J.R. Warnet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to explore the Cape with. Used it frequently!

[MARY Brazeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Older but I bought it to make notes of places we love, things that closed, etc. I left it at our Cape house. I think it will be useful.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

We first came across this book a few years ago in a cottage we stayed at mid-Cape. It was the best guide in the stack and we found it came in really handy for finding obscure beaches, all types of restaurants, trails, campgrounds, and sites of historic interest. Later, when we moved to MA, we purchased a copy of the 8th edition and have since used it on many day and weekend trips to the cape and have found some of our favorites spots with this book.

It is an incredibly comprehensive guide and is organized quite clearly with listings for just about any and every place on the cape and islands...not a small feat. This is it's main strength and you can find a wealth of information on places to eat, things to do, places to explore, as well as suggested itineraries for each area of the cape that highlight the best things in each town/village/etc. I'm not one for following guidebook itineraries but the info has come in handy when we only have a small amount of time and want to find the most interesting thing in a specific area.

It is a slightly outdated edition and I have not reviewed more recent ones, but we have occasionally run into instances where posted hours differed from that which was listed in the book. I mainly chalk that up to the Cape being the Cape with odd summer hours for smaller family run venues. The main weakness of the book however really lies with it's maps: they're terrible. Depend on them only to situate yourself mentally and buy a good road map to actually get around as the maps in this book are very poorly drawn and inaccurate, some just leaving out entire main roads and intersections, much to our chagrin when we are attempting to navigate new areas.

[Gwen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of the 2021 updated version, co-authored by Katy Ward.

I enjoyed the section on Martha's Vineyard so much that I went back and read the rest of the book, even with no concrete plans to visit Cape Cod or Nantucket. Even more so than the Moon guidebooks, the Explorer's Guide series allows their writers to highlight their own voices and opinions. Thanks to this book, I now definitely want to visit Cape Cod: so many historic towns and houses, beautiful beaches, and interesting things to do.

Bookmarked for Martha's Vineyard:
* Oak Bluff's Featherstone Center for the Arts (classes! exhibitions! film series!)
* Mad Martha's ice cream (around the island)
* Menemsha fish markets: Larsen's (name-checked in The Beetlebung Farm Cookbook: A Year of Cooking on Martha's Vineyard) and Menemsha
* Oak Bluff's Island Alpacas--why yes, I *would* like to do alpaca yoga

Bookmarked for Cape Cod/Nantucket:
* East Sandwich's Green Briar Nature Center & Jam Kitchen
* Yarmouth Port's Edward Gorey House
* Yarmouth Port's Parnassus Book Service
* Harwich's cranberry bog tours
* Wellfleet's Atwood-Higgins House

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read parts of this after a trip to Cape Cod focusing especially on Providencetown and Nantucket. Yes, I saw a number of the referenced attractions and especially enjoyed reading the brief historical accounts of the specific areas. In the Nantucket section I learned that Maria Mitchell, the noted female astronomer, had resided on Nantucket. Not one time in my day long trip did I hear or see any reference to Maria Mitchell, how disappointing. Good guide book overall and will refer to it for a future visit to Cape Cod.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took the 2014 edition of this along to have a handy hard copy when our internet connections were weak. It has some good suggestions for families with young kids. When it was too cool to sit at the beach, this book provided a number of great ideas for sight seeing and related activities.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really an excellent guide to Cape Cod. More in-depth information than most guides for the cape.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is AWESOME!! It's so thorough. I can't wait to show my kids everything I grew up LOVING about The Cape, and also make tons of new memories.

[Wanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent guidebook. We used his recommendations for places to eat, shop and sightsee. We were never disappointed. Without this book we would have been wandering around aimlessly for hours and days.

[Pam Negley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful insight & information!!!!