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The complete guide to Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard's oldest town. Whaling history, the lighthouse, fine dining, South Beach, and the Chappy Ferry.
Edgartown is Martha's Vineyard's dressed-up town: whaling money built it, the white clapboard captains' houses still line the streets, and the waterfront keeps its luxury quiet. Founded by English colonists in 1642 on land the Wampanoag had lived on for millennia, it's the island's oldest English town, its county seat, and the place where Vineyard Vines was born and Jaws was filmed. It suits people who want good restaurants, quiet walks along the harbor, and old streets to wander.
Brick, shingle, shutters and hydrangeas behind a white picket fence.
Filmed July 2021The island moves on: shops, signs and prices may differ from what you see here. The text of this guide was checked October 2026.
What changed in 2026
A 502-foot breach opened at Norton Point on January 1, 2026, cutting the sand connection between Katama and Chappaquiddick. The Chappy Ferry is once again the only way across, likely for the whole year. Wasque Reservation closed briefly in early spring for pine-beetle tree removal and has reopened for the season, with a long-closed vehicle trail between Wasque and Leland Beach restored in August. Also this year: all VTA buses remain fare-free through June 30, 2027, the Chappy Ferry is $17 round-trip for a car and driver (paid in cash or by island check; the ferry takes no cards), and the 'Round-the-Island Race is back in July after several years with a June date.
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Edgartown is at the eastern end of Martha's Vineyard. With a year-round population of roughly 5,200 residents, it's a small town that fills up fast when the summer crowd arrives. Where Oak Bluffs is gingerbread cottages and live music bars, Edgartown is the composed, preppy one. You can see it on every block: polished white Federal-style homes with black shutters, boutiques carrying Lilly Pulitzer and J. McLaughlin, fine-dining restaurants tucked into sea captain's houses.
Edgartown is quieter at night than Oak Bluffs, though there's more going on than its reputation suggests. It isn't a dry town (only Chilmark is), and in summer a few places near the harbor end of Main Street keep going after 10 PM. The Back Bar at the Wharf Pub has DJs and bands on Friday and Saturday nights and karaoke on Thursdays and Sundays, the Atlantic brings in DJs on summer Fridays and Saturdays, and the Port Hunter has booked live music on summer weekends. Over on North Water Street, Rockfish keeps two bars open until 12:30 AM, and Alchemy throws a DJ party night now and then. It adds up to a handful of places, and most of the music stops when the season ends. Plenty of evenings here still go to sunset drinks on a harbor deck and a long dinner, which suits the couples, families, old-house fans and sailors the town draws. If you're choosing between the two towns, Oak Bluffs has more bars and more going on late; Edgartown has the history, the architecture, many of the island's best restaurants and a few late spots of its own. Our nightlife guide has the details.
Edgartown Harbor and the wharf.
Edgartown's English story begins in 1642, when Reverend Thomas Mayhew Jr. led families to the Wampanoag harbor they renamed Great Harbor. It became one of Martha's Vineyard's two original incorporated towns in 1671, renamed "Edgar Towne" after Edgar, the young son of James, Duke of York, who had died just one month earlier, though news hadn't yet crossed the Atlantic.
Whaling made the town rich. Deep-sea whaling peaked between the 1820s and 1850s, and Edgartown became a center of maritime wealth. The Vineyard Gazette noted that during this era, Martha's Vineyard supplied more whaling captains and whalemen in proportion to its population than any locality on earth.
That money built North Water Street, a long row of grand captains' homes that still stands. Local accounts put more than 100 whaling captains' homes in Edgartown, many built in a single boom decade between 1835 and 1845. Captain Valentine Pease, whose Greek Revival house still stands, captained the Acushnet (the ship on which 21-year-old Herman Melville sailed in 1841) and is widely believed to have inspired Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick.
Whaling collapsed after petroleum was discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859, making kerosene far cheaper than whale oil. Tourism slowly took its place, and in 1926 an Edgartown Yacht Club commodore bought the old whaling wharf, Osborn's Wharf, where the club stands today.
Two events made Edgartown famous in modern times: the 1969 Chappaquiddick incident, in which Senator Ted Kennedy drove off Dike Bridge on Chappaquiddick resulting in the drowning death of Mary Jo Kopechne; and the 1974 filming of Jaws, for which Edgartown doubled as the fictional town of Amity Island. Spielberg's crew shot the town hall scenes, harbor sequences, and Main Street exteriors here, though the famous "Jaws Bridge" sits on the Oak Bluffs/Edgartown town line along Beach Road.
