Boston to Martha's Vineyard: Bus, Ferry & Cost
by Kaitlin Cabaniss
Martha’s Vineyard has no bridge, so every trip from Boston ends on a boat. And you don’t need a car for any of it. A Peter Pan bus from South Station drops you at the ferry, and the cheapest boat over costs $11. The ferries leave from Cape Cod and New Bedford, so from Boston the trip comes in two pieces.
Below, we price every way over end to end for 2026: the bus or train to the ferry town, plus the ferry. Bus “from” fares are live from Wanderu’s route data. Ferry, train and car-ferry prices are the operators’ published 2026 fares, checked October 2026.
The short answer
Take a Peter Pan bus from South Station, Gate 33, to Woods Hole. Then take the Steamship Authority ferry to Vineyard Haven. The bus takes about 2 hours and stops at the ferry terminal. The boat takes 45 minutes. Wanderu sells those buses as Boston to Falmouth, and tickets run about $38 (the live “from” fares below are the cheapest seats; most travelers paid about $38 per ticket over the past year). Add the $11 adult ferry fare and budget about $50 each way. Both run year-round, and you won’t need a car on either end.
Every way from Boston to Martha’s Vineyard, compared
Costs are one way for one adult. The bus half is the cheapest fare recently available on Wanderu for that route, so what you pay depends on the day and time you pick.
| Way | Travel time | Cost one way | Season | Car-free |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bus to Woods Hole + Steamship Authority | About 2 hr bus + 45 min ferry | Bus from $28 + $11 ferry | Year-round | Yes |
| Bus to Falmouth + Island Queen | About 1 hr 45 min bus + 2-mile taxi or walk + 35 min ferry | Bus from $28 + $20 ferry + taxi | Memorial Day weekend to Columbus Day (2026 season runs through Oct 12) | Yes |
| Bus to Falmouth + Falmouth-Edgartown Ferry | About 1 hr 45 min bus + 2-mile taxi or walk + 45 min ferry | Bus from $28 + $35 to $45 ferry + taxi | Seasonal (dates on its site) | Yes |
| Bus to Hyannis + Hy-Line | About 1 hr 25 min bus + 1 hr ferry | Bus from $29 + $42 ferry | May to October | Yes |
| Bus to New Bedford + Seastreak | About 1 hr 40 min bus + 50 min ferry | Bus from $9 + $49 ferry | Mid-April to mid-October | Yes |
| CapeFLYER train + ferry | About 2 hr 30 min train to Hyannis + ferry | $22 train + ferry | Fri to Sun, Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day (2026 season ended Sept 7) | Yes |
| Drive + Steamship Authority car ferry | Drive to Woods Hole + 45 min ferry | $73.50 to $168 per car + $11 per adult | Year-round | No |
| Fly from Logan | Not covered here | Not priced here | Check the airline | Yes |
Taking the bus to the ferry, step by step
Every bus Wanderu sold on these routes between October 2025 and October 2026 was Peter Pan. The buses all leave South Station (700 Atlantic Avenue), and the gate tells you which ferry you’re headed for:
- Gate 33: Woods Hole, Bourne and Falmouth. The bus for the Steamship Authority out of Woods Hole, and for the Island Queen and the Edgartown ferry out of Falmouth. Wanderu sells them as Boston to Falmouth, and tickets cost about $38. The ride takes about 1 hour 45 minutes to Falmouth and a little longer to Woods Hole, where the bus stops at the ferry terminal. The Falmouth stop is on Depot Avenue, about 2 miles by road from the Island Queen and Edgartown ferry docks in Falmouth Harbor. Plan on a taxi or a 40-minute walk.
- Gate 34: Hyannis, Sagamore, Barnstable and Provincetown. The bus for Hy-Line out of Hyannis, though Wanderu lists the stop as Barnstable. Tickets cost about $35, and the ride takes about 1 hour 25 minutes.
- Gate 32: New Bedford, Fall River and Providence. The bus for Seastreak’s New Bedford boat. The cheapest of the three, at about $13, and about 1 hour 40 minutes.
- Boston to Falmouth buses (for Woods Hole)from $28
- Boston to Hyannis (Barnstable) busesfrom $29
- Boston to New Bedford busesfrom $9
Match your bus stop to your dock. Wanderu lists the Gate 33 buses as Boston to Falmouth, so check the arrival stop on your ticket before you book. For the Steamship Authority you want Woods Hole, where the bus stops at the terminal. For the Island Queen and the Edgartown ferry it’s Falmouth, then about 2 miles to the harbor. Our guide to reading a Peter Pan ticket shows where the stop names are.
