Time for all the fun!
You’ve reached Nantucket and checked in - now it’s time to explore the island!
Here are some of our favorites:
Restaurants
Black Eyed Susan’s: best spot for pancakes in town
Born & Bread: great bakery & coffee shop right in town with A+ breakfast sandwiches
Cisco Brewery: fun, laid-back outdoor brewery with beers, cocktails, raw bar, and food trucks, as well as (often) live music - much more family-friendly than it sounds!
Claudette’s: relaxed breakfast and sandwich favorite for anyone in ‘Sconset
Cru: perfect for a lobster roll & rose lunch on the wharf
Downyflake: Nantucket “diner” institution with the best donuts on island
Island Kitchen: delicious brunch and lunch spot - sit outdoors if you can and don’t miss the ice cream counter
Juice Bar: best ice cream on island with handmade waffle cones - can’t miss!
Millie’s: one of our absolute favorites and the inspiration for our Coastal Mexican welcome dinner - we’re crazy about the Esther Island scallop tacos!
Provisions: our go-to sandwich spot in town - you can’t go wrong, but we love the BLT & Italian
Sandbar: casual, outdoor lunch spot at Jetties Beach perfect for sun, fish tacos, and burgers
Wicked Island Bakery: amazing croissants and morning buns that are out of this world (if they still have them!)
Our favorite things to do…
Beach time!
We love the Nantucket beaches! There’s something for everyone and several are easy to get to from town without a car. Jetties Beach has very calm surf, is super kid-friendly, and has the Sandbar restaurant right on the beach. Surfside is a 20-minute bike ride or bus ride from town, has bigger waves, and has a snack shack. You can also take a beautiful bike ride to Madaket, go to the beach, and have some wonderful Mexican food at Millie’s right next door.
In ‘Sconset…
Hilary’s family has been visiting ‘Sconset for over forty years, and Rob has loved the village since his first visit. If you’re staying in town, ‘Sconset is a fun bike ride of ~15 miles round trip. Once there, check out the ‘Sconset Market for blueberry muffins and ice cream or Claudette’s for sandwiches. You can go to the beach, ride up to red-and-white striped Sankaty Lighthouse, or walk the ‘Sconset Bluff Walk along the ocean bluff to see where Rob proposed!
In Town…
Nantucket town is full of fascinating history! Nantucket’s leading whaling industry once made it one of the most prosperous communities in the country, and there is a wealth of interesting things to learn. We highly recommend checking out the Whaling Museum, which is one of Rob’s favorite places on island (seriously!). To get out and enjoy the sunshine (fingers crossed!), there’s a great walking tour that will show you around some of the beautiful historical buildings. If you’d rather do some shopping, there’s lots of cool boutiques on island. Some of our favorites include Nantucket Looms and Atlantic for home goods, Erica Wilson for clothing and (improbably) needlepointing, and Murray’s Toggery Shop for the original Nantucket Reds! Other classic Nantucket souvenirs are the Oversand Vehicle Permit t-shirts and Nantucket Lightship Baskets. It’s a fantastic town to wander around in - we always love to walk down to the wharves, get Provisions sandwiches, and take in the scenery.
Other ideas
If you want to get out on the water, we love chartering a boat to go fishing. Just Do it Too is a great boat, but there are a lot of options! You can also rent kayaks, paddleboards, or Boston Whalers in the harbor. Cisco Brewery is a fun destination for an afternoon and runs a shuttle directly from the Visitor’s Center in town.
Getting around
We recommend renting bikes for a day - it’s such a fun way to see Nantucket! The entire island is connected by easy to use bike paths that you can use to explore. Young’s on Broad St. can get you kitted out. You can also take the WAVE bus that has several routes leaving from town and ‘Sconset to various points on island. There are lots of taxi companies on island, and there are also Ubers available (although we would allow plenty of time).