How to explore Nantucket: The charming setting for Netflix’s The Perfect Couple

Long loved by well-heeled New Yorkers, the New England island makes a picturesque backdrop for the new Nicole Kidman drama

At the risk of mangling Arthurian mythology, if you cast your eye over the lower edge of New England, you will notice a series of islands which could plausibly be described as “reverse Avalons”. Here, near the point where the relatively sheltered tides of Long Island Sound meet the wider Atlantic, is a loose grouping of outcrops (not an archipelago per se) that are anything but mist-shrouded or enigmatic. Instead, they are all-American holiday destinations, firmly inked on the map, beloved of locals and foreign tourists alike.
There are various reasons for this. One is that they are staples of the “summer vacation” season on the north-eastern shoulder of the United States – blessed with gorgeous beaches, plenty of excellent accommodation, and peak temperatures which fall into the “just right” bracket without ever really being too hot (July and August tend to offer warmth in the mid-20s Celsius). Another is a sense of history; the ghosts of the whaling industry that thrived in these harbours and waves, and linger now in museums and waterfront inns.
A third reason is that they have all, at some time, been the backdrop to successes of the small and silver screens. Block Island, part of Rhode Island, had its fame burnished by its occasional appearances as a love nest for Dominic West and Ruth Wilson’s extra-marital shenanigans in the television drama The Affair. And Martha’s Vineyard – the off-shore giant which belongs to Massachusetts – will forever be the fictional Amity Island, where sharp-toothed uber-shark in Jaws terrorised swimmers (and cinema-goers) in the 1970s.
Now it is Nantucket’s turn. Also tied to Massachusetts, this croissant-shaped outpost is enjoying a moment as the setting for The Perfect Couple, the lavish six-part body-on-the-beach whodunnit, starring Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Dakota Fanning and Eve Hewson – which is the latest hit Netflix drama.
Admittedly, much of the action was filmed at Chatham, 30 miles to the north on the Cape Cod peninsula (Summerland, the spectacular shoreline home at the heart of the story, is found here). And Nantucket – long a favoured oasis for the New York chic set – would be quick to argue that it doesn’t need a television murder-mystery to boost its already sharp profile.
All the same, if the plot has you gripped, and you are keen to learn more about a place whose name is an Algonquian word for “far away place”, here is what you need to know.
While the flight schedule tends to focus on summer (May-September), there are myriad options for arrival by air. Nine commercial airlines land on the island – at Nantucket Memorial Airport, roughly at the heart of the matter. For tourists coming from overseas, the most useful are the carriers that offer connections from major US cities. These include American Eagle – from Chicago, New York (LaGuardia), Philadelphia, Washington (National) and Charlotte (in North Carolina) – and Delta Connection, from both New York JFK and LaGuardia. JetBlue also heads across to Nantucket from these two Big Apple airports, as well as Boston and Washington (National) – while United Express offers flights from Chicago and Newark.
Nantucket can be reached by ferry, too, from ports along the New England coast. Depending on your point of departure, sailings take a little over an hour. The Steamship Authority runs boats from Hyannis. As does Hy-Line Cruises, which also offers onward connections to Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard. The Freedom Cruise Line chugs in from a different corner of Cape Cod – Harwich. And Seastreak puts in the hard miles, with ferries from New Bedford, and a summer service from Highlands in New Jersey and New York itself (the East 35th Street dock), plus a dash to Martha’s Vineyard.
The island is entirely bereft of sprawl, and what passes for urban clamour is confined to the capital (also Nantucket), midway along the north coast. Here, the Whaling Museum casts an eye back to the industry that dominated local life in the 19th century – via the huge (46ft) skeleton of a sperm whale, and items salvaged from the wreck of the Essex, a Nantucket vessel which – rammed and sent to the bottom of the Pacific by an angry cetacean in 1820 – helped to inspire Herman Melville’s 1851 novel Moby-Dick.
Outside, Main Street – which does appear on camera in The Perfect Couple – is lined with the type of gift shops and boutiques you would expect of a summer hotspot for wealthy visitors. Pageo is a high-end jewellers selling all manner of sparkle.
To see the best of Nantucket, you need to look beyond town. All three of its lighthouses – Brant Point Lighthouse, which guards the harbour; Sankaty Head Lighthouse, on the east shore; Great Point Lighthouse, at the northern tip – conjure that classic image of wind-swept maritime New England. The latter, marooned on its sandbar beyond the island’s internal bay (Head of the Harbor), is especially dramatic, although a bike ride or four-wheel-drive trip is required to reach it. Elsewhere, Surfside and Miacomet beaches, on the south coast, and 40th Pole and Dionis beaches, on the north, are more accessible.
Nantucket is not especially big (14 miles long) – and nor are its hotels. The majority deal in quiet sophistication, all pale weatherboard and white linen. The Wauwinet offers genteel luxury just beyond the village of Polpis, in the north-east (doubles from $325/£249 per night). Its sister property, the White Elephant, plays a similar five-star card in the main town (doubles from $325/£249 per night). For something simpler, the Ships Inn, just around the corner, does rooms from $425 (£325).
The island menu follows a stylish but healthy pattern, with an emphasis on quality seafood. Topper’s, the house restaurant at the Wauwinet, pushes out the proverbial boat with a seven-course tasting menu, heavy on tuna and scallops; Bar Yoshi, in Nantucket, is another fish specialist, this time dealing in sushi. For a less gourmet take on dinnertime, the Charlie Noble – also in town – serves dishes such as the unfussy New England favourite clam chowder. The Brotherhood of Thieves, meanwhile, offers tavern fun, as seen in The Perfect Couple.
While summer is inevitably the busiest season, Nantucket can be visited throughout the year (although many hotels – the Wauwinet included – are closed in the winter). Autumn certainly has its charms. The flurry and flutter of “fall” leaves for which New England is so feted is also visible on the island, flitting across the treeline at south-westerly Madaket.
It is possible to combine Nantucket with a wider tour of the region. America As You Like It (020 8742 8299; americaasyoulikeit.com) wraps it into “The Best of Plymouth, Cape Cod and The Islands” – a nine-night road-trip, from £1,295 per person (with flights). Bon Voyage (0800 316 3012; bon-voyage.co.uk) walks a comparable path with “Cape Cod, The Islands & Newport”; an eight-day group tour priced from £5,275 a head, with flights.

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