The 25 Best Beach Towns in New England

#5 Old Harbor, Block Island, Rhode Island

Veer left (south) in New Shoreham’s Old Harbor after the hour-long ferry ride from Galilee, and you soon reach the red-brick Southeast Lighthouse and dramatic Mohegan Bluffs, where sea-gouged cliffs drop precariously to the water 200 feet below. Head to the right (north), across from a small strip of stores, restaurants, and inns, and you arrive at the glorious three-mile-long Crescent Beach, packed with daytrippers in the summer months. Old Harbor is as simple as that—and that’s the reason why people make the trip year after year. Don’t miss:Rent a bike and take a 13-mile loop around the island, stopping at the many lemonade stands—or hike the Greenway walking trails. Amble along the sidewalks of this Martha’s Vineyard town, laced with whaling captains’ homes from the 18th and 19th centuries. Then take your bikes on the two-minute ferry ride over to Chappaquiddick and remote Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge, a long coastal stretch that you can call home for the rest of the day. If you feel like getting even closer to the sea, the Trustees of Reservations offers guided kayaking tours on Cape Poge and Wasque Reservation waterways. Don’t miss:A cone at Mad Martha’s and the requisite stroll over to the docks. Most people associate Kennebunkport with the shopping at Dock Square. That’s a shame, because the true joy of visiting Kennebunkport is driving on backcountry roads to find the lobster traps stocked high on Cape Porpoise, the small strip of sand at Goose Rocks Beach, and the many favorite local eateries in between (like Nunan’s Lobster Hut and The Ramp). Don’t miss:One of the best meals in New England, the four-course prix-fixe menu at The White Barn Inn, west across the river in neighboring Kennebunk Beach. Neighboring Gloucester boasts two of the finest beaches on Cape Ann, Good Harbor and Wingaersheek, but you’ll want to spend most of your evening hours in Rockport. Bearskin Neck, with its collection of boutiques, ice-cream shops, and restaurants, juts out into Sandy Bay, ending at a rock jetty. Front Beach, a two-minute walk from Bearskin Neck, will suffice for sand-castle building and a swim. Don’t miss:The new Shalin Liu Performance Center, a classical-music venue whose floor-to-ceiling stage window overlooks the Atlantic. You’ll find a quintessential village green here, replete with gazebo and bands playing concerts in summer, surrounded by a good selection of restaurants and shops. Note that parking at some of Chatham’s fine beaches is limited, so go early. Don’t miss:Lodging at Wequassett Resort in nearby Harwich (worth the splurge), where a motorboat shuttle will escort you to a deserted beach (part of Cape Cod National Seashore) that was once connected to the mainland. This classic summer retreat offers a town beach, a ride on one of the oldest carousels in the country, long coastline walks, and a nice array of shops and restaurants. An added bonus is that Watch Hill isn’t directly off I-95, so you have to earn this slice of beachfront territory. Don’t miss:Drinks on the glorious wraparound verandah of Ocean House, where you can watch the croquet pro give lessons on the manicured lawn. South of Ogunquit, York Beach shares many of the same attributes as our best-beach-town winner. There’s a lovely beach, Short Sands, right in the center of town, on which to leave your footprints, or venture out to Long Sands, true to its name. Both beaches feature nearby metered parking and enough ice-cream eateries, fudge shops, and chowder-in-the-rough joints to satisfy beachside cravings. Don’t miss:The Central and South American butterflies at York’s Wild Kingdom. One of the larger communities on Cape Cod, Falmouth has both its busy and its picturesque sides. If you’re looking for affordable lodging, restaurants that grill fresh seafood perfectly, a fun town center to stroll, a vast assortment of beaches, the Shining Sea Bikeway trail down to Wood’s Hole, and easy accessibility on Route 28 south off the Bourne Bridge, follow the Bostonians who have a second home in Falmouth. Don’t miss:The pearly-white sands of Old Silver Beach in North Falmouth, on the shore of Buzzards Bay. If we were judging beach towns solely on variety and quality of beaches, Wellfleet would earn top honors. Its mix of Cape Cod National Seashore beachfront, freshwater ponds, and bayshore and harborside walks