Visitors flock to the island of Nantucket — just 30 miles south of Cape Cod — to enjoy fresh-catch dining, check out the old cottages along cobblestone paths, or give their wardrobe an update with the unique boutiques dotting the retail areas. Nantucket’s nautical, whaling, and fishing past also draws in admirers, with no shortage of cultural events, concerts, museums, and galleries dedicated to sharing the island’s history with visitors. During the summer months, the dune-laden beaches are just about the perfect place to sunbathe away the day, and there are over 80 miles of it to pick the best spot from. With close proximity to the mainland, this northeastern island is a charming mixture of island and Massauchssets fun.

The summer months are the busiest time to be in Nantucket, as people descend on the island to bask in the sun, shop, eat, and boat around. But it’s the months of April, May, September, and October that mark the sweet spots in Nantucket’s annual calendar: the crowds are a bit thinner and the summer weather is a bit more comfortable.

Nantucket doesn’t completely shut down for the winter — many of the local businesses, bars, and restaurants stay open through Christmas, and there are a handful of holiday festivals pre-New Year’s, making this still a good time for a Vacation rental in Nantucket. Once the new year arrives, however, be prepared for things to get pretty quiet on the island until spring.

Nantucket Whaling Museum

Though we now understand whaling to be a devastating practice that faces all kinds of international bans, it was once a major industry, literally fueling much of the economic furnace of 19th-century America. The Nantucket Whaling Museum faces this history head-on, offering a revealing and fascinating view into what was once a massive industry, and into the big, beautiful whales that once thrived in the waters around Nantucket, Cape Cod, and the northeastern Atlantic.

Nantucket Beaches

The beaches of Nantucket are unadorned, unadulterated, and unsurpassed in their stark natural beauty. The fine-grained white sands are just the right cushion for summer sunbathers, and the surrounding dunes strewn across the island have been the inspiration for more than a few landscape painters.

Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge

With origins in a land-acquisition deal that occurred in 1974, the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge remains a fixture on Nantucket, with an important mission of conservation, education, and preservation. You don’t have to be an animal lover to enjoy seeing the many raptors, deer, shorebirds, and seals that thrive here.