Cape May, New Jersey: What to Do, What It Costs, When to Go
Inside Cape May: Discover the Hidden Gems of the Jersey Shore
An independent guide to the southern tip of New Jersey, written by people who come here in February. No booking widgets. No sponsored listings. Prices, times and tradeoffs.
Planning your trip: the six things people ask first
- Getting here
- Cape May is the southern terminus of the Garden State Parkway — you run out of road and you’re there. Exit 0 drops you onto Route 109. Philadelphia is 1.5 to 2 hours, New York City 3.5 to 4 hours, Baltimore roughly 3 hours. There is no passenger rail to Cape May.
- Flying or sailing in
- PHL is the practical gateway, about 1 hour 40 minutes by car; ACY is closer, around 45 minutes, but service is limited. From the south, take the Cape May–Lewes Ferry — about 85 minutes, year-round.
- Parking
- Meters are $1.50 an hour, enforced 10am–10pm, and off entirely January 1 through March 31. The Cape May Elementary School lot at Lafayette and Madison is free until 11pm.
- Beach tags
- Required ages 12 and up, May 23 to Labor Day, September 7, 2026. Daily $10, season $40. Cape May Point sells separate tags and won’t take city ones. Lower Township beaches need no tag ever.
- When to come
- July and August are warmest and most crowded. The best single week is the first week of September — water near 72°F, crowds gone, no tag needed once Labor Day passes.
Prices and hours verified August 2026. Call ahead — Cape May businesses change seasonally.
Start here: the six guides that cover everything
Things to Do in Cape May
Sorted by weather, company, time and budget, with one-day, one-weekend and one-week itineraries.
See everything to doCape May Beaches
Nineteen city beaches, and they aren’t interchangeable. Which is quiet at 4pm, and what a tag costs.
Pick your beachCape May Restaurants
Our picks, with the tradeoffs stated. Who takes reservations, who’s BYOB, which 2026 kitchens earn a table.
Where to eatWhere to Stay in Cape May
Beachfront versus Historic District versus West Cape May, and what each costs you in walking distance.
Compare the neighborhoodsThe Cape May Historic District
A National Historic Landmark since 1976, and a self-guided walk down Hughes, Columbia and Ocean.
Walk the districtThe Best Time to Visit
Month by month: air, ocean, crowds, what’s open. The honest case for October.
Month-by-month breakdownA town that never tore itself down
Most Jersey Shore towns replaced their nineteenth-century housing stock with motels. Cape May didn’t, and in 1976 the whole city center became a National Historic Landmark. Stand on Hughes Street and you see what a visitor saw in 1890.
The Emlen Physick Estate, 1048 Washington Street, is the anchor: an 18-room 1879 house by Frank Furness. Adults $20, children 3–12 $15, first floor fully accessible, parking free. Rather be driven? MAC’s Historic District Trolley Tour is $20 / $15 from the Ocean Street Trolley Stop.
Walk the Historic District · Compare all the trolley and walking tours
Cape May guards about two and a half miles of sand, from The Cove at the western end to Poverty Beach at the eastern, with roughly 25 stands at peak. Hours are roughly 10am to 5pm, and an emergency response team stays on until dusk. The beaches aren’t interchangeable. Poverty Beach, out east by the Coast Guard base, has the fewest crowds and the worst parking of any of them. The Cove takes the surfers and the sunset crowd. Broadway, Grant Street, Windsor and Congress Street sit nearest the middle of the Promenade.
The beach, and which stretch of it
Past the Promenade: water, wings and back roads
On the water
Cape May Whale Watcher sails from Miss Chris Marina, March through December — two-hour dolphin trips from $30, three-hour whale runs from $40. Only local operator with a published marine mammal guarantee: no sighting, free pass, never expires.
Whale and dolphin watching
Sunset Beach
At 502 Sunset Boulevard in Lower Township, the flag-lowering ceremony runs at 7:00pm and costs nothing. The flags are veterans’ casket flags donated by their families, and the concrete hull of the SS Atlantus sits offshore.
Sunset Beach and Cape May diamondsWine, beer and the lighthouse
The Cape May Peninsula became New Jersey’s fourth AVA in 2018, and the wine trail has seven members — most guides list four. The Cape May Lighthouse is 199 steps, $12 adults.
WineriesWhere to eat, honestly
Cape May punches far above its population on food. 410 Bank Street, the Washington Inn, The Ebbitt Room, Union Park Dining Room and Peter Shields Inn would be destination restaurants in a city ten times the size. It does unfussy well too: The Lobster House, Uncle Bill’s Pancake House, Lucky Bones Backwater Grille.
