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Clay cliffs above the sand on the Vineyard. Both are glacial islands with clay cliffs like these; Block Island’s Mohegan Bluffs have a 141-step staircase down, the Vineyard’s cliffs at Aquinnah have a beach below and a lighthouse above.
Block Island vs Martha's Vineyard, honestly: a 9.7-square-mile island with one village and a $12 year-round ferry from Point Judith against 96 square miles, six towns and an $11 boat from Woods Hole. Size, ferries (the car fare gap is huge), beds, beaches, the week versus the weekend, and which one fits your trip from Rhode Island.
Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard get compared by people standing in Rhode Island with a free weekend, and they are different sizes of the same idea. Both are glacial islands with clay cliffs, no chain stores in their harbors, beaches that cost nothing and a ferry between you and the mainland. But Block Island is a tenth the size, with one village, 1,400 year-round residents and a $12 boat from Point Judith; the Vineyard is 96 square miles, six towns that look nothing alike, 20,000 residents and an $11 boat from Woods Hole that lands you somewhere with a free bus to everywhere else. Block Island suits a day trip or a bike weekend; the Vineyard suits a week.
Aquinnah at dusk, at the far western end of the Vineyard. Block Island fits in a day on a bike; the Vineyard does not.
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For a day trip, Block Island has the easier ferry. The traditional boat from Point Judith in Narragansett runs every day of the year, takes about an hour, and a same-day round trip is $22.60; a car is $39.60 each way with a reservation, which is a third of the Vineyard’s summer car fare. In summer there are also seasonal boats from Newport, New London, Montauk and Orient. The Vineyard’s Steamship Authority is cheaper per person at $11 each way and runs year-round from Woods Hole, but the summer car reservations open in February and are gone within hours, the standby line for cars ended in January 2025, and Woods Hole has no parking at the terminal. From Rhode Island the Vineyard is reached without touching Cape Cod: the Seastreak from New Bedford and the Vineyard Fast Ferry from Quonset Point both land in Oak Bluffs; our Rhode Island guide compares them, and the cheapest-way guide prices every boat. For a day, Block Island; for a week, the Vineyard, and either way the car is easier left on the mainland.
Vineyard Haven harbor at dusk, moorings full. The Vineyard has six towns; Block Island has one village.
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A car-free bike weekend, a day trip from Providence or Newport, a couple who want one harbor village, the Mohegan Bluffs staircase and the two lighthouses, and a free beach a walk from the boat. It is also the better bet for a spontaneous summer weekend, because the ferry does not need a February reservation.
A week, a family, a group that wants six towns to choose between, a fare-free bus, the Campground and the carousel, the Aquinnah cliffs and the Menemsha sunset, a film’s worth of Jaws locations, a fishing derby, an agricultural fair, and a restaurant scene with a James Beard semifinalist up-island.
Clay cliffs, quiet roads, no chain restaurants on the harbor, beaches that cost nothing, and a boat that puts the mainland at a distance. Neither has a resort strip.
The Vineyard’s room tax is 11.7 percent and its August rooms are dear; Block Island is smaller but not cheaper per night, and it sells out earlier. The Vineyard’s advantage is range: a hostel bunk from about $40 in season, condo-hotels with kitchens, harbor suites near $1,000. The budget guide works a Vineyard week for two under $1,200.
Both are summer islands. Block Island’s seasonal ferries and most of its businesses run Memorial Day to Columbus Day; the Vineyard keeps a year-round core of restaurants, hotels and a museum, and most businesses stay open through September. The best-time guide has the Vineyard by month.
A sand road down to the water, scrub and wind-bent trees on both sides. Quiet roads and open shore are the part the two islands share.
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If you have a day, or a weekend and a bicycle, and you are in Rhode Island, Block Island is the easy choice: the boat is cheap and daily, the bluffs are worth the 141 steps, and the whole island fits between breakfast and the last ferry. If you have three days or more, want a choice of towns and beaches, or are bringing children or a group, the Vineyard is the fuller trip, and from Rhode Island it is a 50-minute boat from New Bedford. People who love one usually love the other; they are the same landscape at two scales. Our Vineyard vs Nantucket and Vineyard vs Cape Cod comparisons cover the other two questions people ask in the same breath, and is the Vineyard worth it weighs the trip on its own.
