Experience the best of Nantucket

Nantucket lies about fifty kilometres south of Cape Cod, a low island of moors, cranberry bogs and sand, with one main town. In the early nineteenth century it was among the world's greatest whaling ports, and Nantucket Town still has cobbled streets, brick pavements and grey-shingled houses built by ship captains and merchants. The Whaling Museum occupies an old candle factory on the waterfront, with a sperm whale skeleton hanging in its hall.

Siasconset, known as Sconset, is a village of rose-covered cottages on the east coast, not far from Sankaty Head Lighthouse, and Brant Point Lighthouse stands at the harbour mouth. Great Point Light marks the northern tip, and wide beaches run along the south shore. Nantucket lightship baskets, woven from cane, are a local craft, and bicycle paths cross the moors.

Bay scallops, dredged in the island's shallow harbour through the winter, are the signature dish, and chowder, lobster rolls and cranberries fill out the menus. Daffodils line the roads in April, there are festivals through the summer, and sea fog is common.