Planning a trip to New England’s coast, and not sure if Maine or Cape Cod is a better fit for your vacation? If that’s the case, I’m so glad you found me!
I’ve been exploring New England for over 20 years now, and I’ve also been going to the Cape since I was a kid. I’ve traveled through both of these regions extensively, and have taken countless vacations, weekend getaways, and road trips through these destinations. I’m so excited to share my expertise and insight with you to help you decide which you should visit.
Ready to get started? Let’s jump in!

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Biggest Differences Between Cape Cod & Maine


Let’s go over the key differences between Maine and Cape Cod so you have a general idea of what each destination is like.
First, it’s good to know that in some ways, they’re actually kind of similar, especially if you compare Southern Maine (where the sandiest beaches in the state are) with Cape Cod. Both will have charming towns, nice beaches, whale watching, great seafood, and a very coastal New England feel.
But, they’re also pretty different is a few ways.
Here are the biggest differences between the two:
→ Right off the bat, let’s get the obvious one out of the way 😉 Maine is an entire state, while Cape Cod is a peninsula in Massachusetts. Cape Cod is much smaller than Maine, and Maine offers incredibly diverse things to do, including coastline to explore, beaches, quaint towns, mountains, ski resorts, sailing, fall foliage, lakes, and remote woods. Cape Cod is primarily known for its beaches, picturesque towns, sand dunes, and idyllic coastline.
→ Maine as a whole is more known for rocky and dramatic coastline, whereas Cape Cod is known for having some of the best sandy beaches in the northeast. However, it’s good to know that southern Maine is home to sandy beaches that are similar to some of the Cape’s beaches. The further north you go in Maine, the rockier the coastline gets.
→ Even just Maine’s coastline is much larger than Cape Cod’s, and there are more options when it comes to towns, terrain to experience, and things to do. Because of that, you’ll need more time to experience most of Maine’s coastline, especially if you want to drive from southern Maine up to Bar Harbor & Acadia National Park. This also allows for some hiking opportunities, whereas that’s much more limited on the Cape.
→ Overall, Cape Cod has the prettiest beaches. That’s not to say that Maine doesn’t. In fact, it’s home to one of my all-time favorite beaches. However, it’s hard to go anywhere on the Cape and not run into a beautiful beach. The Cape is also home to the Cape Cod National Seashore, which has 6 stunning beaches that look like postcards.
→ Maine’s beaches will be a little colder than Cape Cod’s since they’re further north. While not by much, it’s just enough to notice a difference.
General Recommendations On Which To Choose For Your Vacation
If your vacation is very beach-focused, and you want to do a lot of swimming, Cape Cod is your best option. If you want to stay in a smaller area while also having opportunities for day trips, this is also a great option because of the ferry options to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. Hands down, most of my favorite beaches in all of New England are on Cape Cod and the islands.
For the same reasons as above, southern Maine is also a great option for a beach vacation. Places like Ogunquit, especially, are a top beach town in Maine, and you’re close to places like York, Wells, and Kennebunkport for day trips. This area feels similar to the Cape with quaint towns, beautiful scenery, and things to do. But the vibes here are definitely beachy.
If you’re looking for more of a road trip experience, or want different kinds of places to explore, Maine is your best bet. Cape Cod is a home to different things to do, including quaint towns, lighthouses, and some coastal hikes, it’s all very similar scenery. While beautiful, you won’t see any dramatic rocky coastline, or be able to hike up a mountain. Maine will offer diversity between its quaint towns, lighthouses, beaches, rocky terrain, pine trees, etc.
Deciding between southern Maine and Cape Cod?
If you want the best of the best in terms of beaches, Cape Cod wins, as there’s just more of them to choose from. You’ll also see tall sand dunes and long stretches of sandy coastline here, too, which makes for idyllic beach days.
Southern Maine is also a nice option for a beach vacation, and it’s a bit easier to get to simply because there’s less traffic (but still traffic in the summers, just not quite as intense as Cape Cod’s). It can also seem less crowded in the summer season, but I’ll get more into crowds later in the post 😉
Which To Visit If Coming From Boston?
If you’re flying into Boston, southern Maine and Cape Cod are both convenient options, and are each about 1.5 hours from Boston Logan Airport, depending on where in each region you’re going.
One important thing to note, though, is that traffic getting to Cape Cod is always congested in the summer season, especially on weekends. You need to cross the Cape Cod Canal to get there, and there are only two bridges, so between merging onto the bridges, and the popularity of the region in the summer, it often takes longer to get there than you think.
Traffic getting to southern Maine from Boston isn’t usually as bad once you get out of Boston. So that’s one thing to consider.
Cape Cod Vs. Maine: Beaches
Let’s go more in-depth on beaches!
Cape Cod Beaches:

