Cape Cod attractions are plentiful at the Chateau Provincetown hotel. Many nearby Cape Cod attractions are within a short distance to the hotel. Enjoy New England attractions such as recreation, shopping and our historic museums. History Provincetown legends hold that Vikings were the first visitors from overseas. It is believed that Thorvald arrived in 1004 and that Thorbin Karlsfeni from Iceland came in 1007. Norse navigators visited and mapped this area of Cape Cod. By the end of the 15th century, fishing vessels from England, Portugal, Norway and France were anchoring in Provincetown Harbor. In 1602, a visiting ship’s captain from England, Bartholomew Gosnold, christened the area “Cape Cod” in honor of the “great stoare of codfysshes” he found here. On November 21, 1620, the Pilgrims chose Provincetown as their first landing place in America. While still aboard ship they drafted and signed the Mayflower Compact, the world’s first charter of a democratic government. The Pilgrims stayed for five weeks, exploring the Cape’s interior and coastlines before leaving for Plymouth Bay. |
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The Pilgrim Monument commemorates the landing of the Pilgrims in 1620 and the signing of the Mayflower Compact. Dedicated in 1910 by President Taft, this 252-foot Italianate tower is the tallest all-granite structure in the United States and Provincetown’s most visible landmark. From the top there is a 45-mile view of the town, bay and ocean as well as the rest of Cape Cod and Boston. A system of 60 ramps and 116 stairs makes the climb relatively easy. |
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At the base of the Monument, the Provincetown Museum contains intriguing artifacts from the Town’s whaling, fishing and artistic history. One gallery is devoted to the Pilgrim’s visit and displays a scale model diorama of the Mayflower. The giant jawbone of a whale frames the entry to another gallery where mounted polar bears and walrus attest to native son Admiral Donald MacMillan’s expeditions to the North Pole. |
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Recreation There are miles of open sandy beach in and surrounding Provincetown. Two expansive beach areas are operated by the Cape Cod National Seashore and have parking, bath houses and lifeguards. Herring Cove has gentle waves while Race Point has more vigorous surf. |
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There is a town beach along the harbor stretching the entire three-mile length of the town. Twice a day high tides bring waist-deep water at the sea walls for swimming. At low tide, there are beautiful sand flats for walking. Both the ocean beaches and the harbor beach are wonderful for kite flying. A kite store is located in the center of town. |
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Sport fishermen can go out on charter boats to find tuna, bluefish and bass, or can rent small outboards for more leisurely flounder fishing. Surfcasting for “stripers” on the outer beaches is a favored activity of locals as well as of the many visitors who return annually to fish. Day and sunset harbor sailing cruises are offered on a seventy-three-foot schooner carrying forty-eight people. Small day-sailors, outboards and windsurfers may be rented by those who prefer to do it themselves. |
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There are two tennis courts open to the public during the warmer months. While there are no public golf courses in town, the nearest of many courses on Cape Cod is in neighboring Truro, just a ten minute drive away. Bicycles, for adults and children, may be rented by the hour, day or week. |
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There are more than seven miles of paved and mapped bicycle trails through fascinating woodland sand dunes, leading to beaches and to the National Seashore Visitor Center. Walking the length of Commercial Street is a favorite activity year-round, but there are routes for more solitary and scenic walks in Provincetown; through the dunes; by ponds, salt marshes and cedar swamps; on a rocky breakwater; or on narrow spits of sand reaching far out into the water. Maps for three self-guided nature trails are available at the National Seashore Visitor Center. Rangers from the Visitor Center lead walks daily in the summer, and regularly throughout the spring and fall. These include bird walks; seaside, dune or cranberry bog hikes; and whale watching from Race Point Beach. After sunset watching and dining, evening entertainment options include movie theatres, cabarets, night clubs, dance bars, discos, and cocktail lounges with pianists and late-night cafes. |
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Sightseeing Tours |
Whale Watching |
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Harbor Tours Trolley Tours Horse and Carriage Air Sightseeing |
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For many visitors and residents, Commercial Street is Provincetown. With its distinct elements strung together along the waterfront, Commercial Street, like Provincetown, is one-of-a-kind. Commercial Street still follows its original route. It is three miles long and twenty-two feet wide, the original dimensions when laid out in 1835. |
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Thirty-seven narrow streets and lanes connect it with the town’s other main road, Bradford Street. Cars are permitted (one-way only, East to West), but they move slowly through the pedestrians and bicyclists. Entering town through the East End, visitors see large summer “cottages” with weathered shingles and elegant captain’s houses with fine gardens, all set closely together on both sides of the street. Many of these historic buildings are now guest houses or inns. The East End contains the gallery district where most of town’s twenty-five art galleries and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum are located. There are restaurants in the East End, too, both old and new, and shops with elegant clothing, “art to wear,” jewelry, fine crafts, antiques, ethnic artifacts and books. Within a space of less than two miles on Commercial Street, there are hundreds of unique retail businesses; fifty restaurants and cafes; homemade candy, ice cream and bakery shops. Many of the owners personally serve their customers. |
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In the summer season, shops and galleries are open from 11 am to 11 pm or later. Commercial Street is filled with strollers and shoppers until midnight. At least half of the retail shops sell clothing, jewelry or both, for men and women. There are T-shirts but much of the stock is unusual, and many of the garments are individually made. |
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Clothes and accessories range from European chic to Provincetown casual. Throughout the center of town and into the West End there are many galleries and shops selling fine art, crafts and decorative objects for the home. MacMillan Wharf and Fisherman’s Wharf are right in the center of town. Commercial fishing boats leave from here each morning and, on their return, dock here to unload their catch for wholesale buyers. Boats for whale watching, harbor tours, sailboat cruises and fishing also leave from these wharves. In season, the ferry carrying passengers to and from Boston arrives at the wharf daily. |
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Centrally located Town Hall is the seat of local government where traditional direct representation Town Meetings are held each spring. A collection of paintings by Provincetown artists is hung in the halls. Town Hall is the starting point for tours on the red open-air trolleys and horse drawn carriages. |
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The benches in front of Town Hall are favored spots for people-watching, a major activity in Provincetown. Street musicians perform in front of Town Hall day and night throughout the summer, playing everything from dulcimers to steel drums and Peruvian pipes. At night there is music in the beach clubs, discos, bars, cabarets and night clubs which remain open until 1 am. Beyond the Coast Guard Station and Wharf, where Commercial Street bends, is a quiet residential district, filled with gardens where many of the old homes have been converted to guest houses. Larger inns and guest accommodations near the outer end of this area are still only a comfortable walk from the center of town. Commercial Street ends where the Pilgrims first landed at a park that marks the site. Seabirds (and residents) harvest shellfish at low tide and it is a popular spot for watching dramatic sunsets. |
2008 Copyright Chateau Provincetown | Formerly the Best Western Chateau owned and managed for generations by the Gordon Family