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Bought from the federal government in 2014 for one dollar; the climb costs five.
At the end of North Water Street stands a 45-foot cast-iron lighthouse originally built in 1881 for Crane Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and relocated to Edgartown by barge in 1939 after the 1938 hurricane destroyed the original 1828 structure. The town bought it from the federal government in 2014 for one dollar. Managed by the Martha's Vineyard Museum, it opens to climbers in season, and admission is $5 for adults; children 12 and under free; the museum lists the tower as closed for the season until spring 2027. Climb the spiral staircase and you get Edgartown Harbor, Chappaquiddick, and Cape Cod in one turn. The base holds the museum's Children's Memorial, begun in 2001, with more than 1,100 granite cobblestones carved with children's names. The surrounding Lighthouse Beach is free and accessible year-round.
Edgartown Lighthouse across the marsh on an October Saturday, Chappaquiddick on the far side of the harbor.
If you only do one thing in Edgartown, make it a slow walk up North Water Street. The homes here, built during the whaling boom between roughly 1820 and 1860, span Federal and Greek Revival styles, with white clapboard exteriors, Corinthian columns, and widow's walks on the roofs. The Edgartown Village Historic District takes in these houses along with Main Street's commercial blocks and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. You don't need a ticket for any of it.
North Water Street on a summer morning, with the sign for The Coco and l’étoile hanging over the brick sidewalk and shops across the street.
Riding through the old village in October: white and shingled houses, brick sidewalks and picket fences.
A maple turning orange over a village street in Edgartown on October 10, 2026, people out walking past the white houses.
89 Main Street. An 1843 Greek Revival church built on a grand scale, designed by Frederick Baylies Jr. and built by shipwrights for Edgartown's Methodist whaling captains. Six massive columns support a 92-foot clock tower, and inside are trompe-l'œil murals, originally painted by Carl Wendte, and faithfully recreated by island artist Margot Datz after months of research, with a rare 1865 photograph as her guide. Now managed by the Vineyard Preservation Trust as a performing arts and community hall seating about 470. Most performances are ticketed.
The Carnegie Heritage Center (58 North Water Street), housed in Edgartown's 1904 Carnegie Library building, has a reading library, a heritage shop and the Vineyard Trust's Living Landmarks exhibit on island history. Its 75-minute Historic Walking Tour runs on a schedule that changes with the season (in late October 2026 it is by appointment only), and gets you inside places you otherwise only see from the sidewalk: the Old Whaling Church, the Daniel Fisher House, and the Vincent House (circa 1672), the oldest surviving residence on Martha's Vineyard, with original wattle-and-daub construction exposed in several walls. 2026 pricing is $30 for adults, $15 for youth 6–17, kids 5 and under free; private tours run $50 per person.
Renovated in 2022, Dock Street's Memorial Wharf has a free upper deck with the whole harbor in front of you. It's a good spot to watch the Chappy Ferry go back and forth and the harbor fill up on summer mornings, and it's open year-round.
Edgartown Harbor from the docks off Dock Street on a clear summer day, with Chappaquiddick across the water.
A 
B 
C A: an Edgartown fishing boat at sunset; B: the whaleboat memorial beside Memorial Wharf; C: Dock Street, the short walk that connects Main Street to the water.
Edgartown was Amity in Jaws. Half a century later the town wears it lightly, but the 1975 locations are still there if you know where to look. Edgartown Town Hall (70 Main Street) played Amity's town hall inside and out. The Amity Police Department and the Amity Gazette newspaper office were shot on South Water Street. The hardware store where Chief Brody buys sign paint stood at the corner of South Water and Main; today it's The Port Hunter restaurant at 55 Main Street. The Chappy Ferry itself appears in the film, carrying Brody and Mayor Vaughn mid-argument, and Edgartown Harbor hosted Hooper's arrival, the tiger-shark dock scene, and Mrs. Kintner's famous slap. Our complete Jaws filming locations guide maps every spot island-wide.
A hand-painted Beach Closed sign by order of Amity P.D., the town from Jaws.