As already mentioned a few times, Cape Cod is probably the top beach destination in all of New England for many reasons. The beaches in this area are truly stunning and worth the hype they receive. The vast majority of them are sandy, long, and some are backdropped by very tall sand dunes, which makes them incredibly impressive.
Cape Cod also has so many beaches to choose from, so for a beach vacation, this is an ideal place to explore. There are three main bodies of water: the Atlantic (which is where you’ll find the National Seashore), Cape Cod Bay, and Nantucket Sound.
The Atlantic beaches are the most beautiful, but also the coldest with the roughest surf. However, they can’t be beat! Nantucket Sound and Cape Cod Bay beaches tend to be a bit warmer with more gentle surf. So you definitely have variety to choose from.
Maine Beaches:

The best region in Maine for beaches is southern Maine, and more specifically, between York and Kennebunkport. In this area, Ogunquit has my favorite beach, which is one of my favorite beaches in all of New England. Ogunquit Beach’s sandy shoreline stretches for over 3 miles, and has a very Cape Cod feel. It’s such a beautiful place to experience.
The beaches in the rest of southern Maine are also beautiful, but in all honestly, not quite as nice as beaches on Cape Cod. This is not a bad thing, of course, and I don’t think anyone would be disappointed in any of the southern Maine beaches – I often go to Maine for the beaches! It’s just something that’s good to know while you decide.
As mentioned, once you head north of Portland, the beaches in Maine tend to get more rocky, and you’ll notice a shift where you’ll start to see rocky coastline backdropped by pine trees a lot more. There are definitely some sandy beaches heading up this way, but there’s far fewer of them. Some notable ones would be Popham Beach in Phippsburg, and Sand Beach inside Acadia National Park.
Parking At The Beaches
Parking at beaches in both southern Maine and Cape Cod is usually large parking lots, and both tend to fill up quickly on summer weekends. There are some beaches in places like Kennebunkport and York that have street parking that’s much more limited, but Ogunquit’s beaches have large lots.
Beaches in both regions both charge relatively the same amount to park per day, so this shouldn’t be a deciding factor.
Good To Know: Sharks
You’re probably wondering about sharks, and that’s a very fair concern!
In general, you’ll find sharks along the coasts of both destinations, but more along Cape Cod’s Atlantic beaches. This is something you should definitely be aware of, however, a shark encounter is a rare occurrence, and likely will not be an issue during your trip.
The Cape does a fantastic job in the summer season of monitoring the waters for sharks that may be close by. If there’s any kind of threat, they will shut down that beach to keep everyone safe. In all my years of visiting in the summer season, I’ve personally never run into a beach closing because of a shark threat, but it does happen occasionally.
Cape Cod Or Maine: Accommodations
Between these two destinations, both have wonderful hotel options, including everything from budget to luxury. Both also have plenty of options for vacation rentals if you’re planning a longer stay.
I wouldn’t recommend choosing between these two destinations based on the hotel options and accommodations, unless that will be a big focus of your stay. However, to help you plan, here are some of my favorite hotels in each region:
My favorite hotels on Cape Cod:
→ Chatham Bars Inn for luxury
→ Inn On The Beach
→ Pelham House Resort
My favorite hotels in southern Maine:
→ Cliff House for luxury
→ Anchorage By The Sea
→ Tides Beach Club
Which Has Better Towns To Visit?

