Town, Nantucket
West Chester Street, and why it is the address to want
West Chester Street runs west off the top of Centre Street, which puts the house inside the historic district but off the tourist grain of it. You are a few minutes on foot from Main Street and a few more from the boats — and yet the street itself is residential and quiet.
Two things make this particular stretch unusual. The first is the light corridor along the south side of the street, which is why the living room and the porch hold sun through the day. The second is the protected vegetation behind the property, which means nothing will ever be built there and the rear garden stays a sanctuary.
On foot
What you can walk to
This is the argument for renting in Town rather than out by the water. The car stays parked; nobody has to be the designated driver.
| Destination | On foot | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Main Street and the cobblestones | 5 minutes | Shops, the Pacific Club, the fountain |
| Nantucket Whaling Museum | 7 minutes | Broad Street, worth a rainy morning |
| Children’s Beach | 8 minutes | Harbour side, calm water, playground |
| Steamship Authority terminal | 10 minutes | Car and passenger ferries to Hyannis |
| Straight Wharf and Hy-Line | 12 minutes | Fast ferry, restaurants, the fish market |
| Brant Point Lighthouse | 12 minutes | The classic arrival view, best at dusk |
| Jetties Beach | 15 minutes | Lifeguards, rentals, a restaurant on the sand |
| Steps Beach | 15 minutes | Down the wooden stairs off Lincoln Avenue |
Times are walking estimates at an unhurried pace. Nantucket cobblestones are charming and genuinely uneven — bring shoes that agree with them.
By bike and car
The rest of the island
| Destination | By bike | By car |
|---|---|---|
| Surfside Beach | 20 minutes | 10 minutes |
| Cisco Beach and Cisco Brewers | 30 minutes | 12 minutes |
| Nantucket Memorial Airport (ACK) | 25 minutes | 10 minutes |
| ’Sconset village and Sankaty Head | 50 minutes | 20 minutes |
| Madaket and Madaket Beach | 40 minutes | 15 minutes |
| Great Point | — | 45 minutes, over-sand permit required |
The island bike paths are excellent and separated from traffic for most of their length. Most guests hire bicycles for the week and use the car twice.
Dinner
Restaurants inside a fifteen-minute walk
Nantucket books up. For a July or August week, make your reservations the day your rental is confirmed — not the week before you travel.
- Cru, on Straight Wharf
- Straight Wharf Restaurant
- Nautilus, Cambridge Street
- Òran Mór, Broad Street
- Ventuno, Federal Street
- Company of the Cauldron
- Black-Eyed Susan’s, India Street
- Brotherhood of Thieves
- Provisions, for the lunch sandwich
- Something Natural, for the bread
A representative list rather than an exhaustive one, and worth checking before you travel — island restaurants change.
Beaches
Which beach, and when
Steps and Jetties face north into the sound. The water is calmer and warmer, there is no real surf, and they are the right call with small children or on a windy day. Steps is the quieter of the two; Jetties has lifeguards, chair hire and a restaurant.
Surfside, Cisco and Madaket face the open Atlantic on the south and west shores. Bigger water, proper waves, and the sunset at Madaket that everybody drives out for. Cisco is where the surf school operates.
Great Point and Coatue need an over-sand vehicle permit and a four-wheel drive, which we can arrange. Worth the effort once in a week.
Planning the week?
The Nantucket guide goes deeper — which week to book, how to get here without losing a day, and what to do when it rains.