2026 was the film's 51st anniversary, and the celebrations kept going after last year's fiftieth. Amity Week ran June 20–27 with screenings, trivia, and events across town, and the Martha's Vineyard Museum's "Jaws at 50" exhibit ran in 2025 (May 24 to September 7). To go deeper, the Edgartown Tour Company runs a one-hour Amity Tour of JAWS (confirm current rates when booking) with film clips played on an iPad at each location. We took the tour ourselves and would pay for it again. For souvenirs, CB Stark has Jaws charms and Soft As a Grape has Amity Island gear. And if it rains, Pirate's Puzzle runs a Jaws-themed escape room.
Boats in Edgartown Harbor, where the channel to Chappaquiddick is 527 feet across.
Chappaquiddick Island ("Chappy" to everyone) is officially part of Edgartown, separated by just 527 feet of harbor water. The On-Time Ferry departs continuously from Dock Street, carrying three cars plus pedestrians and bikes on a crossing of about 90 seconds. The usual story behind the name is that a ferry with no fixed schedule can never be late. Current 2026 fares: $5 per passenger round-trip, $17 car and driver, $8 bike and rider, $10 moped or motorcycle. The ferry takes cash or an island check, no cards. Summer hours run 6:30 AM to midnight; on the winter schedule (October 18, 2026 to May 26, 2027) it runs 6:30 AM to 10 PM, with a last window from 11 to 11:15 PM.
And in 2026, the ferry is the only way across. On January 1, 2026, a 502-foot breach opened at Norton Point, severing the sand connection between South Beach and Chappaquiddick that over-sand vehicles had used since the last breach healed in 2015. Town officials expect the cut to persist at least through the year (the previous breach took eight years to close), so driving the barrier beach to Chappy is off the table this season.
On the island itself, start with Mytoi, a quiet 14-acre Japanese-inspired garden on Dike Road with a goldfish pond, wooden bridges and a torii-style gate, managed by The Trustees of Reservations. It's open daily sunrise to sunset; admission is $10 for non-member adults May through October (children 12 and under free, basic Trustees members $5, Contributing members free) and free for everyone November through April. The parking lot holds only about 15 cars and fills fast on summer mornings; no dogs allowed. Late May and June bring the best blooms. The Trustees have held an "Illuminate Mytoi" luminary walk in December (most recently reported in 2023), so their calendar is worth a look for an off-season visit.
Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge covers roughly 516 acres along a seven-mile barrier beach running from Wasque Point past the Cape Poge Lighthouse to the Gut, wild Atlantic shoreline that birders and surf casters love. The lighthouse, first built in 1801 (the current 1893 tower was moved 500 feet inland by helicopter in 1987), can be visited on Trustees-guided tours in most seasons; availability shifts year to year, so check with the Trustees (508-693-7662) before planning around one. Norton Point Beach is owned by Dukes County and managed by the Town of Edgartown, not the Trustees; the town posts its current over-sand permit prices, and parts of the beach are roped off for nesting shorebirds in spring and summer. Since the January 2026 breach, Norton Point no longer connects to Chappaquiddick. Wasque Reservation closed briefly in late winter 2026 for pine-beetle tree removal and is open again for the season; the Trustees list current conditions online.
Away from the beaches, Chappy is flat and quiet and good for biking. There are no gas stations and no restaurants, though. The seasonal Chappy General Store (219 Chappaquiddick Road) and the adjacent Blackbird Café food truck cover snacks and coffee in summer, and Slip Away Farm sells its vegetables and flowers at a farm stand in the old Chappaquiddick Schoolhouse, open in season Wednesday to Saturday. The Chappy Community Center on Chappaquiddick Road has wifi if you need to check in with the mainland. Dike Bridge, of 1969 notoriety, is town-owned and publicly accessible. If you're walking the trails or the dunes, our tick safety guide is worth a look first; the trailheads carry tick warnings. Give it a half-day, more if the fish are biting.
Kelley Street (inside the Faraway Martha's Vineyard hotel). The building dates to 1742, which makes it one of the island's oldest. It has the original rough-hewn beams and ballast brick walls and feels like a dark old tavern. The menu runs to fish and chips, haddock chowder and lobster penne, prices are moderate by Edgartown standards, and it's open year-round. The hotel has current hours.
71 Main Street. On Main Street since 1999, with French- and Italian-leaning American cooking and what MV Magazine calls the island's best cocktails. It holds a Wine Spectator award, and entrées on the current menu run about $50–$90. Days and hours change, so check before you go.