Two things before you plan a night. Many of the best kitchens here are BYOB, which changes your budget and your errand list. And summer tables go weeks ahead — if you’re coming in July or August and you care where you eat, book that before the beach.
What changed in Cape May for 2026
The Washington Street Mall turned over more than usual. Vagabond’s opened a second location, Buoy Coffee took over Out There Coffee, and Cape May Pickle Company, Cape May Snack Emporium, Designer Bag Depot and Queen May Jewelry are all new storefronts. Casales, open since 1957, is gone.
On the beachfront, Leone’s replaced Lost Boy by yb and Surfside Grill took the old taqueria space; in West Cape May, Mediterrano by Santorini moved into the former Exit Zero Filling Station. One correction that keeps circulating wrong: the Luther Ogden Inn is not closed. It’s in its 29th year.
And the big one for anyone who walks: a $37.5 million restoration has closed roughly 428 of the 1,160 acres at Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area through December 2026. Most of the beach reportedly stays open, but access has shifted. Check before you drive out.
Six reasons Cape May is worth the drive
The architecture is real, not themed.
A National Historic Landmark district since 1976, with an 1879 Frank Furness house museum at the center of it.
You can climb the lighthouse.
199 cast-iron steps up an 1859 tower that still throws a beam 24 miles out, flashing every 15 seconds.
The birding is world-class and free.
Cape May Point sits on one of North America’s great migration funnels, and the Meadows, the Bird Observatory and the state park cost nothing.
Seven wineries on the trail.
Plus four breweries and a farm distillery, none in the city proper — which is why they’re not overrun.
The shoulder season works.
Water near 72°F in September, no tags after Labor Day, tables you can get on a Friday.
Park once and walk.
The Historic District, the Promenade, the Mall and the beach fit inside a square mile, and the Cape May Free Shuttle is free 4pm to 10pm.
Five things locals do that visitors skip
- Ride the free shuttle instead of moving the car. 4:00pm to 10:00pm — exactly when parking is hardest and you want a drink with dinner.
- Park at the school. The Cape May Elementary School lot on Lafayette at Madison is free until 11pm, daily in summer.
- Go to the flag ceremony on a weeknight. Saturdays at Sunset Beach are packed. In July and August it also runs Mondays and Wednesdays at 7:00pm, with far less crowd.
- See the Revolution exhibit while it’s free. Revolutionary Cape May runs at the Welcome Center, 609 Lafayette Street, through December 31, 2026.
- Bring cash to City Hall. The Tax Office, 643 Washington Street, sells beach tags weekdays 8am–3pm, cash or check only.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cape May worth visiting?
Yes, particularly if you want a beach town with a real downtown attached. The entire city center is a National Historic Landmark district, so instead of a boardwalk strip you get three blocks of shops on the Washington Street Mall, two and a half miles of guarded beach, and around 40 restaurants inside a square mile.
Do you need a car in Cape May?
You need one to get here, and you’ll want one for Cape May Point, the wineries and the breweries — none of the breweries are in Cape May City. Once parked in town, the Historic District, the beach, the Promenade and the Mall are all walkable, and the free shuttle covers 4pm to 10pm.
How much does a Cape May beach tag cost in 2026?
Daily $10, three-day $20, weekly $25, seasonal $40. Required for ages 12 and up from May 23 through Labor Day, September 7, 2026. Children 11 and under are free, and veterans and active-duty military get free seasonal tags picked up in person. Full detail on our beaches guide.
What's the best month to visit Cape May?
September, if you can swing it. Ocean temperatures stay near 72°F, air highs average around 76°F, tags aren’t required after Labor Day and the crowds are gone. July is the warmest month and the busiest. Our best time to visit guide goes month by month.
Where can you park for free in Cape May?
The Cape May Elementary School lot at Lafayette Street and Madison Avenue is free until 11pm — daily in summer, weekends in the school year, no overnight. Parking in West Cape May borough is generally free. And city meters are off entirely from January 1 through March 31.
Is there a train to Cape May?
No. There’s no passenger rail service to Cape May, and Cape May is the Garden State Parkway’s southern end — Exit 0. NJ Transit runs buses from Philadelphia, New York and other New Jersey points into the Cape May Bus Terminal, and the Cape May–Lewes Ferry connects to Delaware in about 85 minutes.
Where to next
Start with the activity guide — sorted by weather, company, time and budget, with the one-day, one-weekend and one-week itineraries nobody else in Cape May publishes.
Things to Do in Cape May