Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket day trips
 

Hello,

My wife and I are planning day trip to Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket during the labor day weekend. We will be staying in plymouth and taking ferry to the island. We would like to know:

1.) Ideas for day trip: places to visit, eat, etc.

2.) Should we go to Martha's vineyard on both days or spend a day at Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket each.

Thank you.

Are you asking should you take the ferry back and forth twice to visit the Vineyard while staying in Plymouth, or are you asking if you should overnight on the Vineyard or rather do two different island day trips?

On MV there are small busses that will take you from town to town, so you do not need to bring your car, and if you don't have a reservation already that might be difficult.

You don't need a car on Nantucket. We have an extensive bus system through early September that will take you to all parts of the island, and you can easily spend the day within walking distance of the ferry. The Whaling Museum is at the foot of Steamship Wharf, and the historic streets, downtown shopping, and restaurants are all within an easy walk.

The Steamship Authority fast ferry from Hyannis will get you to the island in an hour. The Hyline ferry, from a different dock in Hyannis, is a bit more expensive and takes a little more time. Labor Day weekend, you will almost certainly need a reservation on either ferry, especially on Friday and Monday when people are arriving and departing.

Expect a lot of traffic everywhere that weekend since it is the traditional "last blast" of summer for many New Englanders.

It will be a busy weekend to visit, as ackislander wrote.

You can certainly manage a day on each island. I second the SSA ferry from Hyannis as the most efficient transportation for a day visit to Nantucket. See website here for travel to Nantucket and MV:

http://steamshipauthority.com/ssa/

Martha's Vineyard can be sampled in a day trip. Each of the towns has it's own personality. In addition, there are many points of nature to enjoy.

Do you enjoy biking? There are bike routes throughout the island.

I would encourage you to spend the two days on one island, depending on your interest and reasoning for day trips.

LittleWing: we will be taking ferry, just wanted to know 1.) what can we accomplish/see at MV and Nantucket

emalloy: You mean reservation for the ferry or the bus? If bus, where do we make that reservation.

Ackislander: When you say traffic, you mean on the island or even from plymouth to woods hole/hyannis? Any idea how long that drive might be?

portiaperu: by biking--- you mean bicycle or scooters? we like both. How long are the bike routes?

Also, can anyone recommends things we should see/do at both islands?

Thanks for all your feebaack.

Well, there will be a lot of people everywhere you go, on island or off island. From Plymouth to Hyannis is normally about 40 minutes, and you should allow an hour, and I would try pretty hard to be there an hour before ferry time.

I am not sure about Woods Hole. But you have to park in Falmouth anyway and take a bus from the parking lot to the Martha's Vineyard ferry.

The Steamship Authority website will tell you all about parking.

OR you can take the P&B bus from Plymouth to Hyannis, walk a couple of long blocks to the Steamship ferry terminal and not have to worry about parking at all. You will need a ferry reservation, but I don't believe you have to have a bus reservation. You just show up. The company is Plymouth and Brockton, and they too have a website with schedules. Be sure to look at the holiday schedule.

If I had to pick a day for the trip, I would pick Sunday. Everything is open, and there will be less traffic on its way to Boston and elsewhere.

Check out the events calendar here:
http://www.yesterdaysisland.com/main_pages/
to see what will be happening when you're on Nantucket.

Thanks Ackislander and ACKsuz.

Still looking for things to do list at these two islands --- that can be acomplished in a day.

Thank you.

Start with these resources to plan an MV day visit:

Boston Globe - Exploring MV
http://www.boston.com/travel/explore...rthasvineyard/

NYT - MV Travel Guide
http://tiny.cc/5vbre

Both have recommendations that could be incorporated into a day trip or weekend visit.

A day trip could include a visit to the colorful gingerbread houses on the Campground in Oak Bluffs, a walk through the historic whaling village of Edgartown, a bike or moped ride along the island to the cliffs at Aquinnah (approx 20 miles each way from Edgartown), a walk along one of many beautiful nature trails, and sunset in Menemsha, a working fishing village.

Depending on your pace and your interests: history, nature, shopping, etc. a day trip could include any of the above ideas or a more specific focus.

There's a whaling museum on Nantucket, shopping, lots of good restaurants. We went sailing on the Endeavor and enjoyed that. Also went to Jetties Beach.

I did a Nantucket day trip a few years ago, in early October. Once I got off the ferry, I found a 'tour bus' sort of sight seeing trip. I had not bought a ticket ahead of time for this, but thought it was a nice tour around the island. I then spent time in the shops and the area around the dock, and had lunch. Can't recall where. But it was an enjoyable day.

Need a reservation for the ferry if you take your car, not the bus.