137 Main Street. Set in a 19th-century sea captain's home, Atria is one of Edgartown's top fine-dining rooms: contemporary New England cooking at the high end of the island's price range, open for dinner Tuesday to Sunday in season (closed Mondays; the 2026 season ended October 11, and it plans to reopen in May 2027). The casual Brick Cellar Bar downstairs has burgers and live music for less.
Dusk settling over L’Etoile’s corner of Edgartown, string lights coming on over the garden.
55 Main Street. Seafood, small plates, and live music in the old hardware store that Jaws fans will recognize as Amity Hardware. It's one of the few Edgartown spots still lively late in the evening.
15 Winter Street (Nevin Square). A small room with serious cooking: inventive seasonal plates, hand-rolled pasta and a very good wine list. Open Tuesday–Saturday evenings in season; closed now for the 2026 season and back in the spring.
Nevin Square, the little brick courtyard of shops off Winter Street, with the Vintage MV wine shop open on the porch.
38 North Water Street. Reliable casual Italian with seafood paella, lobster ravioli, and friendlier prices than most Edgartown spots.
31 Dock Street (adjacent to Memorial Wharf). Casual waterfront seafood with a wraparound deck over the harbor. It's a tourist spot, and on a clear day the second-floor view is the reason to go. Seasonal.
The Seafood Shanty on Dock Street in October, with its “Roof Top Deck Open” sign and the Waterfront Dining awning.
The Seafood Shanty’s rooftop deck was full under its navy umbrellas at lunchtime on October 10, 2026.
The striped awning at Among the Flowers in Edgartown, serving crepes and omelets since 1979.
17 Mayhew Lane. A garden patio spot that made the New York Times, serving crepes, waffles, and omelets since 1979. Our pick for breakfast in town. Seasonal.
A few more worth knowing:
Espresso Love on Church Street in October, with mums, pumpkins and gourds piled around the porch.
Pumpkins stacked on a wooden rack outside the Morning Glory farm store in October, with picnic tables in the yard.
A pint and the menu on the bar, with bottles lined up on the back shelves.
A long wooden bar in Edgartown, pendant lights hanging over the counter.
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Edgartown has the island's deepest bench of upscale lodging, and the flagship is the Harbor View Hotel (131 North Water Street), a 130-plus-year-old hotel across from the lighthouse, freshly renovated, with the Bettini restaurant, a heated outdoor pool, free bikes, and a golf-cart shuttle into town. Luxury prices in season; shoulder-season rates come down a long way. The Charlotte Inn is a formal, English-manor-style Relais and Châteaux inn, while Faraway Martha's Vineyard, the old Kelley House on Kelley Street, is a younger-feeling boutique hotel with The Newes from America downstairs. Out at Katama, the Winnetu Oceanside Resort is the family pick: the closest resort to South Beach, about a 10–15 minute walk over the dunes, with its own restaurant, The Dunes.
The front garden at The Coco on North Water Street, an eight-room inn that shares its address with l’étoile.
The Harbor View Hotel on Saturday, October 10, 2026, pumpkins on the steps and guests out on the long porch.
A pair of woven elephants on the Harbor View lawn, crowned with fall flowers for October.
Downtown also has plenty of historic inns: the Hob Knob, the Edgartown Inn, the Christopher, the Ashley Inn, the Jonathan Munroe House, Vineyard Square Hotel and Suites (the old Colonial Inn), The Richard, the Edgar Hotel and The Franklin. For July, August, or the Christmas in Edgartown weekend, book months ahead: rooms and ferry car slots disappear together. If you go the rental-house route instead, you'll have plenty of company: Edgartown has more short-term rentals than any other island town, roughly 1,400 by the town's own count. Budget for the 11.7% occupancy tax (5.7% state plus the 6% local maximum, which Edgartown adopted) that gets added to both hotel and rental bills. Our island-wide where-to-stay guide compares towns and price tiers if you're still deciding.
Church Street in the off-season, the Whaling Church’s clock over the bus stop.
Shopping along Main Street, North Water Street and Dock Street is upscale and preppy-nautical, mostly independent shops with a few brand-name stores, and no souvenir T-shirt shops, quite unlike Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs.
Lower Main Street in Edgartown on October 10, 2026: The Atlantic’s yellow umbrellas on the left, a bike rental shop on the right and the plane trees turning gold.
