Every year, we ask the readers of CapeMay.com to give us their opinions on the very best Cape May has to offer, from accommodations to beaches to crab cakes. Here are this year’s winners and runners up, as selected by you.
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Best Bed & Breakfast: The Queen Victoria
Runners Up: Angel of the Sea and The Fairthorne -
Best Guest House or Inn: The Columbia House
Runner Up: Billmae Cottage -
Best Hotel or Motel: Congress Hall
Runners Up: La Mer and The Victorian Motel 
Best Campground: Holly Shores
Runners Up: Seashore Campsites and Beachcomber
Best Pet-Friendly Accommodation: Billmae Cottage
Runner Up: Marquis de Lafayette
Best Kid-Friendly Accommodation: (tie) The Grand Hotel and Victorian Motel
Runners Up: Montreal Inn and Congress Hall
Best restaurant customer service: Washington Inn
Runners Up: George’s Place and Merion Inn- Best accommodation customer service: The Queen Victoria
Runner Up: Congress Hall 
Best store customer service: Whale’s Tale
Runners Up: Bath Time and The Original Fudge Kitchen- Best overall customer service in Cape May: The Queen Victoria
Runners Up: Whale’s Tale and The Washington Inn 
Best clothing store: Colors
Runners Up: Caroline Boutique and Klothes Kove
Best place to get beach wear: Great White Shark
Runners Up: Southend Surf Shop and Pete Smith’s Surf Shop- Best jewelry store: Whale’s Tale
Runners Up: Henry’s and Splash 
Best place to find bargains: Dellas 5 and 10
Runners Up: Sunset Beach Gift Shop and West End Garage- Best store for accessories: Whale’s Tale
Runners Up: Pink/Victorious and Madame’s Port 
Best gift store: Whale’s Tale
Runners Up: Winterwood and Sunset Beach Gift Shops
Best store for candy, fudge & taffy: The Original Fudge Kitchen
Runners Up: Morrow’s Nut House and Fralinger’s
Best Coffee: Higher Grounds
Runners Up: Wawa and Avalon Coffee & Bagel
Best Bargain Breakfast: George’s Place
Runners Up: Uncle Bill’s Pancake House and Ocean View Diner
Best Brunch: The Mad Batter
Runners Up: McGlade’s on the Pier and George’s Place
Best Place for a Quick Lunch: Hot Dog Tommy’s
Runners Up: The Depot Market and Zoe’s
Best Pizza: Louie’s
Runners Up: Lucky Bones and Mario’s
Best Hamburger: Pilot House
Runners Up: The Ugly Mug and Lucky Bones
Best Sandwich or Cheesesteak: Ugly Mug
Runners Up: Zoe’s and Westside Market
Best Place for Takeout: The Lobster House
Runners Up: Depot Market Cafe and Cape Orient- Best Fine Dining: Washington Inn
Runners Up: Merion Inn and Tisha’s 
Best Kid-Friendly Restaurant: Uncle Bill’s Pancake House
Runners Up: Ocean View Diner and The Lobster House- Best Place for Seafood: The Lobster House
Runners Up: Oyster Bay and 410 Bank Street - Best Crabcakes: The Lobster House
Runners Up: Freda’s Cafe and The Mad Batter 
Best Ice Cream, Custard or Gelato: Kohr Bros.
Runners Up: Dry Dock and Ben & Jerry’s
Best off-island restaurant: Harpoon Henry’s
Runners Up: Harbor View and Axellson’s Blue Claw- Best Overall Restaurant in Cape May: Washington Inn
Runners Up: The Lobster House and Merion Inn 
Best tanning beach: No clear winner – any beach is great for a tan!
Best surfing beaches: The Cove and Poverty Beach
Best family beaches: Sunset Beach, The Cove, and Steger’s
Best place to escape the sun: Cabana’s on the Beach
Runners Up: The Cape May County Zoo and Sitting on a porch
Best things to do on a rainy day: Shop, catch a show, visit a winery, and go to the zoo.
