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Cape Cod Self-Guided Driving Tour: History & Beaches

3.7

11 Ratings

Bar Harbor

Embark on a self-guided driving tour of Cape Cod, exploring its rich history and stunning beaches. Purchase one tour per car and listen together!

Duration: 5 hours

Cancellation: 1 day learn more

Highlights

Hulls Cove Visitor Center - We enter Maine’s famous Acadia National Park at the Hull’s Cove Visitor Center. As we begin to explore this beautiful natural preserve, we’ll learn about the rich forests and why the foliage here is so vibrant in the fall. Admission Ticket is not included.
Bar Harbor - Your tour of Bar Harbor begins on the pier by Agamont Park, where you’ll find plentiful parking. As you walk through this historic town, you’ll see tons of beautifully preserved architecture, phenomenal ocean views, and much more. Plus, you’ll learn plenty of fascinating history along the way!
Sand Beach - Directly ahead is Sand Beach. This small spit of sand isn’t even 300 yards long, but it’s still one of the best swimming spots in Acadia. The cliffs on either side shelter the cove and make for some great scenery for beachgoers. If you’re in the mood for some beachy fun, this is the only sandy beach along the trail, so don’t be afraid to check it out! Just be prepared for some awfully cold water!
Commercial Street - Portland’s Harbor (the body of water that you just sailed in on) is a “deep water” port, it generally does not freeze over during the winters. the Gulf of Maine has very strong tides, and those tides mix the water column and bring deeper, warmer water to the surface all along the coast.
United States Custom House - Explore the charm, history, and vibrant culture of Portland, Maine, with this self-guided walking tour! Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of Portland as you traverse the historical cobblestone streets of Old Port.

What's Included

GPS-guided stories play automatically for a hands-free experience
Comprehensive package including full itinerary, travel tips, narrations, videos, text, and hidden gems
Works offline with GPS map and stop-to-stop directions, no cell signal or wifi needed
Enjoy the freedom of a private tour in your own or a rental car; take breaks and explore at your leisure
Easy access to the Tour Guide App by Action via a provided link and password
No expiration date, with the flexibility to use the tour any day and time, suitable for multiple-day travel or future trips
One-time purchase per vehicle offering great savings over individual tickets or bus tours

What's Not Included

Attraction passes, entry tickets, or reservations

Additional Information

Buy one tour for each vehicle, not for every individual. Everybody experiences it together!

Begin your discovery of Cape Cod with this self-directed driving tour, which ranges from iconic lighthouses to picturesque beaches! As you drive, uncover the Cape’s maritime history, Pilgrim past, and stretches of stunning coastlines. From Barnstable to Provincetown, see places like the Nauset Lighthouse (the symbolic icon of Cape), First Encounter Beach (visited by the Pilgrims), Marconi Station (a recommended stop), amongst others! Shortly after your purchase, we will send you the App download link and your tour password through an email and a text message.

Once you’ve finished your booking, look for our email. Download the Tour Guide App powered by Action, input the unique password, and unlock your tour. This process does require a robust internet connection or Wifi. Simply listen to the audio guidelines and follow the route from that point.

This purchase does not include an entry ticket. Please confirm opening times prior to your tour.

No expiry date — Once purchased, the tour is yours to keep forever!

How to access: Once you book a tour, you’ll get a confirmation email and an instructions email. Follow the instructions right away: • Download the app • Enter the password • Download the tour • MUST DO while in strong wifi/cellular
How to start the tour: Once onsite, open the Action’s Tour Guide App: • If there is just one tour, launch it. • If there are multiple tour versions, launch the one with your planned starting point and direction. • Go to the starting point. (Note: no one will meet you at the start. This tour is self-guided). • The audio will begin automatically at the starting point. If you face audio issues, visit the FAQ. • Stick to the tour route & speed limit for the best experience.
Amazing savings: • Driving Tours: Save money by purchasing a single tour for the entire vehicle, avoiding individual fees per person like on a bus tour. Connect your phone to the car speakers to share the audio. • Walking Tours: While each person typically needs their tour, couples or small groups can share one using split headphones.
Flexibility and Convenience: • Use the tour app anytime, on any day, and over multiple days. It’s perfect for tailoring your exploration and revisiting your favorite spots on future trips. • Start and pause the tour whenever you like, taking breaks and exploring side excursions at your own pace, free from the constraints of a group.
Comprehensive Tour Experience: •The app provides a full itinerary, travel tips, narrated audio stories, scripts, images, videos, and recommendations for additional activities. • Enjoy a private experience without the crowds, ideal for personalized stops and photo opportunities.
Ease of Use and Accessibility: • The app is hands-free and activates stories via GPS, offering support through call, chat, or email. • There is no need for a continuous cell or Wi-Fi connection as the GPS map works offline.
Memorable Keepsakes: • Utilize the app’s images to create a photo book or share on social media, ensuring you have high-quality, crowd-free memories from your trip.
Preparation: • After booking, download the app and the tour using a strong Wi-Fi connection. • Review the tour at home before your trip for a better experience.
Starting the Tour: • Open the app upon arrival at your destination. • Select the appropriate tour based on your starting point. • Head to the starting location; the audio will begin automatically. • Follow the suggested route and adhere to the speed limit for an optimal experience. • By following these instructions and taking advantage of the app’s features, users can enjoy a personalized, flexible, and in-depth exploration of their destination at their own pace and convenience.

