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Martha's Vineyard for a week?

I've been a long time lurker here and have gotten a ton of information, but this is my first post. I'm trying to help my in-laws plan a trip to Martha's Vineyard. A family friend has offered up their vacation home for a week for free at the end of June, so the in-laws want to take full advantage of it. It looks like it's located between West Tisbury and Chilmark...kinda in the middle of nowhere.

I guess my primary question would be if they should rent a car or not. From a little bit of the research I've done, people seem to go either way. Although, I've read in the summer that the traffic and parking can be maddening. Any thoughts? A week may be a long time to be at the mercy of the bus and taxis. Maybe they could see how the first day or two go and take it from there?

Also, any ideas of day trips FROM Martha's Vineyard? They'll probably want to stay there every night since it's free, but if any day trips are possible to elsewhere in the cape I'm sure they'd love to do that.

in that location, in the middle of nowhere, they should rent a car. I wouldn't want to spend a whole week at the mercy of the bus and taxi's. Personally, I would only do without the car if I were staying in one of the towns, so I could walk to restaurants in the evening, and easily catch the beach shuttle.

The Vineyard is spread out, with the good stuff in the east and west and a whole lot of not much in the middle (of course this is a Nantucketer's view of the Vineyard, sort of like a New Yorker's mental map of the US in Sol Steinberg's famous cartoon).

Where is their car going to be? There are lots of daytrips they could take on the Cape since the ferry trip is so short, but it would be unaffordable to take their rental car back and forth.

If their car is retrievable in a parking lot on the Cape, I would recommend Wood's Hole, Sandwich, and the little Buzzards Bay towns in between Woods Hole and the Bourne Bridge. Provincetown or Newport are possible, though long, day trips, but they will have to leave time to be sure they catch the ferry since you have to park at a remote lot.

Since they are paying nothing -- generous friends -- for the house, they could afford to rent a car on the Cape for day trips. Budget has a desk at the Nantucket ferry terminal in Hyannis for people going back and forth from there, and Enterprise will deliver cars to you at the dock. Again, don't miss the ferry.

They should bring or rent a car. And they should visit Chilmark Chocolates and visit with the special needs staff. And they should take the car across the Chappy ferry and visit the gardens and beaches. They should check the ferry schedule between the Vineyard and Nantucket and make that their day away.

Ask their friends how close the cottage is to public transportation and if they recommend that they have a car there.

Taking a car across on the ferry also costs, but so does parking in Woods Hole. They need a reservation now if they do plan to take the car.

If they are flying over, then they could rent a car for a few days and get food, supplies to the cottage and see if they could manage without it. If they are good bicyclers, they also might opt to use them to get around, but the island is much bigger than Nantucket.

Thanks everybody. I'm thinking it will be best for them to fly to MV and then just rent a car at the airport there. The house really does look like it's in the boonies, which I imagine is part of the charm, but I'm sure they'll want to drive to shops, restaurants, etc. Maybe I'll recommend them taking the Steamship Authority car ferry to explore some other areas of the cape for a day. It's $140 or so roundtrip, but with the money they're saving on a house, it might be worth it.

Any other suggestions for things to do on MV? I'll search other topics as well. Thanks again!

With that amount of time, they will have no trouble finding things to do.

They won't quite be there in high season, but they should expect to make reservations for dinner, stand in line for breakfast, and have trouble finding parking on rainy days.

I don't know where they are coming from, but people from the south and southwest find the Cape and Islands chilly at night, and even during the day. In a week, it is likely to rain one of the days, a great excuse for board games, a good book and a bottle of wine.

I would want a car. Besides spending time in the main towns, you might visit the glass blowing studio, and see what events are happening that week at the Ag Hall in West Tisbury - they have craft fairs, farmers' markets, etc. I also agree with the recommendation to spend a day on Chappy. The Trustees of the Reservations maintain some great properties there and they offer several nature tours.

My advice would be definitely getting a car. It gets difficult sometime to count on buses and taxis. Plus taxis are way more expensive and buses run rarely. Just consider it is the middle of nowhere and you can get to feel completely isolated. Bring also snacks because again there is nothing close so you cannot go for a late snack to the store. You can arrange some daytrips and tours close by the site. I am pretty sure they can offer you different options. Bring a jacket or a good sweater for the cold. It gets chilly and windy sometimes.

Depends on what you're looking for, but I would choose Edgartown. It has a fair amount of shops and a handful of restaurants. Plenty of both for a 3 day stay. It's a little less crowded than Oak Bluffs, especially since Oak Bluffs is one of the 2 locations where the ferry arrives, full of passengers, all day. Also, Edgartown gives you the opportunity to take the Chappy ferry to Chappaquiddick for a day, for which you would want to rent bikes. You could take a short bike ride down to Wasque and rent kayaks or hit the beach.

Oak Bluffs has more shops and more restaurants, and more people coming and going on the ferry. It also has a movie theater.