🥖 Is a week in Paris cheaper than Margate? | Down the Shore

We finally put it to the test. Is it cheaper to travel to Europe or even Hawaii than to empty your bank account for a weekly rental at the no-longer-affordable Shore town of your childhood?

We consulted with ace Philly travel agents Paul Ferdinand and Rebecca Wzorek and scoured the internet for Shore deals, with some help and wisdom from real estate agent Brian Logue. The results, are, well, closer than you’d think. Granted, people have been telling us for years that the Shore is so overpriced, you can go to [fill in the blank] for less.

This summer, though, Shore prices have flattened a bit, and there are last-minute deals, while Europe is not quite the bargain it was a couple summers ago (plus, if you think locals at the Shore are a wee bit hostile, check out, say, Mallorca).

Logue urged Philadelphians to remember the memories of their youth. “The Shore is in our DNA,” he said. Perhaps that’s what keeps people coming back, even when the beach in Waikiki and the three-star hotel in the Marais are calling.

As one reader emailed this week, “That’s the ball game. It literally is the last and only reason I still go to the shore with my family. Tradition. But every year it gets less appealing. Expensive, parking issues, and of course, dragging your things down there, and cleaning up in a frenzy on that last day.”

So, you ask, is it cheaper to spend a week in Paris, Hawaii, or down the Shore? We investigated.

Keep reading for celeb and noise news, your opinions on parking, Capt. Starn’s memories, and a lovely Shore moment from my colleague Paola Pérez, author of the must-read Saturday and Sunday Inquirer morning newsletters.

📮 Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Send them to me here.

🌩️ Skies have been changeable! Water’s been super warm.

— Amy S. Rosenberg (Follow me at @amysrosenberg or 📷 on Instagram at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me here.)

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🏈 Celeb watch: Broadway Joe Namath was spotted strolling the Ocean City boardwalk over Fourth of July weekend, while a bikini-waxed Jason Kelce was back posing for pics in Sea Isle City. Kylie Kelce was shilling for Dunkin’ with the summer Munchkins bucket, and Bachelorette alum Zac Clark was also in Sea Isle, running a “mindless” 8:08-mile pace (according to his Strava).

🔊 All about that bass: Atlantic City agreed to move the BRT (Beach Road Trip) Caribbean music festival from its original location in front of the Ocean Club Condominiums to the south side of the Pier at Caesars. But the joke was on just about everyone else on the island not lucky enough to be at the festival, which drew crowds from as far away as London. Between the wind direction, and the pier building to the north, the massive bass reverberated along the beach all the way to Longport, prompting numerous complaints.

🏋️‍♀️ Fusion Gym is behind the new outdoor gym/DJ/lounge area being assembled next to Showboat on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, which owner Tony Chowdhury is calling “the world’s first fitness resort.”

✂️ The tiny shore community of South Seaside Park got the green light to secede from Berkeley Township. Now they have to convince Seaside Park to take them.

📃 Gov. Murphy is changing rules for building in coastal communities to allow for a higher level of risk.

🌊 Red Bull’s Surf & Rescue competition, featuring East Coast beach patrols, was held near Ventnor Pier.

🚲 Ride a bike: Here’s a guide to bicycle riding at the Shore.

🍩 Indulge: Don’t miss these seven Shore bakeries.

🏆 Pizza, pups, concerts, and more: Here’s a roundup of the Best of the Shore, 2025.

🎣 Go fishing! Flounder season is “hot and heavy.”

💪 Stay outside! Ocean City opened a new, free public fitness park off the boardwalk between Fifth and Sixth Streets.

🐳 Go whale watching. The sights from the Cape May whale watching boats have been wild.

Deannexation: What some tiny Shore towns desperately want when they’re under the rule of mainland townships. They usually want to join the cool beach towns on their same barrier island. See: South Seaside Park, Strathmere, and Seaview Harbor Marina.

Capt. Starn’s was the answer to last week’s question about the dearly departed Atlantic City inlet restaurant. A lot of people knew that, but Michael Yanoff was first.

This week:

This Shore bridge on the intracoastal waterway was built in 1929 as a drawbridge but is currently only in the down position, which doesn’t allow large boats to pass underneath, while officials try to find parts to fix it.

Is it:

A. The Margate Causeway Bridge

B. The Albany Avenue Bridge in Atlantic City

C. The Grassy Sounds Bridge in North Wildwood

D. The Dorset Avenue Bridge in Ventnor

If you think you know the answer, email me here, for a possible shout-out, or click on this story to find out.

Lots of people came to the defense of the right of homeowners who live near the beach to park on the street.

Janet Levine, beach block owner in Margate: We keep a car in front of our house and one in the driveway with room for two more. In all my years, I can’t recall a July 4th weekend as spectacular as this one for weather, the flat stretch of the beach leading to waves of swimmers stretching for blocks and Cool Cabanas five rows deep. The traffic along Ventnor Avenue is as busy as Rt. 73 in Marlton and getting close to the pace of the Schuylkill Expressway.

Linda, of Lower Chelsea, in A.C.: Is it fair to park on the street if you have a driveway at the shore? Atlantic City has zoned permit parking … which they have ceased to enforce in residential neighborhoods. The resulting density & lack of consideration renders your driveway useless, because one cannot maneuver around wall-to-wall SUVs to exit said driveway. You don’t need a car to sit by the sea. Leave your bougie baggage, grab a swimsuit & hop on a bike!

Aimee Rudman: My mom is 88 years old and requires the care of a home health aid daily. To make sure there is room in the driveway, we have to park one car on the street. This past weekend, people continuously tried to park by partially blocking our driveway. We often have to explain that it is a driveway that is in use throughout the day. People yell at us. The driver of a car with NY tags told me it is a public street. I agreed with her, but said that it is a private driveway. She told me, “That is your opinion.”

You know you’ve something figured out when you’re headed down the Shore on the Monday after the Fourth of July. 🎤 Let me pass the mic to my colleague Paola Pérez.

I went down the Shore for my birthday (July 7), which fell on a Monday. So I set off Sunday afternoon, while the majority of traffic was headed in the opposite direction and probably wishing the holiday weekend didn’t have to end already. I stopped in Atlantic City first to eat at a Dominican spot (recommended by Craig LaBan), then took the long way down through other towns and finally landed in Wildwood. The beach and the boardwalk were glorious — not incredibly chaotic as I predicted the 4th weekend would be, but still full of life. Over at the Honky Tonk Saloon later that night, Brian McConnell was on guitar and said in between songs: “If you’re here tonight, you’re definitely not working tomorrow.” I returned to reality on Tuesday. It was a delight to soak up the post-July 4th vibes.

— Paola Pérez

Carole Giampalmi: What an idyllic college summer as the photographer at Starn’s in the 1960s. I roamed the dining room, sailor collar intact, inviting families to have their photos taken, and they almost always bought a packet of snaps for their future memories. Was it warm biscuits or dinner rolls that we gratefully scarfed from a warmer drawer? I can’t remember for sure.

Susan Gagliardi: There was a huge whale bone you could sit on. Feeding the seals or sea lions was so fun! You got a little paper bowl with little fish and a wooden fork to throw them the food. My dad always got the Oyster Stew and the huge fried fish platter. I got the fried shrimp. Wow, thanks for sparking such great memories for me.

📬 Send us your Shore memory or moment! Tell us how the Shore taps into something deep for you, and we will publish them in this space during the summer.

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