I spent $120 on a ferry to and from an artsy Cape Cod town with beautiful views. The scenic 90-minute ride wasn’t even the best part.

I paid $120 to take a ferry from Boston to Provincetown, Massachusetts, and back.

Cape Cod, known for its pristine beaches, seafood shacks, and sand dunes, consists of a handful of towns, including the artsy Provincetown.

Known as P-town by locals, the seaside spot located at the tip of Cape Cod has been a haven for artists and the LGBTQ+ community for generations.

A friend and I recently decided to take a day trip to P-town from Boston via a 90-minute ferry ride on Boston’s Provincetown/Cape Cod fast ferry through Boston Harbor City Cruises.

Including taxes, fees, and ticket insurance, my round-trip ticket cost about $120. Here’s what the ferry ride and day trip to Provincetown were like.

We boarded the ferry at about 9 a.m. in Boston.

My friend and I boarded the ferry in Boston’s waterfront area.

The ferry boarded at the Long Wharf pier in Boston’s waterfront area.

We showed up for our 9 a.m. ferry about 15 minutes early and quickly walked onto the vessel after showing an employee our mobile tickets.

Once on board, I noticed various indoor and outdoor seating arrangements.

Some passengers chose to sit on an outdoor deck.

Our ferry had three levels and a mix of indoor and outdoor seating options.

When we boarded, the seats along the windows on the first level were all taken, so we sat toward the center.

The ferry had a few on-board amenities as well.

I saw a snack bar while exploring the ferry.

The first level had a snack bar, a few decently sized bathrooms, and a deck space where some passengers put their bikes.

I also spent some time on the 2nd-level deck, though it was chilly with the wind.

We had beautiful ocean views on the way to Provincetown.

It was a little chilly outside, but I was glad to spend time on the second-level deck.

The trip took a little over an hour and a half, and we had nice views of the Boston skyline and the vast ocean.

Pulling up to P-town, I felt as though I was a world away from Boston.

Provincetown’s Commercial Street was full of shops and restaurants.

Disembarking onto Provincetown’s MacMillan Pier took a few minutes.

We walked past artisan shacks lining the pier to Commercial Street, P-town’s main drag, where we stopped at a café for coffee and a bite to eat.

Next, we boarded a shuttle to a nearby beach and hiking spot.

Race Point Beach had pretty dunes and ocean views.

During a previous visit to P-town, I remembered seeing shuttle buses to a nearby beach. After a quick Google search, I learned a bus picked up passengers hourly at MacMillan Pier, so we headed back there.

The bus stop was marked and easy to find. We rode for about 10 minutes and got off at Race Point Beach, the northernmost beach on the Cape Cod National Seashore. Despite the chilly weather, there were plenty of beachgoers in the area.

The dune and ocean views were worth the trip, and we even noticed a few seals in the water.

Back in P-town proper, we stopped for lunch.

I grabbed a lobster roll for lunch.

We had a late lunch at The Canteen, an elevated seafood shack with outdoor seating and harbor views, where I grabbed a lobster roll.

No Cape Cod trip is complete without ice cream, so we also got a scoop at The Nut House, a quaint candy shop and ice-cream joint.

We originally planned to return on the 9 p.m. ferry, but we decided to head home early.

I rode back to Boston on the 5:30 p.m. ferry.

Though there’s plenty to do on a rainy day in Provincetown — see a drag show, eat at one of the many restaurants, or catch a movie at the theater — I was ready to head back on the 5:30 p.m. ferry.

Because I purchased ticket insurance, the attendant on the wharf was able to change my original 9 p.m. departure time in seconds.

Even with rain rolling in, the ride home was almost as smooth as the first trip. The sunset poked through the clouds as we pulled up to Boston’s Long Wharf just after 7 p.m.

Overall, the ferry ride was worth it.

I enjoyed my trip on the Boston City Harbor Cruises ferry.

The fast ferry is a great option for carless tourists or Boston residents who want to experience Cape Cod for a day or weekend.

The $120 price tag might be more than I’d typically spend, but I think it was worth turning a three-hour drive into a 90-minute ferry ride.