9 Of The Most Captivating Small Towns On The Atlantic Coast

Wild natural landscapes, 19th-century lighthouses, well-preserved New England architecture, and seafood pulled from the water that morning: the Atlantic Coast is famous for good reasons. Whether you would like to explore Canada's Maritimes, visit Florida's sun-kissed destinations, or find somewhere in between, here are nine of the most captivating small towns on the Atlantic Coast to add to your list.

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Make your way to Eastern Canada to spend some time in Lunenburg. This historic town on Lunenburg Bay holds one of the best-preserved examples of a planned British colonial settlement in North America, with brightly painted buildings dating to the 18th and 19th centuries. Wander the grid of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and take the air along the waterfront.

Uncover the town's fishing heritage at the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic, where three floors of exhibits lay out the industry that built the place. Afterwards, sample carefully made spirits at Ironworks Distillery, housed in an 1893 building where tools were once forged for shipbuilding. Before you leave town, treat yourself to ice cream in a homemade waffle cone at Sweet Treasures Confectionery.

St. Andrews by the Sea, New Brunswick

St. Andrews by the Sea sits on the Bay of Fundy, home to the highest tides on earth, which rise more than 50 feet twice a day. Travel a couple of centuries back at the St. Andrews Blockhouse National Historic Site, a wooden fortification built by townspeople for protection during the War of 1812 and the last of its kind still standing in Canada.

Next, spend an afternoon at Kingsbrae Garden, 27 acres holding more than 50,000 perennials in themed beds, along with streams, ponds, a remnant of Acadian forest, and a great deal of birdlife. At low tide you can walk across the ocean floor to Ministers Island, a National Historic Site that was the summer estate of railway baron William Van Horne. Check the tide tables before you set out, because the bar floods fast.

Kennebunkport, Maine

Kennebunkport delivers beaches, lighthouses, New England architecture, and local seafood in one compact package. St. Ann's Episcopal Church, built of local stone in the 1880s, sits on Ocean Avenue looking straight out over the Gulf of Maine, and classical concerts are held there through the summer and open to the public.

Another site you cannot miss is the Seashore Trolley Museum, the oldest and largest electric railway museum in the world, where you and the kids can ride a restored trolley from the early 1900s. Wildlife lovers can head out with First Chance Whale Watch to look for minke and humpback whales, seals, porpoises, dolphins, and occasionally basking sharks. The same operator runs scenic lobster cruises for anyone who would rather watch traps come up than scan the horizon.

Narragansett, Rhode Island

Narragansett is a long-standing vacation town known for its beaches and its architecture. Get some sun on Scarborough State Beach, a good spot for swimming, picnicking, or saltwater fishing outside peak hours. From the shore you can photograph Point Judith Lighthouse, an octagonal brownstone tower raised in 1857 on a granite base. It is the third light on the point: the original wooden tower of 1810 was flattened by the Great Gale of September 1815, and the stone tower that replaced it in 1816 lasted four decades.

The other landmark is The Towers, where hundreds of cultural events are now held each year. This stone arch is the last surviving piece of the Narragansett Pier Casino, designed by McKim, Mead and White and completed in the mid-1880s. It has come through a catastrophic fire and a long line of hurricanes, which is why locals treat it as a symbol of endurance.

Cape May, New Jersey

With one of the largest collections of late-Victorian frame buildings in the country, it is no surprise that Cape May's historic district was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. Wander through town and you will pick out Italianate, Queen Anne, Gothic Revival, and Greek Revival details side by side, most of it rebuilt after a fire levelled much of the resort in 1878. The Southern Mansion, formerly the George Allen House, is a bed and breakfast dating to 1863.

From there, make your way to the Emlen Physick Estate, an 18-room mansion of 1879 designed by the Philadelphia architect Frank Furness and one of the better examples of Stick Style anywhere. Wine enthusiasts can taste estate-grown bottles with charcuterie at Willow Creek Winery and Farm, a few minutes inland from the shore.

Folly Beach, South Carolina

Head further south to a barrier island just outside Charleston. Between the beaches, the festivals, and the water access, there is plenty to do in Folly Beach, which sits between the Folly River and the Atlantic and moves at a slower pace than the city up the road.

Cast a line from the Edwin S. Taylor Fishing Pier, or get on the water with boat tours, kayak rentals, fishing charters, and fossil hunting through Charleston Outdoor Adventures. At the island's east end, the Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve looks out at the Morris Island Lighthouse, an 1876 tower now standing in open water as the shoreline has retreated around it. The preserve also protects maritime forest and a piece of Civil War ground.

Ogunquit, Maine

If you want the Atlantic without the crowds, Ogunquit has galleries, cliff walks, shopping, and a long stretch of beach. Begin at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, which sits above the water on Shore Road and holds a collection built around the art colony that formed here in the early 20th century.

Next, catch a show at the Ogunquit Playhouse, a summer theater running since 1933 that books Broadway-calibre productions. Then walk the Marginal Way, the mile-and-a-quarter paved cliff path connecting the town beach to Perkins Cove, where the shops and restaurants line the road and the fishing boats sit in the harbor below.

Rockport, Massachusetts

Rockport sits at the tip of Cape Ann, and between the small shops, the boating, and a serious music scene, it tends to win people over quickly. Head first to Halibut Point State Park, built around a flooded granite quarry, where on a clear day you can see Maine's Mount Agamenticus and the Isles of Shoals off New Hampshire.

Treat yourself to an evening at the Shalin Liu Performance Center, where the stage has a window wall looking straight out at the ocean behind the musicians. Programming runs across classical, folk, jazz, and pop. Front Beach is a fine place to walk at dawn and watch the sun come up over the Atlantic, and if you want local seafood, Roy Moore Lobster Company does lobster rolls, house clam chowder, and stuffed clams.

Fernandina Beach, Florida

Find a slice of the subtropics at Fernandina Beach, on Amelia Island at Florida's northeastern corner. The sand is soft, the beaches run wide at low tide, and the 50-block downtown historic district holds Victorian storefronts and houses from the town's 19th-century shipping boom.

Spend a morning at Peters Point Beachfront Park, then get your steps in on the Egan's Creek Greenway, a trail through salt marsh where alligators, wading birds, and gopher tortoises are all regular sightings. Finish at Fort Clinch State Park to see the brickwork and cannons of a fortification begun in 1847 and garrisoned during both the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.

Choosing Your Stretch Of Coast

These nine cover a long run of shoreline and a lot of different days out. Lunenburg and St. Andrews give you Canadian colonial architecture and the biggest tides on the planet. Kennebunkport, Ogunquit, and Rockport are the New England classics, with cliff walks, whale boats, and concert halls facing the water. Narragansett and Cape May trade in Gilded Age and Victorian architecture respectively. Folly Beach and Fernandina Beach bring the warm end of the coast, with barrier islands, salt marsh, and forts. Pick by the water temperature you can tolerate and the century you want to walk through.