Boston and MV or Newport? Or both?
 

HEllo first time visitor to Boston planned July 2021. 4 nights in Boston, planned on 2 nights in MV and 3 nights in Newport, RI. Is the overnight trip to MV necessary for 2 nights? I have never visited MV or Newport and both looked great. Is MV worth the ferry hassle? Would you do a day trip here and be done or simply skip or keep the 2 nights? Thanks!

As in you wouldn't deal with the ferry hassle with luggage and just go for the day or would not visit at all?

So you have 9 nights and are trying to decide where to spend them? Completely depends on your priorities. For lots of people the Cape and MV would be high on the list. The 4 in Boston and 3 in Newport are decent amounts of time although both of those could be enjoyed in 1 less day giving you 3 or 4 for MV. The problem is that July is high season so driving to the cape and taking the ferry will require lots of time and reservations for the ferry if you take the car. I've only been to MV in shoulder seasons, and only with my car so I'm not sure how much you can see on a day trip with no car which would be the easiest (no reservations). Have you considered Nantucket instead. It's smaller and can be enjoyed without a car so you could do a day trip. You could spend two nights in Hyannis, leave your car at a hotel (book one within walking distance, there are several) and take an early ferry and spend the day on Nantucket. That's what I would do with your amount of time. If you really want MV then I'd take a day away from Boston and Newport and go for longer, and take your car (get your reservations as soon as they are open, I think it might be as early as January). Or if you want a trip with less worry about things like traffic getting to the cape and ferry you could consider using those two days to visit the north shore - Gloucester, Salem, Rockport, etc.

Are you planning on any beach time you could do that on MV.

You will not need or want a car in Boston, so fly to MV and rent a car or do uber/Lyft/taxi/local bus to get around, then fly to Providence and rent a car then do Newport.

These are all very different although you can find great places to eat in all of them.

In general I'm just not a fan of going to crowded places in the high season. As isabel articulates, the overhead required to get to the ferry, wait, etc can't be ignored, and just isn't worth it to me.

thanks everyone!
THanks Isabel - I had planned actually on take the Rhode ISland fast ferry with no car. I found an AIRBNB in MV town walkable to most anything I wanted to see. I also have a half day private tour in MV planned. I was worried 2 nights would be TOO long but sounds as if you are advocating more. I thought the rhode island ferry made more sense to avoid cape traffic and therefore putting me closer to newport when I return.

I have considered Nantucket when I was considering more a day trip but I figured MV more to do when considering an overnight. By the sound of your reply, you feel 3 nights in Newport adequate. I could have done more so I am glad that is enough. It doesn't sound as though you are terribley opposed to MV - it has been a bucket list - that or Nantucket. Your thought of Nantucket for a day is a good one... I ASSUME it would be overkill to do MV and Nantucket?

You really do not need to do both MV and Nantucket on such a short trip. The fast ferry from RI is a good choice. There are local busses in MV to visit other towns too.