We were three French friends visiting Martha’s Vineyard for a week in June. As fans of slow tourism (using public transportation to reduce CO2 emissions), we were delighted to discover the Martha’s Vineyard bus network. Awesome!

Arriving from France to New York City to Martha’s airport (sorry, nobody’s perfect), we took the bus to Aquinnah (for non-Martha’s Vineyard natives, it is a lovely remote village at the end of the Island), and we reached our destination very easily. The icing on the cake was that we could get off the bus whenever we wanted (likewise to get on), which was very convenient with our luggage. We only had to walk few meters on the dirt road to reach the house.

The following day, we went to the “big” town of Edgartown. It was also super easy. We just flagged down the driver when he arrived at our junction, and he stopped right where we were. We had to change buses halfway across the Island and take another one, but they’re connected, so you just get off the first bus and jump on the other waiting only five minutes.

It’s even easier on the way back, as you can stay on the same bus from Edgartown to Aquinnah — just one hour, which is not so bad considering it’s a 40-45 minute drive. We also went to Vineyard Haven, then to Oak Bluffs and so on — always as simple as that,

The bus schedules are very convenient, as the buses run at the same time every hour (for example, 8:10 a.m. then 9:10 a.m.). If you want to visit the Island, all the main roads, beaches and ponds are accessible by bus, and then you have to walk a bit to reach your final destination —and bus drivers are very helpful and friendly.

As a conclusion: the bus system is really easy, very handy, eco-friendly, and, last but not least in MV, it’s free!

Stephanie Rouxel, 
Thierry Bombezin and 
Christophe Mayer

France