Main Street where it meets Water Street, shoppers crossing on an October Saturday under the plane trees.
The corner of Main and North Summer Street, with an ice cream shop on the corner and benches out front.
South Beach (Katama) is the big one, an Atlantic-facing beach about a mile and a quarter long (Norton Point's 2.5 miles continue east of it), roughly four miles south of downtown, with powerful surf, free parking, and lifeguards from late June through Labor Day. No dogs at any time. Reach it by VTA bus from downtown (free in 2026) or by bike along the Katama Road path, about 15 minutes. In peak summer the lot fills early.
A steep dune face above a wide sandy beach, with the open ocean beyond it.
Joseph Sylvia State Beach stretches two miles along Nantucket Sound between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, with calm, warm water that families like; there are no lifeguards, and dogs are prohibited April 1 through August 31 and 9 AM to 5 PM in September. A paved bike path runs its full length along Beach Road, also the route with the Jaws Bridge at the midpoint. Lighthouse Beach, at the base of Edgartown Lighthouse, is a small, quiet harbor beach for calm-water swimming, sunrise walks and watching sailboats, about a 15-minute walk from downtown. Nearby Fuller Street Beach is the local kids' favorite for crab-catching, while Bend in the Road Beach along Beach Road has easy, calm swimming (no dogs at any time). Over on Chappy, East Beach and Leland Beach face the open Atlantic. See the Chappaquiddick section above for 2026 access notes, and pack tick repellent for the dune paths (our tick guide explains why). For the full island rundown, see our beach parking and access guide.
Edgartown gets the sunrise and not the sunset. The lighthouse faces east and northeast across the harbor mouth to Chappaquiddick, so the sun rises behind Chappy and lights the tower first, with nobody on the path at that hour. Lighthouse Beach below it is the place to stand; in June the sun is up just after five, in October closer to seven. Times for every month and the other east-facing spots are in our sunrise section.
Edgartown Lighthouse in the blue hour with its lamp lit. The tower faces east across the harbor mouth, so the sun comes up behind Chappaquiddick and lights it first.
Edgartown is the island's busiest fishing town. Charter captains leave the harbor chasing stripers, blues, bonito, and false albacore from Katama Bay out to the Cape Poge rips, water that surf casters know well too. Kayak and paddleboard rentals put you on the flat water of Katama Bay and Sengekontacket Pond, and sailing charters run daily from the town wharves in season. Recreational shellfish permits for family clamming are sold through the town. Every September the town is home base for the MV Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby (details below).
Derby headquarters on Dock Street during the 81st Derby, with Edgartown harbor and its boats behind.
A fishing boat with Edgartown, MA lettered on the stern, tied up in the harbor on a summer day.
Edgartown's public courts are the town courts on Robinson Road (47 Robinson Road), behind the Edgartown School with parking off the road, run by the Edgartown Parks Department, (508) 627-6145. The town began renovating the Robinson Road Recreation Area when school let out in June 2026 and expects the work to take 10 to 12 months, so a call before you drive over with a racket saves a trip; the other reliable public option is Niantic Park in Oak Bluffs, first come, first served.
The Edgartown Board of Trade's celebration of the 51st anniversary of Jaws, with island-wide screenings, trivia nights, and events. The MV Museum’s Jaws at 50 exhibit ran in 2025 (May 24 to September 7) and has closed.
Bagpipers in the Edgartown Fourth of July parade, which steps off at five.
The annual parade marches down Main Street beginning at 5 PM, followed by fireworks over the harbor at dusk. Rooms for that weekend go months ahead, so book early.
The Edgartown Yacht Club's main event and the center of Edgartown Race Weekend: a circumnavigation of Martha's Vineyard of about 55 miles, first sailed in 1938 and held every year since except during World War II. After several years with a June date (it moved there in 2022), the race returns to July in 2026. (Don't confuse it with the separate Vineyard Cup, July 10–12; that regatta is run by Sail MV out of Vineyard Haven.)
One of America's oldest and largest fishing tournaments, now in its 81st year, with daily weigh-ins at Dock Street (8–10 AM and 7–9 PM). It draws about 3,000 anglers a year (3,034 in 2026) from across the East Coast.
