[2] The town is a popular vacation spot, located near the Cape Cod National Seashore.

Harwich is on the southern side of Cape Cod, just west of the southeastern corner.

It is bordered by Dennis to the west, Brewster to the north, Orleans to the northeast, Chatham to the east, and Nantucket Sound to the south.

Long Pond serves as a private airport for planes with the ability to land on water.

Sand Pond, a public beach and swimming area, is located off Great Western Road in North Harwich.

The town is also the home to the Hawksnest State Park, as well as a marina and several beaches, including two on Long Pond.

The average snowiest month is February, which corresponds with the annual peak in nor'easter activity.

The plant hardiness zone is 7a, with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 4.0 °F (−15.6 °C).

The town of Harwich contains several smaller census-designated places (CDPs) for which the U.S. Census reports more focused geographic and demographic information.

The town is represented in the Massachusetts Senate as a part of the Cape and Islands District, which includes all of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket except the towns of Bourne, Falmouth, Sandwich and a portion of Barnstable.

[20] The town is patrolled by the Second (Yarmouth) Barracks of Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police.

Harwich is the site of the Long Pond Medical Center, which serves the southeastern Cape region.

The Lighthouse Charter School recently moved into where the Harwich Cinema building was located.

The town is also home to Holy Trinity PreSchool, a Catholic pre-school which serves pre-kindergarten in West Harwich.

Whitehouse Field and has featured dozens of players who went on to careers in Major League Baseball such as Kevin Millar, Josh Donaldson, and DJ LeMahieu.

Since 1976,[24][25] the town has hosted the annual Harwich Cranberry Festival, noted for its fireworks display,[26] in September.

A portion of the Cape Cod Rail Trail, as well as several other bicycle routes, are in town.

In recent years parts of Cape Cod have introduced bus service, especially during the summer to help cut down on traffic.