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Martha's Vineyard covers about 96 square miles across six towns. Here is what fills that space, and how to plan your days around it.
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Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Massachusetts, is bigger than most first-time visitors expect. These are the numbers, plus a quick look at what fills all that space. For where the island sits and how to get there, see our map and guide to where Martha’s Vineyard is.
Filmed January 2026
Martha's Vineyard covers about 96 square miles, which makes it one of the largest islands on the East Coast, though smaller than Long Island and Mount Desert Island. Roughly, those 96 square miles hold:
Ninety-six square miles leaves room for shorelines like this one with nobody on them.
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A couple of comparisons help. The Vineyard has about twice the land of Nantucket (46 square miles) and about four times the land of Manhattan (23 square miles), going by the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 figures. From West Chop at the northern tip to the cliffs at Aquinnah it runs a little over 20 miles, about an hour in the car.
Most guides, ours included, round the island to about 96 square miles. The Census Bureau’s own count of land in the six towns is a little lower, about 90 square miles, and that count also takes in Chappaquiddick and the small island of Nomans Land, which belongs to Chilmark.
What each town is like:
The boardwalk along the Oak Bluffs seawall at dusk, one of six towns on an island you can drive end to end in an hour.
| Town | Land area |
|---|---|
| Edgartown (with Chappaquiddick) | 26.8 sq mi |
| West Tisbury | 25.0 sq mi |
| Chilmark (with Nomans Land) | 19.0 sq mi |
| Oak Bluffs | 7.3 sq mi |
| Tisbury (Vineyard Haven) | 6.5 sq mi |
| Aquinnah | 5.3 sq mi |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Gazetteer files. Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven, the two ferry towns, are among the smallest, which is part of why summer feels busy down-island and roomy up-island.
Boats on a calm pond in Chilmark, 19 square miles and one of the quietest towns on the island.
The island's reputation comes from more than its size:
The island tops out at 311 feet on Peaked Hill in Chilmark, part of a reservation run by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank. From the hilltops you look out over the south shore, Nomans Land, the Aquinnah peninsula and Menemsha Bight. Dogs need a leash there from April through September.
Sunset over the rocky shore below Menemsha Hills, also in Chilmark, where the up-island hills meet Vineyard Sound.
Ninety-six square miles is small on a map and big on a bike. Where you stay decides how much of it you see without a car: the three down-island towns sit close together and the bus links them, while the up-island towns are farther apart and quieter. Our Oak Bluffs or Edgartown comparison and where to stay guide help with the choice, and visiting without a car shows how far the bus and a bike will take you.
For a rough budget, the trip cost calculator prices the ferry, lodging and meals by season. For a plan, the day-by-day planner spreads the island over your days so the drive to Aquinnah does not eat the afternoon, and the 3-day itinerary is a good starting shape.
Sunset over Vineyard Sound from West Chop, the island’s northern tip, twenty miles from the cliffs at the other end.
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. The Aquinnah Cliffs, the gingerbread cottages in Oak Bluffs and the beaches, which our beach guide ranks one by one. Each of the six towns has its own draw.
No, but it is close. At about 96 square miles by the usual count (about 90 square miles of land in the 2020 Census) it is one of the largest islands on the East Coast, though Long Island and Mount Desert Island are bigger. The coastline runs from flat sand at South Beach to the clay cliffs at Aquinnah.
It has about twice the land. The 2020 Census counts about 90 square miles of land in the Vineyard’s six towns and about 46 on Nantucket.
Peaked Hill in Chilmark, at 311 feet. The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank runs it as a reservation, with views over the south shore and Nomans Land.
Six, and they do not feel interchangeable. Edgartown is historic and upscale, Oak Bluffs is the liveliest, Vineyard Haven is the main port, West Tisbury is farm country, Chilmark is rural and quiet, and Aquinnah has the clay cliffs on Wampanoag land. Compare them on our towns page.
About 21,000 people live here year-round. On a peak summer day the population reaches about 95,000, which is why the ferries, restaurants and beaches feel so different in July than in November.
Not all of it. Ninety-six square miles and six towns are more than a day trip covers, so most day trippers pick one down-island town near the ferry and stay there. Our one-day itinerary lays out a realistic plan.
Not necessarily. There are no traffic lights anywhere, and the VTA bus connects the towns and is fare-free through June 30, 2027. Many visitors walk on the ferry and use buses and bikes. See our guide to visiting without a car.
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.
Island tip of the day Timing No. 62 of 79 New tip at midnight, island time
The Gingerbread Cottages are most atmospheric on weekday mornings when it's quiet; you can photograph them with empty lanes. Weekend afternoons feel like a tour group.
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