An off-season weekend much of the island turns out for, now in its 45th year. A lighthouse lighting to open the weekend (the Board of Trade posts the exact night), a Saturday parade with Santa arriving by antique firetruck, carriage rides, carolers, and over 100 events across four days.
For a quick overview of the town including accommodation tips and FAQs, see our Edgartown town guide.
The bike path is the easy way in from Vineyard Haven; here is the whole ride on an e-bike, in 4K.
Filmed October 2026
There is no year-round direct ferry to Edgartown. The Steamship Authority serves Vineyard Haven (year-round) and Oak Bluffs (May–October) from Woods Hole. In summer, the Falmouth–Edgartown Ferry "Pied Piper" runs direct passenger service from Falmouth Harbor to Memorial Wharf, a 45-minute ride. Its 2026 season ended with Labor Day weekend, so plan on it again next summer. 2026 fares were $35–$45 one-way ($70–$90 round-trip) depending on the day, children $15 to $25 one-way depending on the day, bikes $10. Valet parking ($45 a day) is available at 278 Scranton Avenue in Falmouth. Additional seasonal ferries from Hyannis, New Bedford, and Falmouth arrive at Oak Bluffs.
The Pied Piper, the Falmouth to Edgartown ferry: the only boat that lands you in Edgartown itself, straight from Falmouth harbor.
From Oak Bluffs, the VTA Route 13 bus reaches Edgartown in roughly 15 minutes. In 2026, all VTA rides are free under a state-funded fare-free program funded through June 30, 2027. Alternatively, the paved bike path along Beach Road covers about five to six miles between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, a favorite ride that runs right along Nantucket Sound with the Jaws Bridge roughly halfway. In town, R.W. Cutler (1 Main Street) and Wheel Happy rent bikes by the day. If you'd rather not wait for a bus, taxis cover the whole island. All Island Taxi (508-693-2929) and Adam Cab (508-627-4462) are reliable, and Uber and Lyft operate here too, though cars get scarce at peak times.
The Dukes County Jail on Main Street, the white clapboard building behind the picket fence, with Cannonball Park a short walk away. The signs at the corner point left for Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven and right for Edgartown center and Chappaquiddick.
Parking in downtown Edgartown is very limited in summer, and the time limits and overnight rules are posted on the street signs. The easy answer is the free Park and Ride at "The Triangle" on Upper Main Street with a shuttle into downtown (confirm current shuttle hours with the VTA). You can also leave the car at home: with a compact, walkable center, the free VTA and the bike path, Edgartown is easy to get around without one.
Know Before You Go
Public restrooms at the Visitor Center on Church Street (open seasonally); there are none at Memorial Wharf.
The full-size Stop and Shop is at the Triangle on Upper Main; Morning Glory Farm a short hop further for produce and prepared food. Banks and ATMs cluster on Main Street.
The Edgartown Public Library (26 West Tisbury Road): quiet, with free Wi-Fi, open 10 AM to 5 PM Monday and Thursday to Saturday and until 6 PM on Tuesday and Wednesday. All six town libraries are in our libraries guide.
The nearest ER is Martha’s Vineyard Hospital in Oak Bluffs, about 15 minutes away.
Public charging at the Park and Ride on Dark Woods Road (four Level 2 ports, on the bus line) and two DC fast ports at the VTA headquarters on A Street; chargers are scarce island-wide, so top up when you can.
South Beach and Bend in the Road are no-dog at all times; State Beach bans them April through August, and during the day (9 AM to 5 PM) in September.
Trails, dunes or tall grass anywhere on the island? Our tick safety guide takes five minutes to read first.
Lighthouse hours, ferry schedules, tour prices, and restaurant opening dates change seasonally. Most figures in this guide were checked in July 2026, and some have shifted with the season since, so a quick check before you plan around one is worth it. Start with mvmuseum.org (lighthouse), chappyferry.com (Chappy Ferry), and steamshipauthority.com (island ferries).
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Gay Head Lighthouse keeps seasonal hours: roughly 10 AM–4 PM daily in summer, fewer days in the fall, with special sunset evenings. $6 admission. Check gayheadlight.org before the drive up.
Where Martha's Vineyard is, with our own maps: an island in Dukes County, Massachusetts, under four miles across Vineyard Sound from Woods Hole on Cape Cod, 75 miles from Boston and 70 from Providence by road. How big it is, the six towns, up-island and down-island, every way to get there and where the name comes from.
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.
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