FIRST STOP: CAPE COD/FALMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS
We live about 5 ½ hours
(by car) from Falmouth, MA/Cape
Cod area. We left around 8:00AM with an arrival to our Bed and Breakfast around
2:30PM.
WHERE WE STAYED:
We chose to stay in Falmouth because of the close proximity to
the Ferry. Falmouth is one of many coastal towns in Cape Cod and is known for
its beaches. We found a bed & breakfast called The Frederick William House
on Airbnb .We also looked at staying at TheTreehouse Lodge in Falmouth. We also recommend
staying in Hyannis, MA which is about 40 minutes from Falmouth. There is a port
in Hyannis where you can catch the Hy-Line Cruise (more about that later). We would
suggest checking out The Harbor House if you wanted to stay in the Hyannis are.
ARRIVAL DAY: FRIDAY (DAY 1) – After arriving and
checking-in to our B&B, we took advantage of the free bike rental that came
with our stay and hopped on the bike path behind the B&B. The bed and breakfast has a bike path directly
behind it called the Shining Sea Bikeway, so we thought it would be fun to take
half a day to bike and check out the area. We rode the Bike
Path down to the Nobska Lighthouse at the southern tip of Falmouth. Directly
across from the Nobska Lighthouse is a really cute area called “Nellie’s Point” with
awesome views of the southern tip of Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard nearby. After
our scenic bike adventure to the lighthouse, we headed back to the B&B to
get ready for dinner. We decided to have dinner in Woods Hole which was about a
10-minute drive from our B&B. Woods Hole is a small harbor town on the southwest
coast Cape Cod which makes you feel as if you are living in a New England postcard.
When walking down the main street in Woods Hole, you are greeted with an
operating draw bridge, restaurants that overlook the marina, and the many
inviting retail shops. We chose to have dinner at a restaurant called Captain Kidd overlooking the
water. After dinner, we walked around the Woods Hole area which had shops, and
other restaurants (The Landfall, Quicks Hole Tavern just to name a few). We got
ice cream at a place called Candy Go Nuts which was really good…so good, we
went back the next night after we got off the Ferry! I highly recommend Cookies
& Cream or Mint Chocolate Chip 😉 After ice cream, we ventured into a nearby
neighborhood lined with cute cape cod beach houses and found a public beach access to sit
down and watch the sunset. It was a perfect ending to our first day in Cape
Cod!
Nellie’s Point, right across from the Nobska Lighthouse – great views of the islands and southern tip of Falmouth!
Nobska Lighthouse
Public Beach Access Point we found in Woods Hole to catch the sunset!
Dinner on the water at Captain Kidd. We ordered yummy Aperol Spritz drinks, Salmon & Steak!
Some of the pretty views along the bike path!
SATURDAY (DAY 2) – MARTHA’S VINEYARD – GETTING THERE
The Ferry for Martha’s Vineyard leaves from Woods Hole
(where we had dinner the night before). There is no parking down at the port in
Woods Hole, so you need to park in the Steamship Authority’s (Ferry) parking
lot and shuttle down to Woods Hole. Conveniently, our B&B was half a mile
from the Palmer Ave shuttle parking lot so all we had to do was get on the Shining
Sea walking/bike path behind our B&B and walk down to the shuttle. The
shuttle is free, you don’t need to park there just to take the shuttle. It is
recommended that you take the shuttle at least 30 minutes prior to your ferry
time so you can have enough time to arrive and buy tickets. Passenger tickets
are not available to purchase ahead of time, so you just purchase them at the
ticket office before you get on the Ferry. The cost of the ticket was $8.50 (one-way)
each and the Ferry ride takes about 45 minutes. We took the 10:45 am Ferry from
Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven – Martha’s Vineyard.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE STEAMSHIP AUTHORITY FERRY
FROM WOODS HOLE TO VINEYARD HAVEN, MARTHA’S VINEYARD.
As we previously mentioned, there is no parking available at
the port in Woods Hole. There are a few small lots close to the port but they
strictly say “not for ferry passengers.” Parking is only available at the Steamship
Authority’s three off site locations. The following locations also have free
shuttle service to and from the Woods Hole Port:
1.
Palmer Avenue Lot – Lot 286 Palmer Ave,
Falmouth, MA 02540
2.