Leave a cushion. The Steamship Authority says outright that bus-to-ferry connections aren’t guaranteed, so don’t pick the boat that leaves a few minutes after your bus is due.
You don’t need to book weeks out. More than half of the Boston-to-Falmouth tickets sold on Wanderu between October 2025 and October 2026 were booked the day before or the day of travel. They cost about the same as tickets bought two weeks ahead ($37 against $38 at the median). Summer’s the crush, though. About three in five of those tickets were in June, July or August.
Landing at Logan first? Our guide to the buses at Logan Airport covers getting from the terminals into town.
The ferries to Martha’s Vineyard
Five ferry companies land in three different towns on the island. Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs and Edgartown aren’t stops on one dock, so pick the boat by where you’re staying.
Island Queen: Falmouth to Oak Bluffs
At 35 minutes this is the quickest crossing, and it doesn’t take cars. An adult ticket is $20 one way or $30 round trip in 2026, $14 or $18 for kids 5 to 12, and $4 each way for a bike. Ticket windows are open from Memorial Day weekend through Columbus Day, and the 2026 season runs through October 12. Driving to Falmouth? The lot is about 200 yards from the dock and takes cash only.
Falmouth-Edgartown Ferry: Falmouth to Edgartown
The only boat here that lands in Edgartown, at Memorial Wharf, after 45 minutes. The 2026 adult fare is $35 Monday to Wednesday and $45 Thursday to Sunday one way ($70 or $90 round trip), and $15 or $25 for a child. Bikes are $10, pets ride free, and valet parking in Falmouth is $45 a day. It doesn’t run all year, so check the season dates on its site.
Hy-Line Cruises: Hyannis to Oak Bluffs
Hyannis is where the Gate 34 bus and the CapeFLYER both end up, and Hy-Line’s Oak Bluffs boat leaves from there. It runs May to October, takes about an hour, doesn’t carry cars, and lists an adult fare of $42 one way or $80 round trip (checked October 2026). Its dock on Ocean Street is about half a mile from the Hyannis Transportation Center.
Seastreak: New Bedford (and New York) to the Vineyard
Seastreak runs from New Bedford’s State Pier to the island from mid-April to mid-October; in 2026 the 2026 season runs April 16 through October 12. The crossing takes about 50 minutes and an adult ticket is $49 one way, $84 round trip, or $55 for a same-day round trip. As of September 20, 2026, its boats land in Vineyard Haven. The bus to New Bedford is the cheapest of the three from Boston. Add the ferry, though, and the trip comes to about $62 each way, more than going through Woods Hole.
Seastreak also runs a few summer-weekend boats from New York City and New Jersey (in 2026, between late May and early September).
The CapeFLYER train
The MBTA’s CapeFLYER runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday from South Station to Hyannis from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day; in 2026 that was May 22 to September 7. It takes about 2 and a half hours, costs $22 one way or $40 round trip, and carries bikes and pets free. Shuttles meet it for the island ferries at Bourne and Hyannis. On summer Saturdays and Sundays the 7:50 am train makes a day trip possible, with free shuttles from Bourne to the Island Queen and Woods Hole ferries. The Friday train leaves at 5:22 pm, which suits a weekend away.
Driving, and the one-line answer on flying
To bring a car, it’s the Steamship Authority. In 2026 a car under 17 feet costs $73.50 one way from January to March and $115.50 from April to May 14. From May 15 to September 14 it’s $127 Monday to Thursday or $168 Friday to Sunday. It’s $127 from September 15 to October 31 and $79 in November and December. Each adult still pays the $11 fare on top. Unless you need the car on the island, park on the mainland and walk on. It’s cheaper.
Flying from Logan to the island’s airport is the other option. Wanderu doesn’t sell it, so it isn’t priced here.
Day trip or overnight?
A day trip works year-round on the Woods Hole route, the only one that runs all winter. Here’s the shape of it:
- Morning: a Gate 33 bus from South Station to Woods Hole, about 2 hours.
- Crossing: the Steamship Authority to Vineyard Haven, 45 minutes.
