Visiting Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket has been on my to do list for some time. Everything I had read or heard was it was almost impossible to do in one day. With the high prices of staying on the island it always deterred us from visiting. During our recent summer vacation we decided to figure out a way to make this a day trip and I am glad we did.
I called the Steamship Authority in Hyannis, Massachusetts and was informed they had a ferry route that went to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard in one day. I went on their website and booked the Around the Sound Tour. We were able to pick from various times to depart from Hyannis, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard and back to Hyannis. We were able to book it so we got 3-4 hours on each island. I highly recommended prepaying for a parking spot when you book your trip.
We left our home in Southern New Hampshire around 5:30am to catch a 9am ferry. Luckily because it was a Wednesday we did not hit any traffic. The loading and unloading of passengers at the dock is a little chaotic. We pulled into a small parking area, since we had prepaid parking we checked in with the parking attendant, then went into the office to get our tickets. From there we had to park about a half mile away, where a shuttle brought us back to the docks. We did not have to wait long before we started boarding the ferry. Make sure you give yourself at least 30 minutes to get checked in and park.
Our first stop was Nantucket, it took about an hour to get there via the ferry.
When we got off the ferry we had about three hours to explore. As a Beautycounter Consultant I was excited to go into my first Beautycounter Store.
We explored the shops in the downtown area. I was actually surprised at the amount of shops there were.
You can rent bikes to explore more, but due to limited time we did not do this. We enjoyed the area, I was in love with the cobblestone streets and hydrangeas. The flowers were a little past their prime, but still pretty to see.
A friend had recommended Something Natural for lunch. They had the biggest sandwiches I had ever seen. I highly recommend splitting them or ordering a half. The food was pretty good. They had limited seating, which was outside. We had to sit on the lawn to eat.
After lunch we walked back towards the ferry. Our takeaway for Nantucket was we would like to go back, but have some form of transportation so we can see more of the island. We are not big shoppers and that is what was around the docks. We walked 3-4 miles exploring side streets and getting away from the downtown area. Restrooms are hard to find so plan appropriately.
We boarded the ferry and headed to Martha’s Vineyard. It took about 45 minutes to go between islands. It was nice to be able to take a break from walking around in the heat. I was hoping to see marine life, but we did not.
When we got to the Martha’s Vineyard the docks were pretty busy. We walked around the downtown area stopping at a couple shops and the Carousel, a popular stop on the vineyard.
We were all feeling a little tired and did not want to explore more shops so my husband convinced me to rent a jeep for a couple hours. It was pretty expensive, a little over $300, but so worth it and so much fun to ride around the island with the top down.
We were able to drive out to some beautiful bluffs at Gay Head.
As well as drive around the whole island taking in the beautiful scenery. Which took about two hours.
After heading back to Oaks Bluff and returning the jeep we did a little more walking, grabbed a slice of pizza at Giordano’s, which was pretty good and explored the adorable Gingerbread Houses.
After exploring the Gingerbread Houses we walked back to the docks to catch the ferry back to Hyannis. The boat ride back did not disappoint.
Some takeaways from Martha’s Vineyard were having some form of transportation is a necessity to explore the whole island. We would like to go back and stay overnight with bikes as there were a lot of bike paths. I would love to stay in one of the Gingerbread Houses, but I am not sure if they are rented out. Having a backpack with water and snacks was helpful. We also had our bathing suites, but did not go to a beach. When we arrived back in Hyannis there was a long line for the shuttle and found it quicker to walk back to our car than wait for the shuttle. It was around 8pm when we got back to our car.
Even thought it was a long day with a lot of walking we loved exploring Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard in one day. It gave us the opportunity to get a glimpse of each island and confirm that we would love to go back to each and explore further.
