Nantucket

Beaches are the reason most people come in summer, and the island has two kinds within a short bike ride of each other. On the north side, facing the sound, Jetties and Children's Beach near town have calm, shallow water that is the warmest around the island, reaching about 22°C in August. The south shore is open Atlantic: Surfside, Cisco and Madaket have long stretches of sand, real surf, strong currents and cooler water. Madaket is where people go to watch the sunset.

The swimming season is short. The water is comfortable from July to early September, and in June the sea is still cold. Sconset's beach on the east end is quieter, and the long sandy spit at Great Point is somewhere to visit for the scenery rather than to swim.

For an island this small the restaurants are unusually ambitious in summer, because they cook for a wealthy seasonal crowd. Local oysters, bay scallops in autumn, striped bass, bluefish and lobster are the backbone, served as lobster rolls and clam shacks at the harbour or as polished New England cooking in old houses in town. There is a homegrown brewery, distillery and winery out on the road to Madaket, and the farm stands sell local corn and tomatoes in late summer.

Range is the limit. There is little street food, few cheap places, and outside the season many kitchens close. People come here to eat well on a beach vacation, not to explore a cuisine.

The island's heritage is its whaling past, and it survives in the town itself. Nantucket Town is one of the most intact early American seaports, with cobbled Main Street, Federal-style captains' houses, grey-shingled lanes and white church spires, all protected as a historic district. The Whaling Museum, in an old candle factory, is the main sight and well worth a few hours, with a complete sperm whale skeleton. The Oldest House, the African Meeting House and the Old Mill add smaller stops.

Out east, Siasconset is a village of tiny rose-covered fishermen's cottages, and the lighthouses at Brant Point, Sankaty Head and Great Point are landmarks. It is a place to walk and look rather than to work through museums, and two days covers it.

Evenings centre on dinner and a drink in town. In July and August the pubs and hotel bars around the harbour and Main Street fill up, there is one long-standing dance bar out of town with live bands, and the brewery draws an afternoon crowd. There are no clubs to speak of, the bars close early by city standards, and outside summer the island goes quiet soon after dinner.

The island is low and windswept, and much of it is protected conservation land, so the open heathland, scrub oak, cranberry bogs and ponds of the interior stay undeveloped. Paved bike paths run out to Sconset, Madaket and Surfside, and cycling is the best way to see it. Sailing in the harbour, kayaking, surfcasting for bluefish and striped bass, and a trip out to Great Point and the Coatue barrier beach to see grey seals and shorebirds fill the active days.

The landscape is gentle rather than dramatic. There are no hills, and walks are short and flat. Late spring and early autumn, when the moors turn colour, are the best seasons.

Being 50km out to sea limits the options. In summer an inter-island ferry runs to Martha's Vineyard, whose harbour towns of Oak Bluffs and Edgartown make the one obvious day out. The fast ferry reaches Hyannis on Cape Cod in about an hour, and from there the Cape's villages are within reach, but once you count the crossing the day gets long. Most visitors stay on the island.

Nantucket works well for a simple summer vacation with children. Children's Beach and Jetties have calm, shallow water, a playground and lifeguards, the bike paths are flat and separate from traffic, and the town is safe and small enough for older children to have some freedom. The Whaling Museum's skeleton, a small marine science aquarium and the nature programmes on the conservation land fill a rainy day.

There is nothing built for children on a large scale, though, and the south shore surf is too rough for small swimmers. Rooms suited to families are expensive and get booked far in advance.

Once you are here, you do not need a car. The town centre is compact and walkable, though the cobbles are rough going with a pushchair. Paved bike paths run to Sconset, Madaket, Surfside and Cisco, and in summer a shuttle bus links town with the main beaches and villages. Bringing a car on the ferry is costly and parking in town is difficult, so most visitors rent bikes. Great Point needs a four-wheel-drive vehicle or a tour.

Getting to the island is the effort: about an hour by fast ferry or more than two by the slow boat from Hyannis, or a short flight from Boston or New York.

Main Street and the lanes off it are lined with preppy clothing boutiques, interiors shops, jewellers and art galleries, aimed at a well-off summer crowd. The local craft is the woven lightship basket, made on the island since the 19th century, alongside scrimshaw, nautical antiques and the faded-red trousers that have become an island emblem. It is pleasant to browse but small, with no department stores, markets or real range.

Nantucket is one of the most expensive places to spend a summer vacation in the United States. Hotel rooms and rental houses in July and August cost far more than in most major cities, restaurant meals carry island prices, and bringing a car over on the ferry adds a lot. Biking, beaches and the free bike paths are the main things that cost little. June and September cost noticeably less, but nowhere on the island is cheap.

In summer there is a small but genuine programme. Two local theatre companies put on plays, there are chamber music concerts and readings at the Atheneum library and in the churches, and bands play in a couple of bars. The town's well-known film festival in June is the one event people travel for. The rest of the year there is very little to attend.

There is no bathing culture here, and the spa offer is limited to a few hotel spas and day spas in town, with yoga classes in summer. What the island does have is calm: no traffic lights, quiet moorland roads, and the pace of a place where the day runs from the bike ride to the beach to dinner. It is a good place to slow down, but not one to choose for treatments.