Trip Planning Guides

Providence and Rhode Island to Martha's Vineyard without crossing Cape Cod: the Seastreak from New Bedford (50 minutes, $84 round trip, 30 minutes from Providence) and the Vineyard Fast Ferry from Quonset Point (95 to 105 minutes, from $115, dogs ride free), both with $15 parking at the dock, plus Amtrak's connecting bus for a car-free trip. Which boat, when, and what it costs.

The Hy-Line ferry from Hyannis to Oak Bluffs: about an hour, $41 each way with the fuel surcharge, children and bike fares, the 2026 season, the Ocean Street terminal and its $10 to $30 lots and shuttle, the CapeFLYER and bus connections from Boston, and an honest comparison with the cheaper Island Queen and Steamship boats.

The Island Queen ferry from Falmouth to Oak Bluffs: 35 minutes, $30 round trip, its own $20 lot 200 yards from the dock, seven sailings a day in summer, the 2026 season (May 22 to October 12) and fall timetable, fares for children and bikes, why it beats the Steamship for Cape day trips, and its honest limits (no cars, no dogs).

New Year's Eve on Martha's Vineyard: the $150 dinner over the lit harbor, the two-seating table in Edgartown, live music at the Ritz, the family First Night at the Playhouse, where the lights are, what runs on the holiday (the ferry does, the reservation office does not), what is open on New Year's Day, and the empty January that begins the week you leave. 2026–2027 dates.

Columbus Day (Indigenous Peoples' Day) weekend on Martha's Vineyard: the last weekend of the seasonal island. The Artisans Fall Festival at the Grange Hall, the Derby weigh-ins, the last Ocean Park concert, what closes on the Monday (Island Queen, Seastreak, the Chappy gatehouses, the carousel), what stays open, the half-price rooms, and a Friday-to-Tuesday plan.

Labor Day weekend on Martha's Vineyard, hour by hour: the Artisans Festival at the Ag Hall, the jazz weekend in Oak Bluffs, First Friday, the last guarded swim in the year's warmest water, which ferries make their last sailings, how to survive the Monday exodus, and why staying to Tuesday is the best trick. 2026 and 2027 dates.

New York to Martha's Vineyard without a car, all four ways: fly from JFK, LaGuardia or White Plains in about an hour; Seastreak's summer weekend boat from East 35th Street (about five hours, $250 round trip); Amtrak to Providence plus the connecting bus to the New Bedford ferry; or the Peter Pan bus to Woods Hole and the $11 Steamship. Times, costs and which to pick.

A family reunion on Martha's Vineyard: what a whole-family house costs with the 11.7 percent tax and cleaning fee, why bedrooms decide how many it sleeps, the cheaper alternatives, walking twenty people onto the ferry instead of bringing cars, feeding the group, the one restaurant night to book a year out, and the free week.

Solo travel on Martha's Vineyard: the $11 walk-on ferry and the bus from Boston, the $40 hostel and B&Bs with breakfast, the free bus and $30 bikes, the $20 church lobster roll, the free concerts, dock dances and community sing where you meet people, the small-group tours, five solo days and the honest safety notes (ticks, currents, the last bus).

Martha's Vineyard for seniors and slower travelers: the level towns (Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven, not Edgartown's brick), the free kneeling buses and the Lift, the ferry's elevators, the beaches with mats and beach wheelchairs, the hotels with lifts, the museum, Felix Neck and Mytoi, the island bus tour, and what we would not pretend is easy.

Martha's Vineyard in November: sunset at 4:40 after the clocks change, foliage that peaks weeks after the mainland, resident-only beaches open to walkers, free gardens, bay scalloping, the winter ferry timetable (Vineyard Haven only, 14 crossings a day), what stays open, and how Thanksgiving week works, from the holiday dinners to the Artisans Festival.

Memorial Day weekend on Martha's Vineyard, explained: the Friday March to the Sea at Owen Park, the Monday parade in Vineyard Haven, the Artisans Festival at the Grange Hall, the first Island Queen and Gay Head Light climbs, what is still closed, the prices, and a three-day plan for May 29 to 31, 2027.