11 Coolest New Jersey Towns For A Summer Vacation In 2026

The Stone Pony has been on the Asbury Park boardwalk since 1974. So has the carnival in Ocean City. Eleven New Jersey towns ahead each carry that kind of continuity through another summer. Some line the Atlantic. Some sit in the northern mountains. None depend on World Cup crowds to make the season.

Highlands

Highlands sits on Raritan Bay just across from Sandy Hook. The Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area runs seven miles of beachfront most of it open to swimming, fishing, kayaking, and boating. Gunnison Beach inside the recreation area is one of the few clothing-optional beaches in the country, which is the kind of detail that ends up explaining a lot about why people drive an hour for the day trip. The Sandy Hook Multi-Use Path is seven miles flat through beach areas and historic sites including Sandy Hook Lighthouse, the oldest operating lighthouse in the United States. It has been lit since 1764.

Hartshorne Woods Park on the mainland runs about 16 miles of trails through forest, past old military installations, and out to overlooks above the Navesink River. Bahrs Landing has been serving steaks and seafood on the waterfront since 1917, with lobster, scallops, clams, and locally caught fish in a setting that does not require updating to keep working.

Ocean City

The Ocean City boardwalk runs over two miles along the Atlantic past restaurants, shops, and Playland's Castaway Cove, which has 32 rides including roller coasters, go-karts, mini golf, and an indoor arcade. The eight miles of beach behind the boardwalk handles swimmers, surfers, and the kind of family vacation that returns to the same rental on the same week for a generation. Ocean City has also been a dry town since 1879. The corner liquor store is not an option here, which is part of the appeal.

Corson's Inlet State Park six miles south of downtown is one of the last undeveloped coastal stretches in New Jersey, with fishing, boating, and summer nesting grounds for piping plover and least tern. The Ocean City Music Pier on the boardwalk runs concerts and other live performances through the season with the ocean as the backdrop.

Cape May

The southernmost town in New Jersey, Cape May is one of the oldest seaside resorts in the country, with over two miles of beaches open for surfing, fishing, kayaking, and swimming with lifeguards on duty through the summer. Cape May Point State Park three miles from town covers 240 acres of beach, wetlands, forests, and coastal dunes, with the Cape May Lighthouse at the center for anyone willing to climb the 199 steps to the top. The views run across Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean at the same time.

Behind the beachfront, Washington Street Mall is an open-air pedestrian shopping district with Victorian storefronts and local businesses including the Cape May Creamery for the cheese-curious. The Cape May Historic District preserves over 600 buildings from the late 18th and 19th centuries across 380 acres, one of the largest concentrations of Victorian architecture in the country. The Emlen Physick Estate, an 1879 mansion with 18 rooms, runs as a museum with historic tours and period exhibits.

Ringwood

Ringwood sits in the Ramapo Mountains in the northern corner of the state. Ringwood State Park covers forests, ponds, streams, gardens, and historic estates with 40 miles of trails for hiking, biking, and horseback riding. The New Jersey Botanical Garden at Skylands is inside the park, with nearly 100 acres of deciduous trees, evergreens, and themed gardens against mountain views. Shepherd Lake Recreation Area within the park handles the summer swimming, fishing, boating, and kayaking on water surrounded by trees. Ringwood Manor at the south end of the park dates to the 1740s and tells the iron-making history that built the area.

Norvin Green State Forest west of town runs about 50 miles of trails through dense forest, including scenic overlooks with views of the New York City skyline on clear days. The same forest gives paddlers calm water for kayaks and canoes on Lake Sonoma.

Hopatcong

Hopatcong sits on Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey's largest freshwater body at roughly 2,560 acres of water. Hopatcong State Park sits at the lake's southwest end, a compact piece of shoreline with swimming, picnic facilities, sports fields, playgrounds, and access points for fishing and boating on both Lake Hopatcong and adjacent Lake Musconetcong. The Lake Hopatcong Trail starts from the park and runs about 12 miles along the lake.

Lola's Cocina Latina handles the waterfront dining with Mexican-inspired plates including tacos, fajitas, and margaritas. Tomahawk Lake Water Park just north of town adds water slides, picnic shelters, sports facilities, and a sand beach for swimming and small-boat use. It has been running since 1959, which is longer than most water parks that aren't owned by major theme park chains.

Spring Lake

Spring Lake sits on the Atlantic with two miles of beach and a two-mile boardwalk to match. The sand is soft, the water is good for swimming, and the boardwalk is the part most visitors notice first: no rides, no arcades, no fries-and-funnel-cake stretch, just the boardwalk and the ocean. Divine Park surrounds the lake the town is named for a few blocks inland, with footbridges, walking paths, tennis courts, a playground, and shaded lawns.

