Every year, millions of visitors cross the Cape Cod Canal over the Bourne and Sagamore bridges, most of them barely slowing down as they traverse Routes 6 and 28 on their way to celebrated Cape destinations to the east and south.

That’s a shame, because a town that straddles the canal offers history, recreation, boating, and sunsets that rival or surpass the rest of the Cape. Then again, part of Bourne’s charm lies in the fact that so many people do bypass it.