The best New England beaches
for kids.
Our beach days happen on a short stretch of coast: the New Hampshire seacoast and the first few towns over the Maine line. That's where we live, so the girls have climbed the same rocks at Long Sands in York more times than we can count. Those beaches come first below. After them come the New England beaches further south, where the water is warmer, marked plainly as research because we haven't done them with the girls.
Beaches in New England for families,
at a glance.
If you want the easiest day with small kids, go to Long Sands in York, Maine. If you want warm water, go south of Cape Cod instead. No single New England beach does both.
| Beach | Where | Why kids like it | Our take |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wells Beach | Wells, ME | Room to spread out | Our end-of-summer beach |
| Ogunquit Beach | Ogunquit, ME | A calmer river side behind the beach | Every Ogunquit day |
| Long Sands Beach | York, ME | Tide pools, rocks, ice cream across the road | Our favorite |
| Wallis Sands State Park | Rye, NH | Easy state-park setup, bathrooms, a small store | Our second regular |
| Hampton Beach | Hampton, NH | Big, busy beach with the boardwalk strip | A classic beach day |
| Crane Beach | Ipswich, MA | A long, wide North Shore beach | Research only |
| Cape Cod bay-side beaches | Cape Cod, MA | Calm, shallow water and low-tide flats | Research only |
| Misquamicut State Beach | Westerly, RI | Warmer water than anywhere north of Boston | Research only |
| Hammonasset Beach State Park | Madison, CT | Small waves on Long Island Sound | Research only |
"Research only" means we haven't done that beach with the girls, so treat it as a lead, not a recommendation. Parking fees, reservations, lifeguard seasons and rules change, so check each town's or park's own site before you go.
What is the best New England beach for kids?
For us it is Long Sands Beach in York, Maine. There is a bathroom right on the beach, which matters more than any view when you have a five-year-old. Takeout restaurants and several ice cream shops sit across the road, so lunch doesn't mean packing up the whole camp. The girls spend half of every visit on the rocks and in the tide pools, with Nubble Lighthouse out on its point.
Parking, honestly: the road meters run about $4 an hour and are very limited in summer. Get there before about 10am. After that, expect the lots to cost about $20 to $40 for the day, depending on the day of the week.
Wallis Sands State Park, Rye.
This is our other regular, and it is great for kids. Reserve the state-park parking spot for the day ahead of time. It is relatively inexpensive, and the posted fee has been about $15 per car. There are bathrooms and a small convenience store, and the whole day is really easy.
Rye has the quieter state beaches on the New Hampshire coast, such as Wallis Sands and Jenness. Odiorne Point State Park is also in Rye, with tide pools and the Seacoast Science Center, one of the places our girls always ask for.
Is Hampton Beach good for kids?
Yes, if your kids like a busy beach. Hampton is the big one on the New Hampshire coast: a long sandy strand, the boardwalk strip right behind it, and Hampton Beach State Park at the south end. It is louder and more crowded than Rye, and some kids will love it for exactly that reason. Our Portsmouth, NH with kids guide covers the rest of the New Hampshire seacoast.
Ogunquit Beach and Wells Beach.
Our Ogunquit day with the girls is always the Marginal Way along the rocks in the morning, then the rest of the day on Ogunquit Beach. Families with small children often set up on the river side behind the beach, where the water is calmer.
Wells Beach is where we usually end up toward Labor Day. Plenty of sand, and beautiful at the end of the season. There is only one restaurant just off the beach, so pack lunch. Our best beaches in Maine for kids guide goes further up the coast, to Old Orchard, Popham and Sand Beach in Acadia.
Where is the warmest beach water in New England?
South of Cape Cod. Everything north of Boston, including all of our own beaches, faces the Gulf of Maine, and the water stays cold even in August. Our girls wade, jump a few waves and then head for the rocks.
The beaches facing Nantucket Sound on the south side of the Cape, Rhode Island's south coast and Connecticut's Long Island Sound shore warm up much more by midsummer. If long swims matter more to your kids than tide pools, that is the stretch to plan around, even though it is a longer drive.
More beaches in New England we haven't done with the girls.
Our own beach days stay on the New Hampshire and southern Maine coast, so everything in this section is research, not experience.
Crane Beach, Ipswich, Massachusetts. The big North Shore beach, run by the Trustees: a long, wide stretch of sand backed by dunes. Two things to check before you go. Summer parking can need an advance reservation, and greenhead flies can be bad for a few weeks in midsummer.
Cape Cod, the bay side. The Atlantic-facing National Seashore beaches have real surf and cold water. The bay-side beaches facing Cape Cod Bay are calmer and shallower, and at low tide some of them, like Skaket Beach in Orleans, drain out into wide sand flats kids can walk on. Kyle knows the Cape well as an adult, but we haven't taken the girls. Our Cape Cod with kids guide has the full plan. Be ready for traffic: there is one two-lane road on and off the Cape, and summer weekends back it up.