Location

Hulls Cove Visitor Center

Visitor Center Road

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

3.7

(11 Ratings)

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Alexandra_s

Aug 25, 2022

The tour gives you a... - The tour gives you a great chance to drive and get bits of history at the same time. First encounter between Pilgrims and Native Americans was truly awesome.

Review provided by Viator

Kellyr

Jul 10, 2023

Good tour to guide your trip to the Cape - Took a little work to get the tour going after buying on Viator—had to download the Viator app and then the third party app and it felt like a lot of steps to get to the tour. Once it was up and running, it worked well. I didn’t have any problems with the app or the tour. In terms of the tour itself, it was good. We found a few places we probably wouldn’t have found or stopped at ourselves that were really fun and I’m glad we did it. I do wish there were more pieces of information along the way. It felt like we drove in silence a little bit too much. I would have appreciated more stories or history during those places and a couple of the stops were a little short on info. Overall, though, a well done tour that is very helpful to learn the Cape. A few tweaks would make it great.

Review provided by Viator

Sandy

Jun 15, 2023

Enjoyable - Listened to this as we drove from Dennisport to PTown. Interesting facts. Only complaint was that the GPS with it was sometimes confusing and slow to point out whennwe needed to make turns. But glad we ised it on the drive. Saw things we might have missed.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Angieax7646ml

Apr 10, 2023

Overall, great audio tour!! Easy navigation, solid narration, and interesting facts! - Overall, great audio tour...and I've been on many!! Easy navigation, solid narration, and interesting facts! There's 1 planned restroom break, which was necessary and thoughtful, altho I wish there were more. Having never gone to PTown, I got way more from this tour than I bargained for. It's the off season, so it was mellow and chill. I had no issues with parking and crowds. I couldn't imagine doing this tour in the thick of the season tho. I do wish there were recommended food and touristy venues included in the tour too. While the map showed a ton of places, was hard to know which to choose. The recommendations I'd give to other patrons doing this tour are 1. Beware of the traffic. Leaving the cape was a nightmare of traffic and slow moving. I didn't think it'd be that bad on a Sunday off season. 2. Plan for more driving time if you do any of the detours which are also nice. I started skipping a few because I wanted to get to the good stuff. 3. Take the Pilgrim monument tour, I missed out. It looked like it would be great. 4. If I had it to do all again, I'd do it over multiple days and really enjoy the beaches and what Ptown has to offer. Hope your experience is great! Highly recommended!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Kporter9876

Mar 27, 2023

I'm glad I did it, but... - Let me start by saying that 2-3 hours is not accurate unless you don't do any of the detours. I did most of them and it took me about 6 hours. This was a pro for me because it filled my Sunday afternoon. And it was nice that there were additional narrations within the detours. However, this was two to three times more than I've paid for other self-guided tours, and therefore, I would've expected it to be pretty perfect. But there are a few things that need to be fixed. First, because I was doing this solo, it got tricky finding my way along the route and detours at times. Second, there was no "go to this stop" button like it said to get you back to Google Maps, which would've been incredibly helpful in finding my way back after the detours when I needed to keep my eyes on the road, especially on tricky/rural roads. Third, some of the narrations weren't timed well and a couple of them said to turn with no or almost no warning, and others cut off because the next stop approached and the narration changed. So, I'm glad I did it but I've done amazing self-guided that were much cheaper, so this one should be updated.

Review provided by Viator

Steven_p

Nov 1, 2022

Great although a little glitchy - A really good app tour. It follows your course and locates where you are before starting each point/section. It can be a little glitchy sometimes and start the next section before finishing the previous one so you may miss a bit. Would recommend it less for solo travellers as trying to drive and keep control of the app can be a little difficult. Great way of exploring though. Oh, and allow a minimum of 4 hours!

Review provided by Viator

Terryp421

Jun 7, 2022

Drive to Provincetown - The audio tour was interesting and informative. The street directions were a bit hard to follow. We saw some great sights.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Goplaces41878888546

Nov 23, 2021

Great Tool for Road Tripping - This was a great tool to visit many spots on the Cape. If you don’t start from beginning, pre-recorded directions can get confusing as the navigation wants to take you back to start. However, if you follow the blue dot of where you actually are in real time on the map, you can figure it out (I was the co-pilot). Might be harder to do if your solo. The tour have interesting info and showed us great sites! Get started early if you want to hit all the spots- we did not and it was still worth the buy!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Kathy_o

Apr 4, 2022

Not as I expected - Things were not as expected. We ended up traveling by 6a instead of 6 so for the first part of the trip did not use. I used at later sites but things were closed or not there anymore such as Wydah Museum in Provincetown. Even though things such as beaches were supposed to be open restrooms were closed often.

Review provided by Viator

Brad