How to get to Nantucket

Nantucket is fifty miles off the Cape Cod coast in the Nantucket Sound. Since it's an island - you can't drive there.

That means there's two ways in: ferry and plane.

Nantucket by plane:
Wealthy residents typically choose to take their private planes to Nantucket.

For the rest of us, daily flights exist from Boston-Logan (LGA), Providence (PRO), La Guardia (LGA), Philadelphia, Hyannis(in MA), and New Bedford (in MA).

Two airlines serve Nantucket: Cape Air and Continental's Express Jet.

New Bedford (Yahoo map link here) is a very common port of exit. Typical mid-summer airfare for a week trip to Nantucket from New Bedford is $161 on Cape Air.

You can click here to do your own search on Expedia.

To Nantucket by Ferry:

Nantucket is served by two ferry companies: Hy-Line Ferry and The Steamship Authority.

Hyline is a pedestrian-only ferry and has 6 daily trips between Hyannis, MA (Yahoo map link here. Typical round-trip fare is about $30 per person. Bring a bike and it will run you an additional $5. The trip takes about 1 hour.

The Steamship Authority takes pedestrians and cars to Nantucket. During the high season (summer) it's difficult to make a car reservation. Luckily, you don't really need a car on Nantucket - you can use a bike or rent a car (more below).

The Steamship Authority is about $40 roundtrip for the high speed ferry and $28 round trip for the normal Ferry. Bikes are $6 extra. High speed ferry takes about an hour and runs five times per day.

Getting around Nantucket
Most visitors get around fine using a bike. For an extra $5, you can bring your bike along. Other visitors choose to rent a car.

Nantucket is a pretty big island, to explore it all you may need a car. However, bike paths run all over the island and give access to its best beaches.

Young's Bike Shop rents cars and bikes:
www.youngsbicycleshop.com
508-228-1151

Map
Yahoo has a great map of Nantuckett and Google has a great satelite view map of Nantucket as well.