In my opinion, both destinations are pretty equal in this regard. Even though the Cape is smaller, it’s pretty packed with beautiful towns to explore, many of which have a lovely Main Street lined with shops and restaurants. Notably, Chatham, Provincetown, Sandwich, Harwich Port, and Falmouth are all charming towns to experience. And in my opinion, Chatham and Provincetown are some of the best towns to experience in all of New England.
Of course, the entire coast of Maine will have a lot more options in terms of towns to explore because of its size, with Ogunquit, Kennebunkport, Boothbay Harbor, Camden, Rockport, and Bar Harbor being notable stand-outs. In addition to these, there are so many smaller gems along the way in Maine, plus all the beautiful mountain and lake towns.
However, if you’re focused in on southern Maine, both Kennebunkport and Ogunquit are very charming, and York also has a cute downtown that’s not far from both of these places.
Cape Cod Vs. Maine: Things To Do

Both regions offer a variety of things to do, including whale watch tours, scenic walking trails, sailing tours, etc. Of course, the entire coast of Maine offers more options due to the size difference, however, both regions offer similar coastal New England activities.
Whale Watching in both Maine and on the Cape are fantastic opportunities that I highly recommend. The Cape is known as one of the top places in the world for spotting whales, largely due to tours heading out to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which is a very active area for marine wildlife. It’s likely that you’ll see a humpback, which is such a memorable experience.
However, tours from Maine also have an incredibly high success rate for spotting whales, including humpbacks, so both places are great options. You’ll also find wildlife tours in both destinations, like seals on Cape Cod, and puffins and seals in Maine.
Both areas have beautiful lighthouses, but you’ll get to see a lot more in Maine along the coast. In fact, I have an entire Maine Lighthouse Road Trip Itinerary for folks who want to see as many lighthouses in Maine as possible during their trip 😉 However, you can also visit Nauset, Highland, Nobska, and Chatham lighthouses on the Cape. And both Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard have great lighthouses to see on a day trip, too.

Sailing tours are also a great experience along New England’s coast, and you’ll find options in both destinations. Places like Captain Curley and Down Cape Boating Charters on the Cape are awesome (I’ve done both!), and sailing tours in Maine are super popular, with lots of options in many of the towns.
Scenic walks and hikes are great in both destinations, but as mentioned, you’ll have more variety and options along Maine’s coast. Scenic walks on Cape Cod are beautiful and unique, but the scenery is all pretty similar (sand dunes, coastal, lighthouses, not much incline, etc). However, all along the coast of Maine, you’ll find mountains, coastal walks, and more hiking opportunities, especially up in Acadia and in the mountain towns.


Both Maine and the Cape also offer opportunities for gardens. The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, Maine is one of my favorite things to do in New England, and offers a unique mix gardens, trails, and the very cool giant troll sculptures all over the grounds. On the Cape, you can visit the Sandwich Heritage Museum & Gardens, or plan a visit during the Hydrangea Festival in July.
Cape Cod Or Maine For Nightlife?
With the exception of Provincetown on Cape Cod, and Portland in Maine, both areas are about the same in terms of nightlife, in my opinion. Once you get outside of these two places, nightlife is pretty tame and quiet, with a few places here and there that stay open late.
Provincetown is the place to go on the Cape if you’re looking for nightlife, as you’ll find lots of bars, clubs, and cabarets in town. And of course, with Portland being Maine’s largest city, there’s definitely some great places to check out at night in terms of bars and clubs.
It’s not that nightlife doesn’t exist elsewhere, it’s just that these regions aren’t known for crazy parties, clubs, etc. It’s more that bars and restaurants will stay open a bit later.
Is One Area More Crowded Than The Other?
In general, most people consider Maine to be less crowded than the Cape, but both the Cape and Maine’s coastal destinations get very crowded in the summer season, as this is peak tourism season for both.
I’ve found over the years that both feel pretty similar to me in terms of crowds. The Cape always feels more crowded when arriving simply because of the traffic getting across the bridges. And if you go to a lot of the smaller beaches, you’ll definitely feel the crowds in the summer, as there’s just less space at those beaches to spread out. However, there’s so much room to spread out at the larger beaches that I generally feel secluded when I walk further away from the entrances.
That said, I’ve felt like the crowds in towns along Maine’s coast equally as crowded in different ways – hard to get into restaurants, long wait times at seafood shacks, parking fills up quickly at the beaches, and parking in general can be a challenge. However, I think there are ways to avoid and embrace crowds in both destinations during peak season.
I think people say the Cape feels more crowded in the summer because it’s a smaller area than all of Maine’s coast, and because of the traffic getting in and around. A lot of this is subjective, and everyone’s opinions can vary.
In the other seasons like fall and winter, you’ll find more crowds in Maine’s mountain towns for foliage and skiing. The Cape doesn’t really see big crowds once Labor Day is over.
Day Trips From Both Destinations


