We live on Cape Cod and want to take a 3 day/2 night trip to Nantucket, possibly as soon as mid next week. Would appreciate your advice on lodging without spending a fortune. Restaurant recommendations appreciated as well.

We are an active couple in our early 60's. Since we live on the Cape, we don't have to stay on the beach, don't care about a hotel pool - a nice, quite, comfy B&B or inn in walking distance of town would be ideal.

We haven't been to Nantucket in 20+ years, so tell us some of your favorite things to do. Should we bring our bikes for sight-seeing?

Thanks in advance for your help!

The Nantucket Resort group offers midweek specials. We stay at the cottages off season.

http://www.thecottagesnantucket.com/...ool-rates.aspx

Should we bring our bikes for sight-seeing?

When are you coming? Buses are no longer running, though tour companies (I recommend Gail's) will let you see most of the island. There are bike paths pretty much everywhere except in town, so you can easily return to any place you like if you are experienced riders.

Would appreciate your advice on lodging without spending a fortune.

I live in Nantucket, so I don't know where you ought to stay 'cause I stay home! In general, come after Columbus Day. Keep an eye on the weather. Many good inns downtown, especially on Centre Street, a few to avoid, based on hearsay. Let us know what you are looking at.

Restaurant recommendations appreciated as well.

I can recommend

Downtown or near: expensive Oran Mor, Pearl, Ship's Inn; more moderate - Town, Queequeg's, LoLa 41, Languedoc

Further out: Sea Grille, Pazzo

your favorite things to do

watch the ferries come and go; walk/bike to The Creeks at the end of Washington Street and explore the salt marsh; Whaling Museum is definitely worth it because it is not just about whaling; definitely walk Main Street, the fish lots, etc to see the houses and architecture. I have lived here for more than twenty years and still see something new every time.

Thanks for your responses. We hope to be there mid next week, but it may slide out later and we can't finalize yet. My husband was looking on-line at Union Street Inn, Seven Sea Street, and Jared Coffin House, so would appreciate comments pro and con and/or other suggestions. My husband is a big guy and I hear that some rooms/bathrooms are quite small.

We definitely want to splurge on one really nice dinner so appreciate your suggestions. Thanks.

B_and_B

We stayed at the Jared Coffin House several years ago. We enjoyed it very much - as I remember we did have one of the smaller rooms. You might ask about room sizes.

Union Street Inn, despite being on a busy street, has a very good reputation.

By chance, the one place we have stayed is the Seven Sea Street Inn . The owners are nice and it is attractive but I do not recommend it because [at least the room we were in] was of timber frame construction where the ceiling of one room is the floor of the room above. You could hear a pin drop over your head as well as every other sound anyone made.

Oran Mor would be my splurge dinner.

Jared Coffin House is part of the nantucket group I posted above, that offers midweek off season discounts. He should ask them directly about hot dates cool rates etc.

Thanks for the tips! Looking forward to more from others.

B_and_B

I agree with lookin-glass on Oran mor but it will be about $100 per person, not expensive for New Yorkers and Londoners, perhaps, but astronomical to people from some parts of the country.

We ate at the Pearl last night. It is a beautiful restaurant with Asian fusion food, and it was more expensive than that, even though we shared some courses. We each had a raw tuna "martini" and shared a 60 second steak (a small plate), a wok-seared lobster with lo mein noodles, and a dessert. We drank a bottle of delicious muscadet, not because it was one of the less-expensive bottles on the menu ( it was) but because it was a wine we love with that kind of food. It was lovely, though the line cooks must go insane doing these dishes over and over again. Great service. Lots of soft surfaces so it was not as noisy as most busy restaurants. We could actually converse!

We ate at Oran Mor last night, and The Pearl in late-July. The food was excellent at both places. My recollection is that The Pearl was pricier, and in July it was much noisier .. much more "happening", but the food was absolutely perfect. We had a very nice Chablis with our delicious fish at Oran Mor. The one app we shared was just OK. We were near the back in a quiet room and could easily converse with our friends. All-in-all, both were wonderful, and I hope [I can afford] to go back to both next year.

Other places where we've had excellent dinners this year include Le Languedoc [a favorite], Straight Wharf, Proprietors, Boarding House and Lola41. I'm looking forward to next week -- Fall Restaurant Week.

Thanks for the warning on the pricey restaurants, but they sound so wonderful we will have to splurge on one of them.

We stayed at Union Street Inn and loved it! We had a very nice room, and their breakfasts were wonderful. Staff is very friendly, and the location is very close to town.

We had dinners at Straight Wharf, which was very good, and Oran Mor which was fantastic.

The tuna sliders we had for lunch at Brotherhood of Thieves were delicious.

I highly recommend all of the above, and fall is a good time to visit Nantucket.

Glad to hear you had a good time and glad to hear our recommendations confirmed.

"Our"? Yes, asp10 and I both live on Nantucket, tho he is busier than I so he doesn't post as much.

It is particularly helpful to hear about inns and hotels. A lot of people want recommendations, and if you live on island, you don't know.