Despite the pristine condition of the beach (no construction or building along the shore), you can very easily find solitude here, even in summer: The crowds tend to aggregate around the few boardwalks leading the beach, leaving miles of emptiness and silence in between. Wildlife may be your only companion: we saw seals and even a Minke whale a few hundred yards from the shore two years ago.

The beach itself is well worth the driving from Boston: on many sections you will walk below tall sand cliffs, where you can read geological history through layers of different colors. The solitude, the straight line of the shore heading north, and the ocean horizon will easily make you think you are on some remote paradise.

Objects brought by the tide, whose forms you will try to make out as you slowly walk up to them, will probably be the only milestones in a hike sure to clean you out from the city stress.