is unparalleled. It’s all worth the drive from the small town center. Don’t miss:A first-run flick at the circa-1957 Wellfleet Drive-In. Amid those whimsical gingerbread houses are the family-friendly environs of Oak Bluffs, packed with T-shirt shops, restaurants of every stripe, and one of the oldest carousels still in operation. If you feel like a dip, grab a bike and head 3 miles to Joseph Sylvia State Beach, halfway to Edgartown. There, you’ll find the famous bridge where the movie Jaws was filmed, now popular with kids who make the plunge to the deep water below. Don’t miss:Carved in 1876, the mighty steeds of the Flying Horses Carousel have manes and tails of real hair, yet the real joy for children is the chance to lean over and snag a brass ring. In the off-season, the waves at Narragansett’s Town Beach provide local surfers with enough action until their next trip to Rincon. In the summer, the beach is a bit milder, attracting families who can walk easily from the lodging and restaurants in town. Don’t miss:Point Judith calamari and native littleneck clams on the outdoor deck of Coast Guard House. With a five-mile drive to the beach on Plum Island (most of which lies within neighboring Newbury’s boundaries), Newburyport isn’t normally considered a beach town. Yet it’s hard to resist the intriguing collection of bookstores, boutiques, and top-notch restaurants in town after a day at the ocean. Don’t miss:Bird Watcher’s Supply & Gift carries binoculars so that you can see those piping plovers and other Atlantic Flyway birds at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island. Spend the morning on Nauset Beach’s exquisite length of dune-studded coastline along Cape Cod National Seashore, the afternoon biking in the shade of the Cape Cod Rail Trail north past the ponds of Eastham, and the early evening watching a Cape Cod Baseball League game, with many players who’ll soon find their way to the Major Leagues. Long-time lovers of Cape towns are accustomed to summer traffic. Don’t miss:An affordable night’s stay at the Ship’s Knees Inn in East Orleans, the nearest lodging to Nauset Beach. If all you want is one of Cape Ann’s beloved sandy strands, Crane Beach, and arguably the best clam shack in New England, the Clam Box, then you don’t have to go father than Ipswich. The rolling country byways outside the town center also offer great road biking past orchards and along creeks. Don’t miss:Pick-your-own berries and apples at Russell Orchards. From the heart of Madison it’s a four-mile drive to one of Connecticut’s favorite sandboxes, Hammonasset Beach State Park. That’s not a deterrent, however, for the countless beachgoers who visit this delightful three-block village of coffee shops, bookstores, and restaurants after a day of lounging. Don’t miss:The country’s top authors may be found reading from their latest works at RJ Julia Independent Booksellers. This ocean-drenched Maine town, with its collection of arcades, amusement rides, and snow-cone shops, carries a bit of Coney Island vibe, which may not be for everyone. But for folks who want to saunter over to a seven-mile stretch of beach from their  budget-conscious lodging, it’s hard to top. Don’t miss: A cheesy slice at Rocco’s Pizza. Who’d have thought that Little Compton, best known for its historic village common and centuries-old cemetery, would have a gem of a beach just down the road? Backed by a marsh and salt pond, crescent-shaped Goosewing Beach is managed by The Nature Conservancy as a shorebird preserve and is just as popular with walkers as sunbathers. (Parking is nearby at South Shore Beach.) Don’t miss:Quahog chowder, jonnycakes, and lobster rolls at The Commons Lunch after your day of breathing in the salty air. With a thriving town center and historic sites galore, including Plimoth Plantation and the Mayflower II, this community has all the makings of a premier beach town, though you’ll do a little driving to get to the beach part. A few miles southeast toward the village of Manomet lie the soft white sands of White Horse Beach; head out there early, as public parking is limited and you might have to grab a spot on a side street. Plymouth Long Beach is closer to town, but a bit rocky. Don’t miss:The great symbol of freedom, Plymouth Rock, now housed in a colonnaded building down by the waterfront. Few towns transform in summer like hyperactive Hampton Beach. