Things to do on Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard is an island off Cape Cod, reached only by ferry, mainly the year-round Steamship Authority crossing from Woods Hole (roughly 45 minutes) with seasonal summer links from Hyannis, New Bedford and Boston.

Cars can be loaded on some ferries, but you need to book that slot well ahead, and most visitors do fine without one: bike paths link the six villages, and a local shuttle covers the rest. Edgartown is polished and expensive, Oak Bluffs has rows of colour-painted Victorian gingerbread cottages, and Aquinnah ends the island at red clay cliffs.

From late spring to October the island runs at full capacity; outside that window, most restaurants, shops and inns close and ferry schedules thin out.