The Jersey shore is close but extremely expensive, the Outer Banks are more affordable but further, the Maryland beaches are OK not great but moderate in price and distance. Just start searching and see what you find.

Cape Charles is too miniscule, Lewes is too trashy/biker-y, and St. Michaels is too weekendy/posh. Not good choices for a family vacation.

Keep going south to places like Carolina or Kure Beach, wrightsville, North Myrtle, Hilton head. All drivable from DC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would cross Cape Charles and St Michaels off your list. Basically there are beaches all along the coast of North Carolina, Virginia. Maryland and Delaware. So you could add relatively close by places like Ocean City, Rehoboth, Bethany. Or further away places like Chesapeake Beach, VA, Emerald Isle NC, etc.

It depends a little on what you want-- house vs condo vs hotel and what sort of town you want-- really busy beach town, or quiet not much to do besides beach or maybe something in between.

Townhouse, condo with a community pool, hotel with a pool or beach access all sound good (bonus that I don’t have to cook at a hotel!) Would be nice to be able to walk or short drive to get dinner, or ice cream. May I ask why no Cape Charles? I searched the forum and people said it was good for young kids but maybe not?

DP- It’s a public access “beach”. Not the type of place that you go and stay for a week. you will have a much better experience in Rehoboth, Bethany, Lewes.

But I guess it depends on what kind of “beaches“ you are used to going to.

I really don't know what this poster means. We have easily spent a week in Cape Charles and most rentals are week to week. It is a bay beach so no waves if that is an issue for you. But the public having access to it is definitely not an issue. Both Bethany and Rehoboth are public access as well. The bigger issue with Cape Charles is that at this point it is likely to be pretty hard to find a rental - it has become very popular and it is a small town. Most of the rental agencies down there list their rentals on VRBO so I wouldn't expect to find much else if you don't see anything on VRBO.

For Bethany and Rehoboth, if you are near the "downtown" areas the beach will be very crowded. Best to try to find something in North Bethany, South Bethany or Fenwick. I don't have any recommendations for rental agencies (we have a family home there and have never rented) but hopefully others can help you out. In NC, Corolla and Duck are nice if you are ok with driving further (traffic will be brutal).

Checkout sandbridge in Virginia Beach, similar to outer banks but closer

St Michael’s is where couples go away for a weekend. Not where you take your 3 kids for a beach vacay.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would cross Cape Charles and St Michaels off your list. Basically there are beaches all along the coast of North Carolina, Virginia. Maryland and Delaware. So you could add relatively close by places like Ocean City, Rehoboth, Bethany. Or further away places like Chesapeake Beach, VA, Emerald Isle NC, etc.

It depends a little on what you want-- house vs condo vs hotel and what sort of town you want-- really busy beach town, or quiet not much to do besides beach or maybe something in between.

Townhouse, condo with a community pool, hotel with a pool or beach access all sound good (bonus that I don’t have to cook at a hotel!) Would be nice to be able to walk or short drive to get dinner, or ice cream. May I ask why no Cape Charles? I searched the forum and people said it was good for young kids but maybe not?

Cape Charles and St. Michael’s are on the bay, so not a real beach IMO.

Me again hit submit too soon. Lewes is also in the bay but a very close drive to an actual ocean beach.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would cross Cape Charles and St Michaels off your list. Basically there are beaches all along the coast of North Carolina, Virginia. Maryland and Delaware. So you could add relatively close by places like Ocean City, Rehoboth, Bethany. Or further away places like Chesapeake Beach, VA, Emerald Isle NC, etc.

It depends a little on what you want-- house vs condo vs hotel and what sort of town you want-- really busy beach town, or quiet not much to do besides beach or maybe something in between.

Townhouse, condo with a community pool, hotel with a pool or beach access all sound good (bonus that I don’t have to cook at a hotel!) Would be nice to be able to walk or short drive to get dinner, or ice cream. May I ask why no Cape Charles? I searched the forum and people said it was good for young kids but maybe not?

Cape Charles and St. Michael’s are on the bay, so not a real beach IMO.

