Boston to Martha's Vineyard
 

Hello:

I apologize if this has been asked before. I am trying to figure out the best way to get from Boston to Martha's Vineyard, leaving on a Monday in August from downtown Boston and returning to Logan airport on the following Monday, August 22nd. We will be traveling with our children who are 9 and 14. Here are my questions:

I have done some research and know that we can take the Peter Pan bus. Will that get us close to one of the ferries? I see that there are more than one ferry--Island Queen and Steamship Authority. Is one better than the other? Do any of them take passenger reservations? Is the Steamship Authority the only one that takes cars? Is it worth getting onto the waiting list for our car? Our plan is to rent a car once we are on the Vineyard because we apparently waited too long to get a vehicle registration.

We know we could also rent a car for a one way rental from Boston to the ferry. That would likely be a hassle, though.

The limo service is very, very expensive.

Are there any other options?

We were hoping to check out downtown Falmouth before we go across on the ferry, but would presumably need to take a cab, then, to get to the ferry. Are there cabs available? We do not have to do this part if it is too much of a hassle.

Thank you very much.


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These ferries actually leave from (or in a few cases, arrive at) different towns. Your best bet is to take the Peter Pan Bus to Woods Hole from Boston and then catch the Steamship Authority ferry to Oak Bluffs:

http://www.steamshipauthority.com/ssa/index.cfm

Island Queen also goes to Oak Bluffs but leaves from Falmouth Inner Harbor, which is not reachable by Peter Pan Bus and is a solid hike from the Falmouth bus station:

http://www.islandqueen.com/

Plus, there's the Vineyard Fast Ferry to Oak Bluffs which leaves from Quonset, RI:

http://www.vineyardfastferry.com/

the Falmouth Ferry, which goes to Edgartown from Falmouth Inner Harbor:

http://www.falmouthferry.com/zgrid/t...ntro/index.jsp

and the Seastreak, which runs between New Bedford and Oak Bluffs and/or Vineyard Haven:

http://www.nefastferry.com/schedule.html

If my research is correct, there is reasonably reliable bus service during the summer between the towns on Martha's Vineyard:

http://www.vineyardtransit.com/pages/index

so depending on your plans, you may not even need a car at all.

In addition, I'm thinking including downtown Falmouth in your plans won't work too well -- it's a solid schlep to Woods Hole from there, too far to walk. I think there's a seasonal bus between the two in summer, but I have no idea how reliable it is.

Actually, the little business district of Woods Hole is charming and will probably keep you occupied between the bus drop off and ferry sail-out. There are among other things a couple nice bakery/coffee shop type spots and such there.

What bachslunch said is correct. Take the bus to the Steamship. If you drive, you will have to pay for parking for the entire time you are gone. If you had your own car, it might be worth chancing standby on the ferry, but the idea of both paying to rent and paying to leave it in a lot for a week is extravagant.

The other way to get there is to fly Cape Air to and from Logan. It costs a lot more, but it gets you there in about 45 minutes, and lots of famous people take it, so you might spot a star. If it is too much to do it both ways, it would certainly be a convenient way to get back, since Logan is your destination.

Hi. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. You have given me a lot of good info. My husband will not take small planes after a couple of bad experiences. Thanks again.

How would we get from Boston to New Bedford?

Dattco has buses that run between Boston and New Bedford (as well as Fall River):

http://www.dattco.com/scheduled-comm...ice/boston.php

I'm not sure how easily they link up time-wise with the ferry, though. I'd check schedules for both to see if it's feasible.

New Bedford actually is a good day trip to take from Boston in its own right.

Did you get on the wait list for the car ferry? I'd do that. Since you'll be traveling back and forth on Mondays, you'll likely get a spot, although it might be at odd times of the day.

Renting a car on the Vineyard is really not practical. There aren't many cars available and they're really expensive, about $100 per day at least.