Best kid-friendly activity: Miniature Golf
Runners Up: Cape May County Zoo and the beach
Best theatre company: Cape May Stage
Runners Up: East Lynne Theater, Elaine’s, and the Cape May beach during Movies on the Beach
Best winery to visit: Cape May Winery
Runners Up: Hawk Haven and Turdo Vineyards
Best festival or parade: West Cape May Christmas Parade
Runners Up: Lima Bean Festival and Fourth of July Parade/Fireworks
Best birding spot: Cape May Point
Runners Up: Higbee Beach and West Cape May
Most interesting tourist spot: Lighthouse
Runners Up: Sunset Beach / Concrete Ship and the Emlen Physick Estate
Best area golf course: Cape May National
Runners Up: Sand Barrens and Avalon Golf Course
Best mini-golf course: Ocean Putt on Jackson Street
Runners Up: Stockton and Sunset Beach
Best watersports activity: Parasailing
Runners Up: Kayaking and Jet Skiing
Best place for a cocktail: The Brown Room
Runners Up: Martini Beach and Merion Inn- Best music venue: Cabana’s on the Beach
Runners Up: Carney’s and Merion Inn - Best nighttime hangout: The Ugly Mug
Runners Up: Cabana’s on the Beach and Carney’s - Best overall bar: The Ugly Mug
Runners Up: The Brown Room and Merion Inn 
Best place to meet up with people: Washington Street Mall
Runner Up: The Ugly Mug- Most likely place to meet a local: The Ugly Mug
Runners Up: The C-View Inn and the Washington Street Mall - Your favorite Victorian building: The Queen Victoria
Runners Up: The Mainstay Inn and Emlen Physick Estate 
Most interesting architectural building: Emlen Physick Estate
Runners Up: The Queen Victoria and Congress Hall
Best history tour: MAC house & trolley tours
Runner Up: Cape May Carriage Company
Best ghost tour: Ghosts of Cape May Trolley Tour
Runner Up: Elaine’s walking tour
Best water/boat tour: Cape May Whale Watcher
Runners Up: Cape May Whale Watch, The Skimmer, and The Osprey
Best photo spot: Sunset Beach
Runners Up: The Cove and the Lighthouse
Best Bicycle Route: The most popular answers were Sunset Boulevard and the Promenade, reminding you to ride early to avoid traffic! We had two very detailed write-ins for this category that we wanted to share with you:
John Schneider: From Ellie’s bakery to the Promenade down Pittsburg Avenue to Vermont Avenue to Washington Street back to Ellie’s.
Mark Miller: Start on Hughes Street, up Ocean, left before Washington Street Mall, head out to West Cape May, all through West Cape May into Cape May Point Sunset Boulevard & the Promenade.
Well, that’s it! We hope you enjoyed this year’s round-up of the best Cape May has to offer. Thanks to all of you for voting and helping to celebrate our seaside town!
2 days til we arrive. Everything about Cape May IS the BEST!!!
Aw! Safe travels! We agree – Cape May is great. :-)
We are thrilled to see the Victorian so well represented on the outcomes…..Congrats to all the first place finishers.
Congratulations to you John. The Victorian deserves it!
We would not think of staying anywhere but the Victorian, congrats John you guys earned it (Joy also)
A great poll, as always. Thank you to the editors for putting my comment about good bike routes in the article! A very nice surprise when I read the story.
And as an aside, another good "best of" category for future editions could be "best place to rent bikes."
We'll be in Cape May this weekend for our very first visit. We're looking forward to some B&B pampering and fresh ocean air. Hope it lives up to our expectations.
It will!!
Thanks for reminding me of all the ways to entertain my out-of-town guest! I've loved Cape May for a long time, but it's been a while since I've seen it through the eyes of a first-time visitor. Great poll, with many long-time favorites as well as newer stars!
Great work, I do love Harpoon Henry’s.
I have been vacationong at Cape May for over 25 years, and have eaten at most of rhe restaurants mentioned and un my opinion the best valued Inn is the Inn of Cape May and the best food value and taste is Georges Restaurant and Sean's Restaurant.
ANOTHER JOB WELL DONE BY OUR FRIENDS AT CAPE MAY DOT COM. CONGRATS TO ALL THE WINNERS.