Cape May and other New Jersey beach towns are drivable too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would cross Cape Charles and St Michaels off your list. Basically there are beaches all along the coast of North Carolina, Virginia. Maryland and Delaware. So you could add relatively close by places like Ocean City, Rehoboth, Bethany. Or further away places like Chesapeake Beach, VA, Emerald Isle NC, etc.

It depends a little on what you want-- house vs condo vs hotel and what sort of town you want-- really busy beach town, or quiet not much to do besides beach or maybe something in between.

Townhouse, condo with a community pool, hotel with a pool or beach access all sound good (bonus that I don’t have to cook at a hotel!) Would be nice to be able to walk or short drive to get dinner, or ice cream. May I ask why no Cape Charles? I searched the forum and people said it was good for young kids but maybe not?

DP- It’s a public access “beach”. Not the type of place that you go and stay for a week. you will have a much better experience in Rehoboth, Bethany, Lewes.

But I guess it depends on what kind of “beaches“ you are used to going to.

Anonymous wrote:I would cross Cape Charles and St Michaels off your list. Basically there are beaches all along the coast of North Carolina, Virginia. Maryland and Delaware. So you could add relatively close by places like Ocean City, Rehoboth, Bethany. Or further away places like Chesapeake Beach, VA, Emerald Isle NC, etc.

It depends a little on what you want-- house vs condo vs hotel and what sort of town you want-- really busy beach town, or quiet not much to do besides beach or maybe something in between.

Townhouse, condo with a community pool, hotel with a pool or beach access all sound good (bonus that I don’t have to cook at a hotel!) Would be nice to be able to walk or short drive to get dinner, or ice cream. May I ask why no Cape Charles? I searched the forum and people said it was good for young kids but maybe not?

Hi Op,
Lewes, Rehoboth or Bethany Beach are all in DE, Ocean City is in MD.
They are about 2.5-3.0 hours away from DMV. Lewes parking is crowded, but nice bay side beach. Bethany beach rentals in town has Trolley or they may have parking passes which is great! Rehoboth has Fun Land!
We use VRBO but, Airbnb is also great too, look for places that has "new" those are normally not booked out yet.

GL

Anonymous wrote:Where are you from? What is your idea of a good beach? Have you looked at these places on a map? A couple of them are not "the beach". The outer banks is almost 200 miles of beach whereas Lewes is a small town.

West Coast. We vacationed in Southern California often. I generally have an idea that “the beach” here is not what we picture when we think of a beach out west but other than that I have no idea where to even begin to look

I would cross Cape Charles and St Michaels off your list. Basically there are beaches all along the coast of North Carolina, Virginia. Maryland and Delaware. So you could add relatively close by places like Ocean City, Rehoboth, Bethany. Or further away places like Chesapeake Beach, VA, Emerald Isle NC, etc.

It depends a little on what you want-- house vs condo vs hotel and what sort of town you want-- really busy beach town, or quiet not much to do besides beach or maybe something in between.

Where are you from? What is your idea of a good beach? Have you looked at these places on a map? A couple of them are not "the beach". The outer banks is almost 200 miles of beach whereas Lewes is a small town.

New to the DMV area and would like to take our (young) kids to the beach this summer for a week (or a lake with some sand, etc). We’re gathering from talking to others that families in this area find rentals the prior summer. Is that right? Considering the locations below and we could use help with recommendations on rental agencies, or other places to look besides VRBO and Airbnb where things seem taken

Cape Charles
Lewes
Outer Banks
St Michaels
Hilton Head (is this Driveable with the kids from the DMV?)
Anywhere else we should look?

We can be flexible with budget and spend a little more given short notice. Two adults, three kids and looking for comfortable, clean, somewhat updated-ish accommodations. Are there beach resorts nearby? A travel agent? I can’t tell if most people find a rental and then drive to the beach daily (this seems like a pain), or just walk a few blocks to the beach since anything beach front is taken or a giant house for multiple families. Thanks for any advice. I sort of feel like I landed in a whole other world and would prefer not to wait a year and a half to come up to speed and take the kids to the beach.