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How to Get to Nantucket, Mass. |
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Nantucket is perfect for walking and biking, so don't bring your car unless it's essential. |
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Nantucket island is 30 miles (48 km) off the coast of Cape Cod, so you must plan how to get there. By Ferry A round-trip ferry voyage for two passengers, plus the fare for bicycles, plus car parking at the mainland ferry terminal for a few days, plus taxis to and from your hotel on Nantucket, can add up to $200 or so, but taking your car on the ferry to Nantucket costs a lot more. If you need to park your car while visiting Nantucket, be sure to calculate the cost of parking for the time you will be away from the mainland. This cost may be around $15 per day in summer, less off-season. Hy-Line Cruises, Ocean Street Dock, Hyannis, MA (map; tel 508-778-0404, 508-228-3949, 800-492-8082) operates both traditional ferries (2-hour voyage) and high-speed catamaran ferries (six departures daily, 1-hour voyage) daily between Hyannis's Ocean Street docks and Nantucket's Straight Wharf. Hy-Line also operates an Inter-Island Ferry service three times daily in each direction between Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket islands from late-June to mid-September. The voyage takes 2-1/4 hours. Buy tickets at the Dockside Marina in Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard (tel 508-693-0112) and on Straight Wharf, Nantucket (tel 508-228-3949). The Steamship Authority runs the passenger ferry Flying Cloud from Hyannis's Pleasant Street Dock (map) to Nantucket five times daily from mid-May through mid-October (four times daily from mid-March to mid-May and mid-October to early January). The voyage takes one hour. The Steamship Authority also runs the only car ferries m/v Nantucket and m/v Eagle to Nantucket six times daily from Hyannis's Pleasant Street Dock. The one-way fare for a small car, driver and one passenger is over $200 (over $400 round-trip), more for a larger vehicle, and advance reservations are necessary in summer. Most visitors do not take cars to Nantucket. They rent a car, bicycle or scooter there, or use the convenient shuttle buses. More... Freedom Cruise Line (tel 508-432-8999) runs three trips daily from late June through early September to Nantucket from Saquatucket Harbor in Harwich Port on Cape Cod. They voyage takes 80 minutes. By Plane Cape Air also runs three flights daily between Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. Some flights from and to Hyannis are operated in conjunction with Nantucket Airlines. Island Airlines (tel 800-248-7779, 508-228-7575) also operates Nantucket-Hyannis flights. |
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Above, Hy-Line's
ferry Point
Gammon at Straight Wharf,
Nantucket.
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