Ferry from Boston to the islands.
 

We have been told we do not need to rent car while in Boston for a few days.We plan on using their public transportation. We would also like to go to Martha's Vinyard and Cape Cod and possibly Nantucket for a few days as well. Can we ferry between all 4 places and never need a car?

As far as I know, there is no ferry from Boston to the islands. The ferry runs from Woods Hole (which is on Cape Cod) to both Martha's Vineyard (45 minutes approx.) and Nantucket (over 2 hours, I think.) You definitely don't need a car in Boston or on the Vineyard, but you'd need one to get from Boston to Woods Hole!

I had been told there was a ferry from Boston to P'town. Is that true?

You're right! I totally forgot about that. I live about 40 min. outside of Boston, and always just drive to Woods Hole to take the ferry to the Vineyard. The website for the Boston-P'town ferry is: http://boston-ptown.com/. Hope that helps!

P-town is not the islands, and it's still quite a distance from P-town to Hyannis, and public transportation between those two is only by Plymouth & Brockton bus line, with 4 buses each way, each day.

With a combination of ferries and buses, you can get by without a car. There are plenty of buses from Boston to Hyannis or Woods Hole.

There's no ferry from Boston to the islands because Boston is north of the Cape and the islands are south; it just wouldn't make sense to ferry all the way around. The fast ferry from Boston to P'town makes a fun day trip.

Here are some websites for buses and ferries:

http://www.bonanzabus.com/schedules/...olelogan.shtml

http://www.massport.com/logan/getti_typeo_buses.html

http://www.provincetownferry.com/

http://boston-ptown.com/

http://www.hy-linecruises.com/

http://web1.steamshipauthority.com/ssa/

http://www.flycapeair.com/ca/common/...A&page=A01

While you definitely do not need a car in Boston, having a car is the best way to get to explore Cape Cod once there.

You haven't mentioned when you plan to visit. If you're going in July or August, I'd recommend flying from Boston to Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket. For a few days visit, depending upon buses and ferries would consume a lot of your visiting time.

There is a Fast Ferry to Martha's Vineyard from the city of New Bedford which is about a 50 minute ride by bus from Boston.

The ferry from New bedford takes 55 minutes to MV.

Bus trips from Boston to Woods Hole or Hyannis on Cape Cod can take considerably longer than 2 hours during the Summer so the NB route could be a lot quicker option.

After you get to MV or Nantucket, you can have a good time without a car - but I would not try to spend much time on Cape Cod without a car. While there may be a bus from town A to town B - there is not often much within walking distance of the bus stop.

P'town is probably the only town on the Cape where you do not need a car.

My recommendation would be that unless you are going strictly to Provincetown, which you can reach via ferry from Boston, you might want to rent a car if you are going to explore Cape Cod. Perhaps you can ferry over to P-Town and then rent a car there? That way you don't have to negotiate traffic in/out of Boston nor the notorious bridges getting onto the Cape. Then while there if you want to go to Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket you can take a ferry from Hyannis or Woods Hole.

http://www.hy-linecruises.com/

This is a high speed ferry from Hyannis to Nantucket which gets you there in one hour.