Thomas B. Landers – 22 Technology Park Drive
East Falmouth, MA 02536
3.
Cataumet Lot – Route 28A Cataumet, MA 02534
Also, if you wish to travel with your vehicle, you’ll need
to make advance reservations (sometimes months in advance!). It is also worth
mentioning that passengers can travel with their bikes and can purchase those tickets
same-day.
Check rates for parking here: Parking
Check ferry schedules here: Ferry Schedule
OUR ITINERARY/DAY ON MARTHA’S VINEYARD
When we arrived in Vineyard Haven, we immediately went over
to grab some bike rentals from Martha’s Vineyard All-Star Bike Rental.
All-Star Bike Rental is located a convenient ½ block from the steamship
authority’s port in Vineyard Haven. As we walked up to the shop, we saw several
different bikes available for rent. They had road bikes, cruisers, mountain bikes,
and e-bikes. Regular pedal bikes were available at a rate of $25 per day. We
chose the e-bikes at a rate of $69 each per day. The bikes were in excellent
condition and the staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. They allowed us to
ride the bikes around the parking lot to make sure we were comfortable with our
decision before venturing out. The staff provided a lock for the bikes at no
additional cost and gave us directions to the different sites of interest in
Martha’s Vineyard. We HIGHLY recommend the The e-bikes!! The e-bikes were an
excellent choice and worth every penny! It allowed us to see much more than we
could have than if we had rented traditional pedal bikes. Not to mention, the
e-bikes came in super handy when a unexpected storm popped up at the end of the
day and we had to high-tail it back to Vineyard Haven from Oaks Bluff!
Our day in Martha’s Vineyard consisted of taking the bike
path from Vineyard Haven to Oaks Bluff to Edgartown. See map below for the bike
path. Oaks Bluff and Edgartown each have their own vibe so I highly recommend
spending time in both towns!
Map of our route for the day on the e-bikes!
OAKS BLUFF
Oaks Bluff is known for a few things! One is the Flying
Horses – America’s oldest working carousel. Sadly, this was closed for the
season due to COVID so we could only see the building from the outside. The
Gingerbread houses are so neat to walk around and check-out! After checking out
the Gingerbread Houses, we walked around the pier and checked out some of the
shops and restaurants. Nancy’s and The Lookout Tavern were recommended by the
bike shop. We decided we just wanted something quick, so we grabbed sandwiches
to go from a place called Biscuits and ate our lunch on a bench facing the pier
and all the boats coming and going. It looked like some boat excursions and
tours left from the pier in Oaks Bluff if that is something you are interested
in! After lunch, we continued on the bike path to Jaws Bridge and Edgartown!
JAWS BRIDGE
Between Oaks Bluff and Edgartown is the famous “JAWS
BRIDGE”! If you aren’t familiar with it, check out this clip from the movie.
Basically, it’s the famous bridge and beach from a scene in the movie. This was so fun to see because apparently the “thing to do” is jump off the bridge into the water and swim around in this spot.
Jaws Bridge/Beach Behind me. You can see people lined up on the bridge to take the jump!
After Jaws Bridge, it was back on the e-bikes to venture into Edgartown!
Side note: Something definitely worth mentioning! If you are looking for a restroom somewhere along the bike
path, we recommend going into the Edgartown Meat & Fish Market. This market is located in
a shopping center shortly after jaws bridge when entering into Edgartown. The market had public restrooms that were easily accessible.
EDGARTOWN
Edgartown is more quiet and quaint with lots of upscale
shopping and dining! We didn’t end up eating anywhere in Edgartown, but we did
grab some yummy drinks from a small coffee shop called Toccopuro. I got an
Arnold Palmer (Iced Tea/Lemonade) and Shane got a Lemonade Bubble Tea which he
LOVED and still raves about! We basically just walked around the town and
went into some shops (I got the cutest lighthouse charm from Stark Jewelers!) before
hopping back on our e-bikes to make our way back to Vineyard Haven.
The scenic ride back to Vineyard Haven is awesome. You’ll fall in love
with all of the cute Cape Cod beach houses!! As we got
closer to town, a storm was brewing in the distance, but luckily we didn’t get caught
in any rain. I am so thankful we had the e-bikes to get us back into
town quickly.
