Buy 2 and get 3rd Free on sharing one room. Price adjusted. 5% Group Discount1. Receive 5% off when you purchase 3+ rooms on the same tour (single order only).
Highlights: Visit the Martha‘s Vineyard, Essex Steam Train Tour and Riverboat Ride, Breaker Mansion in Rhode Island. 1 night hotel accommodation. Round trip transportation and tour guide.
The tour was great fun. Helen was knowledgeable and cooperative. Even though the weather on Martha's Vineyard was not good , overall the experience was good.
Guests will be picked up in New York in the morning. Our first stop will be Essex, CT, where we will take a Essex Steam Train and Riverboat Ride. Then we will visit Newport, RI to see the Breakers Mansion.
The town of Essex sponsors an annual Groundhog Day parade. The Essex Steam Train is one of the most famous and popular Essex attractions.
This authentic steam train is made from restored 1920s railroad cars and takes passengers 12 miles at 20 miles per hour into the scenic Connecticut countryside. At the end of the ride, passengers will board a Mississippi paddle boat.
We will take a 45-minute ferry to Martha's Vineyard, MA. Here, we will take a Bus Tour and Boat Tour of the island before spending some time in the Aquinnah and Edgartown areas. After, we will return to New York City. See "Departure and Return Details" for pickup and dropoff information.
Get a unique view of this famous and historic New England island community by taking a boat ride around the island. See white-picket fences and old fishermen's homes sitting along the pristine coastline dotted with dramatic bluffs.
See the six gorgeous towns that make up Martha's Vineyard on this bus tour of the island. From the cliffs of Aquinah to the New England-charm of Tisbury, the quickest way to experience this famous spot is by road!
The highlight of this tiny, idyllic town in Martha's Vineyard is the Gay Head Cliffs, a series of colorful clay bluff leading down to the water. Visitors can climb the Gay Head lighthouse for amazing scenic views.
East Brunswick Pick-up & Drop-off, only available during May 25th- Sept 3rd. Pick-up: Shuttle bus brings passengers to Chinatown Manhattan. Drop-off: Drop off during 5/25-9/3/2019, all passengers (all tour buses) meet at Chinatown frist, and then take the shuttle bus back to East Brunswick. Since the returing time for tours vary, please be patient to wait for the shuttle. Note: East Brunswick shuttle transfer only available for this location 6:30 AM & 7:00AM pick up passengers.
How long is the Essex Train Ride?
It may take about 1hr.
I provided a review of my experience during the tour on 6/17-6/19/17 and do not see it posted. what happened to my honest review?.
This was our first trip with the tour company as I was recommended by a friend who always enjoys it . We chose the Marthas vineyard destination as it has always been a place I have wanted to visit , but never I had the time to. The trip was well organized from the pick up . Our tour guide remi was very friendly and knowledgeable and made adjustments to us as we ran into traffic . From essex , Connecticut all the way to marthas vineyard the attractions and weather was beautiful. We had a great time and would def do another trip !
Tour was good value for money. Accommodation was very good. Bus had a few seats which faced in the opposite direction of the moving bus. Unfortunately we were allocated 2 seats which faced in the opposite direction. These seats were non-reclinable with two more seats facing us separated by a small table in between. Inconvenient to passengers as it may cause nausea and motion sickness. Only these seats in the bus were non- reclinable. The tour guide said that these seats are assigned by a computer program and she didnâ€™t have the authority to change it with a younger couple or exchanged with a group/family of four. So we had to request a fellow passenger to change our seats. Suggestion to tour manager/ operator: 1. Avoid renting buses which have these reverse facing seats which are non-reclinable. 2. Just in case all your buses have such seats, allocate them only those 4 passengers who are already a group/ family. 3. Check year of birth of passengers. Allocate seats to people less than 40 years of age to the back of the bus. Those who are above 40 years of age, allocate seats in the front half to avoid giving them back-ache due to the jerks and jumps which are certainly expected on a long road trip. Rest of the itinerary was good. Tour guide explained everything well and the service was good.
This is our 3rd time touring with this company and it's addicting. Reaching multiple beautiful destination for less. The only thing is that there is no outlet in the bus to charge your phone so going to multiple destination where taking picture is necessary is not pleasant at all especially if you don't have a battery pack which happen to be the case of one of the passenger who ask me if I can share mine which I comply because her phone died the moment we reach The Breakers Mansion. Our visit to Martha's Vineyard is not enough regardless of how good you are with time management. It is a beautiful place. But of course, for the price you pay plus it is a tour for multiple destination it is understandable.
