Cape May is a small town, and the Victorian streets are the reason to come. Check in, leave the car at your inn for the rest of the day and do everything on foot. The historic district is a National Historic Landmark, with more than 600 Victorian buildings in a grid only a few blocks wide, so even an aimless walk keeps turning up porches, towers and gingerbread trim.
Walk the Washington Street Mall
Where to eat: grab a coffee and a pastry on the Mall and eat it on one of the benches under the trees.
Start on the Washington Street Mall, three pedestrian blocks of shops, cafes and ice cream counters that have been closed to cars since 1971. Walk it end to end, then drift onto the side streets. Jackson, Perry and Ocean Streets hold some of the most colorful houses in town, many now inns with rocking chairs on the porch. Look up: the cupolas, brackets and fish-scale shingles are the whole show.
Hughes Street and Columbia Avenue
Two blocks west, Hughes Street is shaded, quiet and lined with some of the oldest houses in town, with gas-style lamps along the brick sidewalks. Columbia Avenue runs past larger inns with wide verandas. Walk slowly and read the house plaques; many give the year a home was built and who built it. This is the part of Cape May couples remember, so give it an unhurried hour.
Lunch by the water
Where to eat: the Blue Pig Tavern inside Congress Hall serves lunch near the lawn; Beach Avenue has pizza and sandwich counters if you want something fast.
Walk down to the beachfront for lunch. Congress Hall's long lawn faces the ocean, and Beach Avenue has casual spots with porches where you can sit in the breeze. After lunch, take off your shoes and walk on the sand; in the off-season you may have long stretches of beach to yourselves, and in summer the town beaches need a beach tag.
Sunset on the Beach Avenue Promenade
The Promenade runs along the seawall on Beach Avenue for about two miles, with the ocean on one side and old hotels and Convention Hall on the other. Walk it as the light goes soft, stop for fudge or saltwater taffy, and turn back when you are ready for dinner. It is flat and easy, so it suits a first evening after the drive in.
Where to eat and stop
- Breakfast · Coffee and pastry on the Washington Street Mall — Washington Street Mall, downtown Why here: Easy to grab and eat on a bench before you start walking.
- Lunch · The Blue Pig Tavern — Inside Congress Hall, 200 Congress Place Why here: A relaxed room near the lawn and the beach, a short walk from the Mall.
- Dinner · The Ebbitt Room — The Virginia Hotel, 25 Jackson Street Why here: A small, calm dining room for the first night; reserve ahead on weekends.
- Quick stop (snack): Fudge or taffy on the Promenade — Beach Avenue Promenade Why here: A sweet treat for the sunset walk.
The Washington Street Mall, Hughes Street and Congress Hall sit within a few blocks of each other. The Promenade starts at the foot of the town and runs northeast along Beach Avenue, so you can walk out and back.
Where to stay
- Congress Hall — The big yellow hotel facing the beach at 200 Congress Place, a block from Washington Street; first opened in 1816 and rebuilt in brick after the 1878 fire.
- The Virginia Hotel — A small 1879 hotel on Jackson Street, one block from the beach, with a quiet porch and a dining room downstairs.
Dinner: The Ebbitt Room at The Virginia Hotel on Jackson Street, a five-minute walk from the Mall.
Tomorrow: Drive out to Cape May Point for the lighthouse, the state park trails and sunset at Sunset Beach.
Bad-weather plan
If it rains, duck into the shops and cafes along the Washington Street Mall, then sit out the shower on a covered inn porch with a book or a drink.
Washington Street Mall · Hughes Street and Columbia Avenue · Lunch by the beach · Sunset on the Promenade
Good to know: Town beaches need a beach tag in summer, sold at stands near the beach entrances; off-season the sand is free and quiet.