Our bike rental was due back at 7:00 PM so we stopped in at
a few shops around Vineyard Haven. I highly recommend the store Soft As A Grape if you are looking
for a nice, quality, fairly-priced shirt to take home as a souvenir. After
turning in our bike rentals, we hung out in the town and got in line for our
Ferry departing at 7:05 from Vineyard Haven back to Woods Hole!
When we got off the Ferry in Woods Hole, we headed over to
Quicks Hole Tavern/Taqueria to grab some dinner. We both ordered the Baja
Bowls and loved it! After dinner, we headed back over to Candy Go Nuts for ice
cream!!
Day 3: NANTUCKET – GETTING THERE
Just like Martha’s Vineyard, we took a Ferry over to Nantucket.
There are a few options when taking a Ferry from Cape Cod to Nantucket. You can
take the Steamship Authority Ferry from Woods Hole again (like we did for
Martha’s Vineyard) OR you can drive 40 mins to a town called Hyannis and take the
High-line Cruise high-speed Ferry Ship to Nantucket. The Steamship
Authority Ferry from Woods Hole is a 2 hour ride versus Hi-Lines high speed
ferry from Hyannis which only takes 1 hour! We chose to drive the 40 minutes to
take the high-speed 1 hour ferry to Nantucket. If you choose to take Hi-Line’s
high speed ferry, we highly recommend purchasing your ticket ahead of time on
their website. Our
ferry from Hyannis was scheduled for 9:30 AM. We purchased parking with our Ferry
ticket ahead of time, so we parked 1 mile away from the pier and the parking
shuttle dropped us off at the Ferry. We had some time while we waited, so we
grabbed some breakfast from a little café they had on site.
OUR ITINERARY/DAY ON NANTUCKET
We arrived in Nantucket about 10:30 AM and pre-booked a
double scooter/moped rental from the Nantucket Bike Shop. The bike shop
was a few blocks from the port. They do take walk-ups but we recommend calling
and reserving a scooter rental ahead of time, especially on a weekend. The
scooter allowed us to see more of Nantucket island than we would have on
regular bikes. See map below for where we explored.
Map of our path on the moped/scooter for the day!
Brant Point Lighthouse
We started off at the famous Brant Point Lighthouse. This is
the lighthouse with the American flag on it that you can see from the Ferry
when pulling into the port. After checking out Brant Point Lighthouse, we
headed out to Cisco Beach and Cisco Brewing Company.
 |
Cisco
Cisco is a pretty popular spot and the Brewing Company seemed
to be the hot spot/must see. We did have to wait 30+ minutes to get a table. Cisco Brewers is located on a
farm and offers beer, wine & mixed drinks. Shane and I both tried a summer
beer they had on tap and grabbed some lunch from one of the food trucks they
had on premises. After we left the brewing company, we headed back over to the
beach nearby to checkout the scene.
From Cisco Beach, we headed out to Sconset Beach. We
actually liked this beach a little bit better, it was more flat (Cisco was off
a huge cliff) and was a little more quiet. It was located near a cute
neighborhood too. After Sconset Beach, we headed out to the Sankaty Head
Lighthouse.
Sankaty Lighthouse
This lighthouse is located at the easternmost point of the
island, in the village of Siasconset. It was about a 20-minute ride on the
scooter from Sconset Beach.
The Sankaty Lighthouse
After Sankaty Lighthouse, we headed back into town just
in-time to grab some ice cream from the highly recommended Juice Bar. The ice cream
and waffle cone certainly lived up to its expectations! Shortly after, we did
one final ride around town and then returned our scooter rental to the
Nantucket Bike Shop. We walked around town, checked out some shops, and grabbed
some drinks at another awesome ice cream place called Jack + Charlies. We took some time to sit along the pier and watch all the boats come and go before catching our Ferry back to
Hyannis. We took the 7:05 Ferry so we could watch the sunset on the way out. We
highly recommend doing this! It was the best spot to see the beautiful famous
sunsets in Nantucket!
View of the sunset from the ferry leaving Nantucket
Day 4: Falmouth, MA
We enjoyed our last morning at the B&B and headed back
home on our 5 ½ car ride home. All in all, we would definitely recommend this trip and we can’t wait to go back sometime in the near future!
If you enjoyed this itinerary, click here to check out our Railbiking adventure in Upstate NY and Lake George!