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a day (or an evening) when something special isn’t planned: concerts at Hampton Beach State Park’s beautifully re-designed Seashell Stage complex (part of the park’s newly completed $14.5 million redevelopment), movies on the beach, fireworks, beach-volleyball tournaments, even beach soccer (who knew?). With all that action come a lot of people and traffic along the road that carries them to the sand. Once you find a parking spot, you’ll quickly find a place to plant your towel on this long stretch of beach and sparkling sea. Across the street is everything you always wanted in a beach town when you were 10: soft-serve ice cream, fudge, snow cones, pizza. Don’t miss:The fun annual Hampton Beach Master Sand Sculpting Competition, with world-class builders. The Bay State’s favorite seaside “let’s go meet and hang out” getaway is Hull’s three-mile stretch of Nantasket Beach. Swim to your heart’s delight; then walk across the road to the strip of waterfront restaurants, arcades, historic Paragon Carousel, B&Bs, and beach resorts. At the tip of Route 228, Hull is tucked away on a spit of South Shore land jutting into Massachusetts Bay. Don’t miss:Fried clams and cedar-plank roasted salmon at Jake’s Seafood, in operation since 1949. Brewster’s bayside beaches, including Paine’s Creek, have far less surf and are warmer than the Cape’s Atlantic-side beaches, thus attracting younger families. Add the Cape Cod Rail Trail, which slices through town, top-tier resorts such as Ocean Edge, and restaurant fare including the acclaimed Chillingsworth’s French cuisine, and it’s earned a spot on this list. Don’t miss:Fried seafood at Cobie’s Clam Shack, dishing out the onion rings since 1948.

How We Chose the Best Beach Towns in New England

Selecting the best beach towns in New England wasn’t easy. For more than two decades, I’ve made my living writing primarily about New England, publishing my first book, Outside Magazine’s Adventure Guide to New England, in 1996 and a second book, New England Seacoast Adventures, in 2002. So I’ve made my way up and down the New England shoreline countless times. In May 2011, I revisited the entire coastline again for this article. We created 14 categories to evaluate New England’s beach towns, ranking each on a scale of 1 to 10. First was sheer beauty, or the “Picturesque Quality.” Chatham, with its Rockwellesque village green, Rockport’s Bearskin Neck, and Edgartown’s slew of ship captains’ homes all earned high marks in this category. Next up was whether the town had a thriving core or “Town Center.” My favorite beach in New England is Nauset Light Beach in Eastham, which has many amenities along Route 6, but few around the village green. A quintessential beach town must also have the requisite ice-cream stands and clam shacks, like Barnacle Billy’s in Ogunquit. Then there’s the “Rainy Day” factor; islands fared less well here because there’s not a whole lot to do when the weather is inclement, but their remoteness boded well for scores in the “Solitude” category. While the “Kid-Friendly” category refers to a bustling locale like Old Orchard, with its bevy of video arcades and rides, “Natural Life” pertains to the availability of nature walks, a nature center, and opportunities to view sealife, such as Provincetown’s whalewatching cruises. Also, we received average summer water temperatures from the National Oceanographic Data Center and could distinguish clearly the difference between a swim in Newport (averages 71° in August) and one in southern Maine (63°). “Public Access” simply means how available the beaches are to visitors; many towns, especially on Cape Cod, require resident stickers in order to access parts of their cherished shorelines. But to me, the most vital category is “Accessibility.” Islands, for instance, by their nature aren’t easy to get to. More important, how accessible is the beach from the town center? Few New England beaches are actually within walking distance to the town center, but Ogunquit, York Beach, and a few others fared well in this category. Finally, traffic congestion, available parking, a wide range of lodging options from affordable to luxury, and a decent selection of shops all figured into the final score, as well. —S.J.­­ Please Note: This information was accurate at the time of publication. When planning a trip, please confirm details by directly contacting any company or establishment you intend to visit.