Step 1 · WhenMonth PickerTwelve months compared on NOAA numbers, crowds, prices and what is open. 
Step 2 · DaysDay-by-Day Trip PlannerMorning, afternoon and evening sketched for every day, events dropped in, emailed to you. 
Step 3 · CostTrip Cost CalculatorFerry, beds with the rooms tax, meals, getting around and activities in one price range. Our own footage from Aquinnah and the up-island shore.
For a day trip or a bike weekend from Rhode Island, Block Island: a $22.60 same-day round trip from Point Judith, one village, free beaches and the Mohegan Bluffs. For three days or more, a family or a group, the Vineyard: six towns, twenty beaches, a fare-free bus and a full calendar.
Block Island is 9.7 square miles with 1,410 year-round residents; Martha’s Vineyard is about 96 square miles with roughly 20,600. The Vineyard is ten times the land and has six towns; Block Island has one.
Per person they are close: $12.30 one way to Block Island from Point Judith on the traditional boat, $11 to the Vineyard from Woods Hole. For a car, Block Island is far cheaper, $39.60 each way against $127 to $168 to the Vineyard in summer, and the Vineyard’s car slots sell out months ahead.
Yes, from Rhode Island: Block Island from Point Judith, then the Vineyard from New Bedford or Quonset Point. There is no direct boat between the two islands.
Not reliably. It has far fewer beds and sells out on summer weekends; the Vineyard is expensive on average but has a hostel bunk from about $40 in season, condo-hotels with kitchens and thousands of rentals, and September rooms typically 25 to 40 percent below August.
Block Island ferry fares are from the Block Island Ferry’s 2026 schedule and fare sheet; its area, population, harbors, lighthouses and conservation share are census and public figures; the Mohegan Bluffs staircase count is the state’s. Vineyard figures are the Steamship Authority’s 2026 fares and our own stay, beach and cost research, checked September 2026. We have not priced every Block Island inn, so the lodging comparison is about range and availability, not a room-by-room table.
Island tip of the day Shopping No. 31 of 86 New tip at midnight, island time
The Chappy Ferry costs $5/person round-trip and $17 for a car with driver. Cards work at the Edgartown-side kiosk; bring cash for the boat itself.
Martha's Vineyard in December 2026: First Friday on December 4, Light Up Oak Bluffs on December 5, Christmas in Edgartown December 10 to 13, 4:15 sunsets, one ferry into Vineyard Haven, and what stays open through Christmas.
All six town libraries on Martha's Vineyard, checked October 2026: hours and addresses, how visitors get a library card, free Wi-Fi, the concerts, art shows and programs, the Libraries of Things with beach chairs and stargazing kits, museum and beach parking passes, and a short history of each building.
Cell service on Martha's Vineyard town by town: towers down-island, no tower in Chilmark or Aquinnah and the named dead spots, what each carrier reports to the FCC, free Wi-Fi at all six libraries and on the ferry, the $10 xfinitywifi pass, prepaid plans and 911 when you have no bars.
The twelve things that catch first-timers on Martha's Vineyard, from car reservations and the two ferry terminals to resident-only beaches, the last bus from Aquinnah and cash for the Chappy Ferry, each with an easy fix, plus the fall and winter dates.
EV charging on Martha's Vineyard: about 34 public stations, nearly all Level 2, listed town by town with ports and prices (the Edgartown Park and Ride, town halls, libraries, the airport, the Aquinnah cliffs), two fast-charging ports at the VTA, the Chilmark plans, no Supercharger, the ferry's EV rules, and how to run an electric week on a 20-mile island.
How to get a Steamship Authority car reservation to Martha's Vineyard: the February opening and its virtual waiting room, the residents' head start, the five-reservation limit, the wait list that works, the 2026 fares ($127 midweek, $168 summer weekends), the free first change and the 14-day refund rule, no standby, and why most visitors should leave the car in Falmouth.
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