We are visting in Hartford and would like to do a 3 day weekend trip to Martha's Vineyard. We'll have a car and would like some affordable suggestions for lodging.

You have our permission.

Please write a trip report when you return.

Affordable to me or affordable to you?

well, first of all, if you want to take a car to the Vineyard on a weekend, and you're not talking about something later than October, make sure you can get some ferry reservations. I don't know how hard it is to get them in September, but it would be impossible to do for August. When are you planning to go? The time frame makes a big difference as far as "affordable" is concerned to, as prices drop quite a bit in September, and then a bit more after Columbus day.

There are usually less pricey inns in Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven. Although my favorite town to stay in is usually Edgartown. THere is much less available up island (Chilmark, Aquinnah) and it tends to be far more expensive. give some idea of when, and what affordable means to you, and I can make some suggestions.

We want to travel on August 18, 19, 20th, 2005. It sounds like I'm not going to get a ferry to Martha's Vineyard. Is it feasible to do day trips up the coast or to Boston and then back to Hartford each day or would the driving be a bit much?

You can still get to the island - you just have to leave the car at the ferry terminal on the mainland. You can rely on taxis and shuttle buses while there.

Driving back and forth from Hartford to the Cape or Boston would be difficult but possible if you were willing to drive 4 hours a day.

yes, what Bennnie said...you can still go to MV, you just have to leave the car behind. there was a thread about the various ferries recently, I know you can take one from New Bedford, and as I recall there was also one from somewhere near Providence. These are passenger-only ferries. Once on the island you can either get around on public transit...shuttle buses and taxis, or you can rent a car or bicycle for a couple of days.

I think driving back and forth to the coast from Hartford would be a lot of driving. Although there are some nice places along the Connecticut and RI coast that you can visit, like Mystic and Newport, if that is what you wanted to do.

you will find accommodations in all those places a little tough to find at this late date too. I mean, you could take your long weekend someplace like Portsmouth NH, Ogunquit ME, or Rockport MA and you wouldn't have to deal with the ferries, or the Cape Cod traffic. but you'd still have a little trouble finding a place to sleep. depends on what you were looking for.

It's dicey, but did you try the Steamship Authority's wait-list arrangement? http://web1.steamshipauthority.com/ssa/waitlist.cfm

Also at least on the return-trip, there are "stand-bys" for the ferries -- they line up beginning early in the day and are taken in as many numbers as there are spaces. We wanted to leave MV earlier in the day than our original ferry reservations (so we did already have tickets), and we were able to get out on the 2nd ferry after we got in line - it was a midweek day, but in summer.

Thanks for all your help. I did see other info on this site about ferries, etc. We'll leave M.V. for a later trip.