Belmar Beach two miles north handles kayaking, surfing, swimming, and volleyball if Spring Lake's quiet wears out. The Sea Girt Lighthouse, built in 1896 in nearby Sea Girt, is open for tours every Sunday through the summer for a closer look at the area's maritime history.

Sussex

Sussex Borough has about 2,000 residents and sits at the far north end of New Jersey, nine miles from the entrance to High Point State Park. The park covers over 15,000 acres with 50 campsites, swimming in Lake Marcia, and canoeing on Sawmill and Steenykill lakes. Over 50 miles of hiking trails cross mountaintops, hardwood forests, fields, and swamps. The High Point Monument Trail is a three-mile round trip that leads to the literal highest point in New Jersey at 1,803 feet, with the monument visible from twenty miles away on a clear day.

Skydive Sussex just outside town drops jumpers from 14,500 feet with tandem guides, which is the kind of summer activity that ends conversations rather than starts them. Space Farms Zoo & Museum houses over 500 animals on the same family-owned property since 1927. The Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge nearby runs wetlands and forests for hiking, kayaking, and fishing, with dozens of bird species along the corridors.

Princeton

Princeton is the home of Princeton University, founded in 1746, which makes it one of the oldest academic institutions in the United States. The campus runs on Collegiate Gothic architecture, shaded courtyards, and landmarks that have aged into the landscape. Princeton University Chapel from the 1920s does the heavy lifting on architectural impact, while Nassau Hall, built in 1756, is one of the oldest surviving academic buildings in the country and briefly served as the capitol of the United States in 1783. The McCarter Theatre Center runs shows and concerts through the summer, and the Princeton University Art Museum holds a collection of over 110,000 works.

Beyond the campus, Carnegie Lake gives the town its rowing tradition and the rest of the public a place to fish and boat. Lake Carnegie Park sits along the shore with picnic facilities, walking paths, and a boat ramp. Princeton is one of the main gateway towns to Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park, a 70-mile linear park along the old canal towpath that runs flat through forests, fields, and wetlands for hikers, bikers, and runners.

Asbury Park

Asbury Park runs a mile of white sand beach with surfing and sunbathing on one side and the boardwalk on the other, lined with restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues. Silverball Retro Arcade is hundreds of classic pinball machines and old video games one block from the ocean. Wonder Bar handles the live music and drinks. Asbury Splash Park sits next to the boardwalk for kids and adults willing to admit they are also kids.

The Stone Pony opened in 1974 and helped launch the careers of a generation of New Jersey musicians, including Bruce Springsteen who still plays the room when the spirit moves him. Bradley Park inland from the boardwalk has walking paths, picnic tables, and landscaped gardens for a quieter afternoon. The Antique Emporium of Asbury Park is one of the largest in the state, with vintage finds, home decor, jewelry, and the rest of the inventory that takes longer to leave with than to walk into.

Manasquan

Manasquan sits where the Manasquan River meets the Atlantic. Manasquan Beach is the less-crowded option among the central Jersey Shore beaches, with lifeguards, surfing, swimming, and room to spread out. Fisherman's Cove Conservation Area two miles north sits on the Manasquan Inlet with a quieter beach, walking trails, fishing, and birdwatching alongside the boat traffic running in and out of the inlet.

The Algonquin Arts Theatre in downtown Manasquan runs summer performances at a scale that fits a small downtown. The Edgar Felix Memorial Bikeway runs 5.4 miles from town through wooded sections, farms, and ponds out to Allaire State Park, where the restored 19th-century industrial village holds buildings and artifacts from when bog iron was an actual industry.

Clinton

Clinton sits along the South Branch of the Raritan River in Hunterdon County. The Red Mill Museum Village is the postcard view: a 10-acre village on the river with a blacksmith shop, a log cabin, and the Red Mill itself, an 1810 structure that has been a wood processor, a textile mill, a graphite plant, and a peach basket factory at various points before settling into its current museum role. The Hunterdon Art Museum across the river holds rotating exhibits in a restored 19th-century stone mill.

The Riverside View restaurant near the Red Mill runs seafood, sandwiches, and pasta with outdoor seating that puts diners directly over the river. Spruce Run Recreation Area six miles out covers one of the largest reservoirs in the state, with a swimming beach, fishing, boating, boat rentals, picnic areas, campsites, and hiking trails. Spruce Run was built in 1963 as a water supply reservoir, which is the kind of thing that ends up working out for everybody.

The Summer Ahead

The eleven New Jersey towns above run a long way from the brochures. Highlands and Cape May handle the coast, Ringwood and Sussex handle the northern mountains, and Princeton and Clinton handle the river valleys in between. The MetLife Stadium World Cup matches in late June will pull crowds toward the northern Meadowlands, but these towns will be running their normal summer schedule. The lighthouses, the Victorian streets, the wildlife refuges, the oceanfront boardwalks, and the rivers will all be there before, during, and after.