Andy

There is a big difference between Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard. You will need to take a ferry (you could fly) to Martha's Vineyard but most people drive to, and around, the Cape. From Boston, you could take the ferry from Boston to Provincetown. While in P-Town, you could walk or bike or cab around but be warned the gay population is the majority at P-Town. That never stopped me from visiting or taking my kids, but it may not be your cup of tea. But you could cab it to the National Sea Shore or Race Point or even to Truro/Wellfleet, but going to the Cape, you will almost always do better with a car. I can't imagine coming back from a day at the beach to try to find a cab.

At Martha's Vineyard, you could get around without a car and rent mopeds or bikes or walk and cab it. You could take a bus to the Vineyard ferry either at Hyannis or Woods Hole - Falmouth.

If you do go to the Cape, imho, there are some distinct areas - the Upper Cape from Bourne to Falmouth, the Hyannis/Barnstable/Yarmouth area, the Mid Cape or the Elbow (Chatham-Brewster-Harwich), and the outer Cape (Orleans to P-Town). I like the outer Cape most becuase of the beaches, they are a bit wilder surfwise and the water is always colder on the ocean side but I find it far less developed than the Hyannis area. Many like the mid Cape but that is the most expensive too, but it is very nice. I would hate to be there without a car.

I suppose you could get around Hyannis without a car, but, to me, that would quickly get very boring as you would be looking at Salt water taffy shops and ticky tacky tourist restaurants, but there are some good watering holes, so . . .

You could take an early bus to Hyannis and walk around in the afternoon, catch dinner on the waterfront, stay the night then hop the ferry to the Vineyard or Nantucket the next moring and stay a night or two on one of the islands. It is an easy drive from Boston to the Cape, just head south and you will be there in a couple of hours, depending on traffic. If you do drive, you will much more leeway to look around (stop at Plymouth Rock on the way for 20 minutes, not more), but if you go to the Vineyard, you will have to pay to park since you won't really need a car on the Vineyard and it is costly to ferry it over. So compare the cost.