Both areas offer wonderful options for day trips.
While on Cape Cod, it’s easy to take a day trip to both Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, which are absolutely stunning islands just off the coast. Both make for wonderful day trips, and I highly recommend them. There are different ferry options to get to each island, depending on where you’re staying on the Cape.
If you’re vacationing in southern Maine, there are so many places to see that are close to one another, including York, Cape Neddick/Nubble Lighthouse, Kennebunkport, Ogunquit, and Wells. As you drive further up the coast, there are also fantastic islands to take day trips to, including Peaks Island, Vinalhaven, Chebeague Island, and more. Staying anywhere along the coast of Maine will mean you’ll always have options for places to explore nearby.
Psst! I have some posts on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard you may find helpful:
- Ultimate Martha’s Vineyard Day Trip Guide
- Ultimate Nantucket Day Trip Guide
- How To See Martha’s Vineyard Without A Car
- Nantucket Vs. Martha’s Vineyard For A Day Trip
Cape Cod Vs. Maine FAQ

Is There A Ferry Between Cape Cod & Maine?
No, there is no ferry between these destinations. The best way to travel between them is to drive.
Can You See Both Cape Cod & Maine In The Same Trip?
Definitely! Since Cape Cod is only about 2.5-3 hours from places in southern Maine, it’s easy to combine them into one trip. I would recommend at least 5-6 days for a trip like this so you have at least 2 full days in each place to really enjoy everything. However, a week would be ideal to see both, with a few full days in each.
If you have longer than a week, you could easily see both on an epic coastal road trip that starts in Boston, heads over to the Cape, and then goes up the coast of Maine to Bar Harbor & Acadia National Park.
Best Time Of Year To Visit Both Areas


For both Cape Cod and the coast of Maine, summer is peak season, and this is such a great time to visit. I don’t always recommend peak season for destinations, but there is something very special about summer in New England. All the seasonal businesses are open, and you’ll have the best weather.
That said, summer is also when you’ll run into the most crowds and highest prices at hotels. If this is something you’re looking to avoid, I also love to visit the Cape right after Labor Day because the weather and ocean water temperatures usually still feel very much like summer. You’ll find fewer crowds, and some hotels start to drop prices after Labor Day. The same recommendation would apply for Maine’s beach towns.
If you’re looking to explore Maine, but don’t necessarily care about swimming at the beaches, I often visit in May or early June. In fact, June is lupine season in New England, and Maine is a great state to see them. I have an entire post all about spring in Maine (linked below), if you need more info.
I also love fall in both Maine and on the Cape. Maine is an especially great state for fall foliage, too, with awesome fall color to be found along the coast and in the mountain/lake regions.
Here are some or my seasonal guides on these areas if you’d like more detailed information:
- Best Time To Visit Cape Cod (which would also apply to coastal Maine)
- Best Time To Visit New England
- Maine In The Spring
- Maine In October
- Cape Cod In The Fall
- Cape Cod In The Winter
Best Way To Get Around Both Cape Cod & Maine
I always recommend having a car to explore both Cape Cod and Maine because public transit just isn’t good enough to rely on for a smooth trip.
Cape Cod is a bit easier to see without having a car, especially if you just stay in Provincetown. However, Maine will be very difficult or impossible to explore if relying on public transit, depending on where you want to go.
That’s A Wrap On Cape Cod Vs. Maine For Your Vacation!
And there you have it! All my tips and suggestions on how to decide between Maine and Cape Cod for your upcoming trip. I truly hope you’ve found this helpful while you plan your travels, and at the end of the day, it’s honestly hard to go wrong with either destination. Both offer stunning coastal New England scenery that’s truly iconic, and you’ll get so much out of your trip in either place. Happy planning! 😊