Where is Onset Anyway? And Why is it Called the Gateway to Cape Cod?

Onset is technically a CDP or Census Designated Place within the town of Wareham Ma. Folks here refer to Onset as a vilage, not to be confused with Onset Village which is a section of Onset. Before delving into this, let’s look at Onset on a map first. It is easy to see its proximity to the coast and Cape Cod.

Fun Fact: Onset Beach was voted as one of the Best Harbors in the US in 2020.

Onset, or actually Wareham, is the last town before crossing over the bridges to Cape Cod. The bridges being the Bourne Bridge or the Sagamore Bridge. The town of Wareham has created a campaign “It’s better before the bridges”. This could not be more true. This quaint seaside community has a downtown shopping area, great restaurants, ice cream shops, antique vendors, and miles of soft, sandy beaches. It is not simply a gateway to Cape Cod but destination in its own right. The best part is, you can avoid the cluster f@#$ of traffic that is not just common but standard when traveling over the bridges to the Cape. We are talking hours of bumper to bumper stand still traffic EVERY weekend in the summer. And you will hit it coming and going. During a holiday, make sure you have plenty of gas and food and drink in the car with you. Not how I would prefer to spend my vacation time…yikes! However, if you choose to stay in Onset, you can always hop over the bridge during off-hours to visit the Cape. In no traffic, you are 20 minutes away from popular Cape towns like Sandwich and Falmouth.

And if you are brave enough to drive to the Cape on a holiday weekend, this could be your 3-hour traffice nightmare! BOTH WAYS.

Watch the video below to see some of the highlights of Wareham and Onset and come stay here instead. It’s better before the bridges.