- On the island: the VTA bus to Oak Bluffs or Edgartown, or a bike off the boat.
- Afternoon: the ferry back to Woods Hole, then the bus to Boston. Look up the last boat and the last bus before you leave in the morning, not on the dock at five.
That’s about five and a half hours of travel for the round trip, and about $100 at typical fares. If that sounds like a lot of bus for a few hours of beach, stay the night. Our list of beaches you can reach by bus has more on the island’s shoreline, and the rest of our day-trip picks are shorter rides.
Staying over is also where leaving the car pays off most. In peak summer 2026, a Friday crossing with a car costs $168 one way; on foot, it’s $11.
Going after Columbus Day? The Island Queen’s 2026 season runs through October 12, and Seastreak’s New Bedford boat sails through the same day. The Steamship Authority keeps running from Woods Hole all winter.
Getting around the island without a car
The island’s VTA buses link the ferry towns, and the VTA’s 2026 timetable shows island buses were fare-free from January through September 2026 under a state grant. Check vineyardtransit.com for current fares, and carry a little cash or a card in case they are back.
Bikes are the other easy answer. The Woods Hole and Falmouth boats carry them for $5.25 on the Steamship Authority, $4 on the Island Queen and $10 on the Edgartown ferry. And pick the boat that lands where you’re staying, so the first thing you do on the island isn’t a transfer.
Not starting in Boston?
New York to Falmouth is the busiest of the other bus routes Wanderu sells into the ferry towns, at a typical $53 between October 2025 and October 2026 (the live “from” fares below are the cheapest seats). Providence has buses to Falmouth too, and New York to New Bedford lines up with Seastreak’s boat.
- New York to Falmouth busesfrom $41
- New York to New Bedford busesfrom $44
- Providence to Falmouth busesfrom $24
Staying on the mainland instead? Our guide to getting to Cape Cod from Boston covers Hyannis, Provincetown and the rest of the Cape.
Frequently asked questions
How far is Martha's Vineyard from Boston?
About 2 hours 45 minutes of travel without a car. The Peter Pan bus from South Station to the ferry terminal at Woods Hole takes about 2 hours, and the Steamship Authority ferry to Vineyard Haven takes 45 minutes. Add whatever time you spend waiting at the dock.
Is there a ferry from Boston to Martha's Vineyard?
No. None of the 2026 ferry schedules we checked leave from Boston. The boats to the island leave from Woods Hole, Falmouth, Hyannis and New Bedford, plus a handful of summer-weekend Seastreak sailings from New York and New Jersey. From Boston, you take a bus or the CapeFLYER train to one of those ports first.
How much does it cost to get from Boston to Martha's Vineyard?
About $50 each way without a car. Boston to Falmouth tickets cost about $38 per traveler on Wanderu between October 2025 and October 2026, on the same Gate 33 buses that run on to Woods Hole. The Steamship Authority ferry is $11 for an adult. Bringing a car under 17 feet across costs $73.50 to $168 one way in 2026, depending on the month and the day, plus $11 for each adult.
What's the cheapest way from Boston to Martha's Vineyard?
The bus to Woods Hole and the Steamship Authority's $11 crossing, about $50 each way, is the cheapest year-round way we could price end to end. On summer weekends, the CapeFLYER ($22) plus the free Bourne shuttle and the $11 boat comes to about $33. The bus to New Bedford is cheaper on its own (about $13). But Seastreak's $49 ferry from there, which runs mid-April to mid-October, brings that trip to about $62.
Can you do a day trip to Martha's Vineyard from Boston?
Yes. The bus and the Steamship Authority ferry both run year-round, and the trip takes about 2 hours 45 minutes each way. That's about five and a half hours of travel for the round trip. Leave Boston on a morning bus, and check the last boat and the last bus back before you go.
Do you need a car on Martha's Vineyard?
No. The island's VTA buses connect the ferry towns, and island buses were fare-free from January through September 2026 under a state grant. Check vineyardtransit.com for current fares. The Woods Hole and Falmouth ferries take bikes too.
The bus “from” prices on this page refresh from Wanderu’s route data: each is the cheapest fare recently available on that route, the same figure its route page shows. Typical fares, travel times and booking patterns are from Wanderu bus bookings between October 2025 and October 2026. Ferry, CapeFLYER and car-ferry prices are the operators’ published 2026 fares, checked October 2026.
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