Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard
 

I'm planning a to visit Boston Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard next June. I finish a cruise in Boston and have a week to see these places. Originally I planned to spend 4 nights in Boston and 3 on Nantucket but accommodation looks very expensive on Nantucket. So my latest idea is to spend 3 nights in Hyannis, in a motel with a kitchenette, and do a day trip to Nantucket and a day trip to Martha's Vineyard, then head back to Boston for 4 nights. Is all this practical using public transport? Any accommodation suggestions?

Easy by public transportation.

P&B bus from Boston South Station to Hyannis Travel Center.

Option 1 -- out and back

Steamship ferry to Nantucket and back.

Hy-line ferry from Hyannis to Oak Bluffs and back to Hyannis

Option 2 -- loop

Steamship ferry to Nantucket; spend a night or two

Hy-line ferry from Nantucket to Oak Bluffs; spend a night or two

Steamship ferry from Vineyard Haven to Woods Hole

P&B bus to Boston South Station

In June, you should be able to find lodging at prices that are not crippling, as long as you avoid weekends and the Film Festival on Nantucket and anything similar on the Vineyard. The real season begins Fourth of July.

Both islands have bus lines that will take you everywhere, and you can get a daily pass to save money. Gail's Tours on Nantucket is fantastic, and their are no doubt similar tours on the Vineyard, which is much larger.

Don't shop in either place except at the Hospital Thrift Shop in Nantucket and wherever rich people donate stuff on the Vineyard, which is likely to be in Edgartown.

How to save money on food in Nantucket: Provisions on Straight Wharf has HUGE gourmet sandwiches. Stubby's on Steamboat Wharf has take-out Jamaican plates. Walters, near Stubby's, has deli-style sandwiches. The downtown Stop and Shop supermarket has a good [cold] prepared food counter -- sandwiches, sushi, salads
-- and a deli counter.

So ask yourself if in five years you will regret not making a trip to the Islands. If you are willing to hold other spending in check, and especially take the Steamship slow ferry rather than a fast ferry, this can be an affordable trip.

Ack is the Nntucket expert with great advice. I just wanted to add that it is a little early to see hotel rates for next June, so perhaps you can keep looking since it would be a much better experience to stay there than to commute for the day from Hyannis, most parts of which are the least representative of the Cape.

Sorry that I can't help with lodging there but search for motels near ferry in Hyannis and I'm sure you'll get choices.

Have no idea if this would be of interest, but there is a hostel on Nantucket. I haven't stayed there, but it looks nice. Then you wouldn't waste time going back and forth on the ferry each day (although I like ferries, and that ferry is particularly nice, so didn't consider a waste of time).

Thanks for the comprehensive advice ack. We are seriously considering your suggestion for the "loop". Our only doubt is that we prefer to not move around so much. We usually stay a week in each place in self catering accommodation. The motel I've found in Hyannis has a kitchenette and is close to the ferry terminal.

The hostel is very popular, but it is dorm type accommodations. The good news is that it is only a long block from the Surfside bus stop. The bad news is that most of the people at the hostel will be cyclists who will scorn you. It is also a long way from getting anything to eat, either the supermarket or restaurant. The Muse on Surfside Road has the reputation of being what we used to call a "fightin' bar" where bottles of beer were as likely to be broken over someone's head as drunk.

Not doubting your local knowledge at all, Ack, just having trouble picturing these "cyclists who will scorn you";)What...do they stalk around in their road kit and condescendingly lecture noncyclists on sharing the road?

Jenmorg- I was curious to know what motel you found in Hyannis? Do the rooms come standard with a kitchenette or is it more expenive suite?

Motel is called Seacoast Inn.

Thanks!