In the hit song “Jersey Girl,” Bruce Springsteen famously crooned “down the Shore, everything’s alright,” a motto that’s fully embraced by native New Jersians and visitors alike. Going down the Shore (local parlance for jumping in your car and heading to the beach) is as much a rite of passage as it is a summer ritual for millions of people in the northeast, and something that’s best done as you head south along the Garden State Parkway listening to the Boss at full volume.
Spanning a roughly 140-mile stretch of coastline between Perth Amboy in the north and Cape May to the south, every year like clockwork, millions of people make the pilgrimage to the Jersey Shore. Home to some of the most elegant haunts along the way, lodgings range from a Victorian style beach resort in Cape May to a brand new luxury retreat in Atlantic City and a newly renovated beachfront hotel in Avalon.
Pack the swimsuit and sunblock; here are eight New Jersey beach hotels to check out on your next trip to the Garden State.