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The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Friday, March 12, 2021

Best Way to Experience Nantucket for a First-Timer?

 

Question for the community:

From the time of our engagement to summer 2020,our family has spent a week on Block Island. However, my wife and daughter have convinced me to spent a week on Nantucket. What be the best way to experience Nantucket for a first-timer? 

Thank you.

 

22 comments:

  1. Go during the shoulder season - aka local's summer. Everything is still open, but the crowds have thinned considerably.

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  2. Oh! That was on my list of places to go. I would be a first-timer as well. How long of a stay would be sufficient? I was thinking 4-6 days and I would look to go in September after Labor Day.

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  3. You’re on the right track.

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  4. Just relax and enjoy the island. I think it's best to visit without an agenda - just go with the flow! It's more relaxing that way, too.

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  5. Nantucket is sweet. The ag scene on the Vineyard adds a certain joie de l’été (and don’t miss the Katama bivalves). Try and visit both places. Each has their own vibe.

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  6. I agree with the comments above. Nantucket is a small enough island that you don't really need an agenda; you can simply play the 'flâneur' or rent a bicycle to go further afield. It was where I spent my honeymoon and was one of my favourite places to holiday in when I lived in NYC eons ago.

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  7. I suggest you read as many travel guides and websites as you can before you go so that you can target your time and attention. Beach person? Shopper? Foodie? Cyclist or hiker? Fisherman? ACK offers all that in stunningly beautiful environs.

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  8. Nantucket is overcrowded with wannabes overpaying for everything. Stay in Block Island, or go to Maine.

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    1. Gave up going 20 years ago. Unless you belong to the golf club it’s not worth it. Still do. a weekend there with my extended family every year. But we stay away from the crowds and just go the club. Go to Maine !

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  9. Just go and enjoy all the wonderful things, people, and places that are there!

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  10. Bring cubic dollars

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  11. With the exception of last year, and maybe one or two here and there, I have been going to Nantucket annually for nearly two decades. I still recommend first timers visit the way I did back in the day, namely, a bed and breakfast on the outskirts of town, and critically, I would budget for a vehicle rental if you don't plan on bringing transportation. Yes, you could in theory get around the island on buses, but I found that to be too restrictive. Renting a Jeep or mini-cooper will accord you the freedom to explore the island and its many beaches at will, and there is much to explore. Being near town makes it easy to go to restaurants in the evening and stroll back, but renting a home somewhere further afield will work too, you'll just have to do a bit of driving from home to town and home to beach. Either way, it's a small enough plot of land that you can experience much in a week, but there's always something new and refreshing every time I visit.

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  12. Start looking now. Summer rentals are scarce this summer due to pent up demand. In the past, stayed in Madaket and liked being out there.

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    1. Rented a tiny cottage about a mile from Madaket Beach. Absolutely love that area of island.

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  13. Make sure that you visit Murray's Toggery Shop: https://www.nantucketreds.com/
    Get yourself a pair of genuine Nantucket Red pants, either long pants or shorts. They are extremely comfortable.

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  14. We had a wonderful time on Nantucket and can't wait to return. Take the ferry over to Brant Point Lighthouse. Go to the beach at Surfside. Visit the lighthouses around the island. Go to the Juice Bar. Make sure you stroll down Main Street. Eat at Cru, Straight Warf, Downeyflake, and Keepers. Go to the Whaling Museum. Take a bike ride around the island. Visit the Old Mill. I love Nantucket !

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  15. The best way to enjoy Nantucket is to avoid going.

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  16. The best way is with a lot of money! I love Nantucket, and I still go, but I always know I'm going to be going through a bunch of cash (or credit). It's a wonderful island, and I'd recommend a tour bus around the island. Don't even think of trying to buy a property unless you're the Rockefellers.

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  17. If you like surfcasting, the assorted beaches are great and social distanced. If they don't care for it, your wife and daughter can enjoy the sun and surf: https://postflybox.com/blog/2017/09/04/the-10-best-surfcasting-spots-on-nantucket/ https://newenglandboating.com/madaket-magic/

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  18. Consider going to Nantucket in September or even early October. Less population during those months than the summer which can get very crowded.

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  19. Sept and Oct golden - make sure to get out to the brewery. And then sunsets at Cisco on the south shore....

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