First time to book here. Its affordable. Our tour guide was Helen, speaks both chinese and english and she does engage with people making travel easier. Just read the detailed itinerary so you come prepared. I gave 5 all the way, its worth its price for me, no fuss.
Overall the trip was fun and I love it! Helen was an excellent tour guide. She was very organized about the trip. She gave a very clear instructions. The trip went well nobody was late. The weather was not very well but the trip went well. She was very knowledgeable about the area. I really recommend this trip and Helen to be your tour guide.
Due to reading in the tour options descriptions for tour sites to optional, I informed the tour guide that I only wanted the Martha's Vineyard tours. I opted out of the day two tours. I was profoundly surprised that there were no arrangements made if you were not going to do all their tours. The tour guide informed me that I would have to wait for the group to come back approximately three hours standing in the middle of a parking lot in the rain. She proceeded to go off with the rest of the group and I was left standing in the drizziling rain. I was horrified at the inconsideration and the disrespect. And to top it off, at the end of the trip, I was asked to pay an extra $16 dollars for tips. Read the fine print.
This is my 4th tour with this company and I am very happy about it. We were a group of 6 (booked for 4 and got 2 free). We had a senior and a child in the group and had no problems. The Martha's Vineyard experience was so wonderful. It is a beautiful place. I wish that we could have spent more time there. Our tour guide, Helen was very friendly and very organized. I hope though that they were clearer and stricter as some of the people in our group was very noisy that it was almost impossible to hear her spiels in English.
The tour was really nice. Our tour guide, Helen Chen made sure everyone was comfortable. It was a very relaxing tour to enjoy the weekend. The bus driver was also helpful enough to make a no-hiccup journey. The Essex steam ride was enthralling taking back to old childhood days. We were given ample time to roam by ourselves in the Martha's vineyard. Helen suggested good shops she knew. Thanks a lot for the journey!
I recommend this tour! My family and I had so much fun. I would like to thank the driver fand of course our guide her name was I believe Halen. She was amazing and very peaceful. We loved the train ride. It is so old and the ferry was amazing. The Martha's Vineyard is such a small town and Island. The place is so peaceful. The food is good too.
I traveled on May 21st. It was a great experience. The tour guide, Helen Chen made sure we had a smooth tour and took care of everyone's needs. The ferry from Martha's Vineyard got canceled, I was worried that I might get back very late to the city and it will be very tiring for next day work but she took care of the situation and we boarded the ferry from another port and we reached the city at the time given in the Itinerary. Overall a memorable Journey.
We traveled with an infant and the TakeTours team ensured we got the right seats and our travel was smooth. We opted out of the Breakers Mansion trip and instead did the cliff walk. Tour guide was accommodating of our preferences. Another nice thing the tour guide did for us, was gave us 2 hours of free time on the second day and of course everyone likes free time!
This is my first bus tour and I’m quite happy with it. The Tour guide, Suki, was a nice, cheerful Chinese lady. She was a tour guide/translator for the entire duration of the trip. I guess almost 80% of the people on the bus were Chinese, so that’s why Suki had to be the translator for them. She was nice and did explain to us the itinerary on our way there. She wasn’t that keen on gathering us every time we boarded on some type of transportation other than the bus that we were on though. I thought it would be better if she gathered us all, especially when there's a crowd of tourists in a particular place. But over all, she was good. The only thing I wasn’t really happy about this tour was the accommodation. It was really bad. I don’t mean to be picky or anything, but the lady next to me was right when she mentioned how wrong it was for the tour guide to say were staying in a "hotel" when actually they made us stay in a "motel" (Motel 6). I’m normally okay with whatever but the bathroom looked like it hasn’t been cleaned for ages. It was scary just to think of stepping on the bath tub with some kind of mold and accumulated dirt in it. The toilet wasn’t that pleasing too. My friend didn’t touch her bed/bed sheets upon seeing the sight. She was quite sure there’d be bed bugs in it. I had to put some kind of a barrier (my scarf) between my head and my pillow just to be safe. The room smelled like someone just smoked in it before we came in. There was a connecting door to the next room and we could hear the people from the other room, talking which was creepy and awkward. The pathway towards our building wasn’t event well lit. I was worried for the elders who were with us during the trip. They might trip on to something and break some bones. We stayed right across a Dunkin Donut store so that was quite comforting. Aside from that, there weren’t any other establishments around. The bus was fairly good. I guess I had enough leg room and the leg rests were helpful for someone petite like me. The air conditioning was okay. I’m not much of an AC person, so it was good. The seats were quite itchy for some reasons but it was bearable. The itinerary was different from what was posted in the website. I thought we were staying at Martha's Vineyard and do the Essex Steam train on our way back but it was the opposite. I loved the Essex Steam train ride. It was an experience that would probably take you back to the early 1900s. I was fascinated by the ride and also by the old couple dressed up in 18th century costumes. The steam boat ride along the Connecticut River was great too. Very nice views of the summer houses and the castle which was at the very top of the hill. We had lunch at the boat. They sold hot dogs, sandwiches, and pretzels. Then we went to the Breakers Mansion in Rhode Island. It was a very unforgettable experience for someone who loves the early 1900s and European houses. The Vanderbilt’s were the grandest. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside the mansion, but I saw people sneaking photos. After that we went straight to the dinner place which was a Chinese buffet. There was no other place to go since they brought us to this area where there were no other food stores around. The buffet wasn’t that great. The drinks were like diluted soda and the tea cups were quite dirty. I wish they brought us to some area where we could choose where to eat. Second day was all about Martha's Vineyard. We got there by a boat called Island Queen. It wasn’t the perfect day for sailing, so it was windy and the waves were huge, but it was a nice experience. We got off the boat and went straight to the bus tour. The tour guide/driver was Tom, a very nice white guy who was born there and stayed there for the rest of his life. We were lucky enough since President Obama was on the Island that very day. Tom showed us the area where he was staying, and told us great stories about the Island and the famous people who owned properties there. My favorite part of the tour was the Gay Head Cliffs where the lighthouse was situated. I love lighthouses and the view was spectacular. It was a short time but was great. We went back to downtown Oak Bluffs and had lunch there. We ate at Island Bar and Grille per our tour guide's recommendation. I'd say i'd give it a 2.5/5 stars. There were many other restaurants around and I regret not going around first to look for better food places. There’s a lot of tourists around, and I'd say the time of our stay in the island was too short but it was okay. We were back in Cape Cod by 3:00PM and went straight back home. Actually stopped in one service area in Connecticut and arrived in the city around 9:00PM. Overall, I'd recommend the tour since I loved the itinerary, but the accommodation must be improved.
It is my third bus tour with this tour company and I am never disappointed! Alicia, our tour guide, and Mike, our bus driver, were both very pleasing and accommodating. Not only our travel was smooth, but when my boyfriend lost his phone while we were on Martha's Vineyard, Alicia was so quick to help us. She's very friendly, too! Thank you so much for allowing us to enjoy our 2-day trip! This will definitely NOT by our last tour with them because we'll take every single trip offered by this company!
This is my second time going on a tour with TakeTours and I am very happy with them, only in this 2 Days Martha's Vineyard tour, we were with one tour company, which is great, while our first to Montreal and Quebec was a different tour company. Both tour groups did excellent jobs. I would like to give credit to Helen, our tour guide in this weekend tour. She tried to accommodate every passenger and answered all my questions. I highly recommend this tour, and if I go back and do this all over, I would eliminate the 1 1/2 hours bus tour at Martha's Vineyard. Once is enough to drive through the 6 small towns at The Vineyard. I could now use that hours to spend more time in town, or go to the nearest beach. I loved the tour to the Breakers Mansion. The Essex Train and, Steamboat rides were awesome. The train was in the 1920's, even the conductor and the newspaper guy all dressed up in the 20's, and the newspaper news for in that 1920's time as well. This is one tour everyone has to take if given a chance. The hotel was good for a Days Inn, was very clean and next to McDonald's if you need some fast food. The bus was also very clean, and the following day, it smelled so fresh. I would love to do another tour- hopefully Helen can be our guide again, although this time at Shenandoah.
This was a wonderful trip, and I highly recommend this tour to anyone who enjoys nature.
love this tour. tour guide name's sunny is very nice.
The trip to Martha's Vineyard with LL Tours was a special experience. Our tour guide, Danny, was so accommodating and took care of all our needs. Transportation, hotel, food, and sightseeing were commendable. My friend and I could not have asked anything more. Danny even showed us how to get to our subway destination in Manhattan. He was so cheerful along the way and made our trip so enjoyable. Definitely, we will tour with LL Tours again.
The first day schedule (Essex steam train & cruise and Breaker's Mansion in Newport) was great. But on Second day, after going all the way to Martha's vineyard, cant really enjoy the place. The 2 hours bus tour going around Martha's vineyard is a waste of time. Instead could have roamed around the place for half an hour or 45 minutes around the place, could have shown a good beach and ask people to spend the time in beach.
If you want to experience the surroundings of the rich and famous, this is the trip. The passengers on the bus are friendly, the tour guide is very informative, and the accomondations are great.