Painters came here for the light, and they never really left. At the very tip of Cape Cod, where the peninsula curls in on itself like a bent arm, Provincetown basks in a special clarity, reflected by the sea on three sides and by kilometres of golden dunes. The ship anchors in the bay or ties up at MacMillan Pier, depending on its size, and either way you land right in the centre of the action: Commercial Street begins at the foot of the pier.

Where the Mayflower stopped first

History loves shortcuts: before Plymouth, it was in this harbour that the Mayflower dropped anchor in November 1620, and it was here that the Mayflower Compact was signed, the first self-governing agreement of the future United States. The town commemorates it with its 77-metre granite tower, the Pilgrim Monument, completed in 1910 above the rooftops. The climb, by ramps and stairs, is easy and ends with a circular panorama: the full curve of the Cape, the bay dotted with sailboats and, on clear days, the distant skyline of Boston.

Commercial Street, a permanent theatre

Narrow, pedestrian in practice if not by law, Commercial Street unrolls for nearly five kilometres its parade of galleries, extravagant shops, cafés and sea captains' houses with gardens overflowing with hollyhocks. Provincetown is home to the oldest continuously operating art colony in the United States, founded in 1899, and art spills out of the galleries onto the fences. The town is also one of North America's great LGBTQ+ destinations, and this joyful freedom gives the street its singular energy, where everyone gets around in their own way, on foot, by bike and sometimes in a feather boa.

The whales of Stellwagen Bank

From MacMillan Pier, whale-watching boats leave several times a day for Stellwagen Bank, a marine sanctuary where humpback, fin and minke whales come to feed all summer long. The site's proximity, less than an hour's sail away, makes Provincetown one of the best departure points in the world for this encounter. Seeing a humpback breach a few dozen metres away remains, for many travellers, the dominant memory of the entire cruise.

The dunes at the end of the world

Past the last houses, the Cape Cod National Seashore protects a landscape of dunes, heathland and beaches that stretches as far as the eye can see. Race Point Beach, reachable by shuttle or taxi, offers the Atlantic in full: rollers, hard-packed sand and curious seals in the waves. Off-road vehicle tours crisscross the dunes, where old writers' shacks are hidden, once frequented by Eugene O'Neill and Jack Kerouac. An hour out there is enough to understand why so many artists needed this luminous emptiness.

Port call tips

• The whole centre is accessible on foot as soon as you land; the bicycle remains the local means of transportation par excellence.
• Whale watching: book early, especially in July and August.
• Pilgrim Monument: allow about an hour with the adjoining museum.
• Race Point Beach: a short shuttle ride from the centre; it is often windy, so bring a jacket.

At departure, the granite tower remains visible above the sands for a long time, the last landmark before the open sea. You leave Provincetown with a light heart, sand in your shoes and in your eyes the light painters have been trying to capture for more than a century, without ever exhausting it.