Photographs of the 25 Best Beach Towns in New England

How do you go about choosing the twenty-five best beach towns in New England? It wasn’t easy, but we can guarantee that regardless of your personal criteria, there’s a beach town for you on our list.

Using fourteen criteria, ranging from the availability of beach food to accessibility of town amenities to lodging for all budgets, we found the 25 Best Beach Towns in New England. Whether you’re looking for waves to ride, long sandy stretches or lots of family activities, there’s a beach town for you on our list.

1. Ogunquit, Maine

2. Provincetown, Massachusetts

3. Nantucket, Massachusetts

4. Newport, Rhode Island

5. Old Harbor, Block Island, Rhode Island

6. Edgartown, Massachusetts

7. Kennebunkport, Maine

8. Rockport, Massachusetts

9. Chatham, Massachusetts

10. Watch Hill, Rhode Island

11. York Beach, Maine

12. (Tied) Wellfleet, Massachusetts

12. (Tied) Falmouth, Massachusetts

13. Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts

14. Narragansett, Rhode Island

15. (Tied) Orleans, Massachusetts

15. (Tied) Newburyport, Massachusetts

16. Ipswich, Massachusetts

17. (Tied) Madison, Connecticut

17. (Tied) Old Orchard Beach, Maine

18. (Tied) Little Compton, Rhode Island

18. (Tied) Plymouth, Massachusetts

19. Hampton Beach, New Hampshire

20. Hull, Massachusetts

21. Brewster, Massachusetts

Read and see more about these towns in our main article: The 25 Best Beach Towns in New England A special thanks to our contributing photographers. Follow the links below to see more of their New England photography. Suzanne DeGeorge — sdegeorge.com Butch Lombardi — eastbayimages.com David Stone — stoneystonephoto.com Laura Stone — laurastonephotography.com/ J. Greg Hinson, MD — nantucketstock.com