A favorite summer resort for more than a century, New England's largest island (9 miles wide x 23 miles long) attracts everyone from movie stars and presidents to those seeking an idyllic private getaway. There are 6 towns on Martha's Vineyard - 3 “up-island”: Aquinnah (Gay Head), Chilmark and West Tisbury and 3 “down-island”: Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown.

Edgartown was the island's first colonial settlement and it has been the county seat since 1642. It is a museum-piece seaport preserved from the 19th century and it remains one of the country’s most charming villages. A stroll along Edgartown’s sidewalks takes visitors back in time, past stately Greek Revival, Colonial, and Federal-style houses built by prosperous whaling captains and charming churches like the Old Whaling Church. Some of these properties are owned by the island's preservation trust and are open for tours.

With over 120 miles of shoreline, Martha’s Vineyard has something for everyone – wonderful beaches, fishing, sailing/boating, hiking, biking, birding and shopping. It’s also the perfect place to get away from it all by finding a deserted beach hidden by dunes where one can have a delicious, freshly caught lobster picnic.

Most travelers to Martha’s Vineyard arrive by one of the numerous ferries, which sail from 5 Massachusetts ports: Woods Hole, Falmouth, Hyannis, New Bedford, Nantucket and seasonally from Quonset, Rhode Island. The ports at New Bedford and Woods Hole offer year round service. (Woods Hole is the only port with ferries that can carry both passengers and cars. Reservations for cars are recommended in the low season and required in the high season.) One can also reach the island via commercial aircraft such as Cape Air, which flies from Boston, Hyannis, Nantucket, New Bedford, and Providence. They have interline baggage agreements for joint ticketing and interline baggage handling for connecting flights with most major airlines. In the summer season, additional carriers often add routes with limited service from other regional airports.