15 miles E of Sagamore; 44 miles S of Provincetown
As the commercial center and transportation hub of the Cape, hyperdeveloped Hyannis -- officially a "village" -- grossly overshadows the actual seat of town government in the bucolic community of Barnstable. The two locales couldn't be more dissimilar. As peaceful as Hyannis is hectic, the bay area along historic Route 6A unfolds in a blur of greenery and well-kept Colonial houses. It's no wonder many visitors experience "post-Camelot letdown" the first time they venture southward to Hyannis. The downtown area, sapped by the strip development that proliferated at the edges of town after the Cape Cod Mall was built in 1970, is making a valiant comeback, with attractive banners and a pretty public park flanking the wharf where frequent ferries depart for the islands. If you were to confine your visit to this one town, however, you'd get a warped view of the Cape. Along routes 132 and 28, you could be visiting Anywhere, USA: They're lined with the standard chain stores, restaurants, and hotels, and mired with maddening traffic.
Hyannis has more beds and better room rates than anywhere else on the Cape, but there's little rationale for staying right in town or along the highways -- unless you happen to have missed the last ferry out to Nantucket. Even elaborate resort facilities can't begin to compensate for the lack of local color.
The best strategy is to stay somewhere peaceful near the edge of town, in one of the moneyed villages, like Hyannisport or Centerville, to the west, or in one of the bayside villages of Barnstable and West Barnstable due north, and just go into Hyannis to sample the restaurants and nightlife. Hyannis and environs can offer plenty of both to suit every palate and personality.
