Wellfleet, Massachusetts

Pop. in High Season: 18,000

Cape Cod, the arm-shaped peninsula on Massachusetts’ eastern edge is the quintessential New England summer playground. Its tidy towns brim with art galleries, antique shops and inns housed in former sea captains’ gray-shingled cottages. One such spot is Wellfleet, where it seems everyone wears Harvard T-shirts, khaki shorts and Red Sox caps. Enjoy the sun and surf at Marconi Beach, part of the Cape Cod National Seashore which runs 40 miles along the Atlantic, or head to Moby Dick’s for steamed lobster and corn on the cob—a Cape ritual.

SEE ALSO: Island Paradises in America