Nantucket, Massachusetts

Nantucket is thirty miles out into the Atlantic, fourteen miles long, and for a few decades in the early 1800s it was the whaling capital of the world. What survives is an almost intact gray-shingled town that has been protected from development for a century. A charter bus to Nantucket is, in practice, a charter bus to the ferry — and understanding that early makes the rest of the planning straightforward.

Almost nobody takes a vehicle across

Nantucket restricts vehicles tightly and the ferry reflects it. Space for cars is limited and books months ahead; space for a full-size coach is scarcer still and priced accordingly. For a group visit it is almost never worth it.

The standard arrangement is a charter to Hyannis, then walking onto the ferry. The Steamship Authority's traditional boat takes a little over two hours; the high-speed catamaran does it in about an hour, and Hy-Line runs a fast ferry too. Walk-on passengers need no vehicle reservation, and Nantucket town is compact enough that a group does not need a vehicle once it arrives.

For anything beyond the town — Sankaty Head, Siasconset, the beaches — the island's shuttle system runs in season, or arrange island transport in advance. Neither requires bringing your own coach across.

What to see

• The Whaling Museum: built around a candle factory with a full sperm whale skeleton overhead. The best single explanation of why this island mattered, and worth ninety minutes.
• Brant Point Lighthouse: the small white light at the harbor entrance, and the thing every group photographs from the ferry as it comes in.
• The Old Mill, built in 1746 and still grinding corn — the oldest working windmill in the country.
• Siasconset: a village of rose-covered cottages at the eastern end, with a bluff walk along the shore. About twenty minutes from town.
• Sankaty Head Lighthouse: red-banded, on an eroding bluff, and moved bodily inland in 2007 to save it.

The town is cobbled, and it matters

Main Street is genuinely cobbled and much of the historic district has brick sidewalks that have been heaving for two hundred years. It is charming and it is hard walking. For a senior group, plan shorter distances than the map suggests and build in places to sit; for a school group it is a non-issue.

Everything worth seeing in town sits within about ten minutes of the wharf, which makes a day trip genuinely workable even on a two-hour ferry.

Which charter bus fits the mainland leg

• Forty to fifty-six: a full-size charter bus handles the run down to Hyannis from Boston, Providence or further, with an on-board restroom for what can be a slow summer drive.
• Twenty to thirty-two: a mini bus suits a smaller historical society or club and is easier around the Hyannis terminal.
• Ten to fourteen: a sprinter van works for a small corporate group or a family party.

Corporate retreats to Nantucket are a steady part of what we run in shoulder season, and our corporate travel team handles the ferry-timed transfers at both ends.