Peace and Quiet

Nineteen secrets of Cape Cod in the fall

Photo: Nicole Pasquale

he secret of Cape Cod isn’t only where to go; it’s when. It’s in the fall and winter—not the crowded summer—that the Cape slows to a quiet, peaceful pace, a reminder of an age when it was possible to walk alone on a secluded beach, take a drive along a country road without another car in sight or stretch out unmolested before the fireplace in the Victorian parlor of a bed-and-breakfast inn. Temperatures are milder than on the mainland, moderated by the ocean air on all sides and the high prices drop as quickly as the crowds. Here are eight great secrets of Cape Cod in the fall.

A restaurant where even the drinks come with bacon

A friendly neighborhood Cape Cod bar

A hidden-away restaurant that’s all about the oyster

An exotic way to enjoy seafood on Cape Cod

A fish market turned restaurant the locals love

A dazzling showroom of world-famous glass

A hard-to-find bake shop that rises to the occasion

A hidden-away oasis of history and nature

A cozy Northern Italian restaurant with great veal dishes

A shrine to anglophilia, complete with tea and crumpets

An antiques megastore that’s worth the stop

A theme park of a store that’s not just for the birds

A wholesale spice company‘s hidden outlet store

An entertaining way to see the real Cape Cod

An historic landmark</> bound to surprise you

A museum to Cape history you never knew

A famous potter’s woodsy open studio

How to have an affordable meal at a premier restaurant

A little slice of France, behind the Barnstable airport