Misquamicut State Beach, Westerly, Rhode Island. A long state beach on Rhode Island's south coast, with warmer water than anything north of Boston. It is the Rhode Island beach families name most often.
Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison, Connecticut. Connecticut's biggest shoreline park, with about two miles of beach on Long Island Sound. The Sound keeps the waves small, which makes it one of the gentler choices on this list for little swimmers.
When should you go, and how far is it from Boston?
July and August, for the warmest water and the most open. Lifeguards, parking fees and food stands mostly run from late June to Labor Day. The weeks around Labor Day are quieter, which is when we head to Wells. On any summer weekend, go early, because the lots fill on hot days.
Drive times are from Boston, since that's where most readers start. Hampton is about an hour in normal traffic, Rye about 1 hour 10 minutes and Ogunquit about 1 hour 25 minutes. The middle of Cape Cod is also about 1 hour 25 minutes without summer traffic. Our day trips from Boston guide ranks the seacoast towns by drive time, and our New England summer with kids guide covers the rest of the season beyond the beach.
Where should a family stay for a New England beach weekend?
Somewhere you can walk to the sand, so you park once and skip the 10am parking race. For us that is York Beach. For a night away with the girls, we have stayed at the Anchorage Inn, right across the street from Long Sands.
Some links below are affiliate links. If you book or buy through them, NOE may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend what we would book for our own family. Our disclosure.
York Beach rentals, or the Anchorage Inn across from Long Sands
Our favorite New England beach is Long Sands, so this is where we would base a beach weekend. The Anchorage Inn is the one we have stayed in ourselves. We haven’t stayed in the rental below, but it passes our filters and sits right on Long Sands.
Where we stayed for a night away with the girls: two indoor pools and an outdoor pool.
- 2 bedrooms
- 1 bath
- New kitchen
- Washer and dryer
- A/C
- 2 min to Long Sands
Across from Long Sands with a view of Nubble Light, and a walk to the restaurants on the beach road. About $300 a night. It rents by the week only from May through September.
Ratings and amenities were checked on Vrbo in October 2026. Links open Vrbo for 2 adults and 2 kids with no dates set, so prices change once you add dates. The Anchorage Inn link opens Expedia for the same family. See every stay on our approved list.
What families ask us.
What is the best New England beach for kids?
Ours is Long Sands Beach in York, Maine. It has a bathroom right on the beach, takeout and ice cream across the road, and tide pools and rocks the girls play on every visit, with Nubble Lighthouse in view. Wallis Sands State Park in Rye, NH is a close second.
What are the best beaches in New England for families?
The ones we go to with our girls are Long Sands in York, Ogunquit Beach and Wells Beach in Maine, and Wallis Sands and Hampton Beach in New Hampshire. Further south, the bay-side beaches on Cape Cod, Crane Beach in Ipswich, Misquamicut in Rhode Island and Hammonasset in Connecticut are the names families mention most. We haven't done those with the girls, so treat them as research.
Where is the warmest beach water in New England?
South of Cape Cod. The Nantucket Sound side of the Cape, Rhode Island's south coast and Connecticut's Long Island Sound beaches warm up far more by August than anything north of Boston. Maine and New Hampshire water comes off the Gulf of Maine and stays cold all summer.
Is Hampton Beach good for kids?
Yes, if your kids like a busy beach. It is the big one on the New Hampshire coast, with a long sandy strand, the boardwalk strip behind it and Hampton Beach State Park at the south end. For a quieter day, Rye is just north.
When is beach season in New England?
July and August for the warmest water and the most open, and the weeks around Labor Day for fewer crowds. Wells Beach toward Labor Day is one of our end-of-summer habits. Lifeguards, parking fees and food stands mostly run from late June to Labor Day.
How far are the New England beaches from Boston?
Hampton is about an hour from Boston in normal traffic, Rye about 1 hour 10 minutes and Ogunquit about 1 hour 25 minutes. The middle of Cape Cod is about 1 hour 25 minutes without summer traffic, and summer weekends add a lot to both directions.
Keep exploring.
Long Sands, Ogunquit and Wells in detail, plus Old Orchard, Popham and Sand Beach as research.
Beach days, Story Land and Mount Major, a Vermont lake and Acadia: the summer we actually do.
A $99 planning consultation, or full booking from $499.
Planning something further afield?
The Boston-to-Europe family flight guide: which routes run year-round, the order we book things in, and how far ahead to buy for a school vacation week.
Plus our 12-page field guide, free: where we stay, what we pack, and the eSIM, VPN and insurance we set up before every trip.
We email when we have got something worth reading. Unsubscribe any time.