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Shopping Overview

Martha's Vineyard is a shopper's paradise, with a plethora of unique shops lining picturesque streets and nary a chain store in sight (strict zoning laws make this possible). The three main towns have the largest concentrations of shops: in Vineyard Haven, most of the stores line Main Street; Edgartown's stores are clustered together within a few blocks of the dock, on Main, Summer, and Water streets; and casual clothing and gift shops crowd along Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs. At the Aquinnah Cliffs, touristy Native American crafts and souvenirs abound during the season, and cottage industries and the odd shop or gallery appear off the main roads in many locations.

A different, more modest shopping experience unfolds at the West Tisbury Farmers' Market, the largest farmers' market in Massachusetts. Elsewhere, some of the antiques stores hidden along back roads brim with the interesting and the unusual.

A specialty of the island is wampum -- beads made from black, white, or purple shells and fashioned into jewelry sold at the cliffs and elsewhere. Antique and new scrimshaw jewelry, and jewelry incorporating Vineyard and island-specific designs such as lighthouses or bunches of grapes, are also popular. Many island shops carry the ultraexpensive Nantucket lightship baskets, tightly woven creations of wood and rattan that were originally made by sailors but are now valued collectibles made by artisans. A good number of Vineyard shops close for the winter, though quite a few in Vineyard Haven and some stores in other locations remain open -- call ahead before making a special trip.