Vineyard Haven is the least picturesque of the largest towns on Martha’s Vineyard, but it has a pretty harbor.

NYT / Jodi Hilton

Martha’s Vineyard, the 100-square-mile triangle of an island off the coast of Cape Cod, has been a summer retreat for New England Brahmins since the 1800s, and has never shed its pricey and exclusive reputation.

It’s true that you have to pay for a ferry or a plane to get there; that many restaurants, inns and shops depend upon a steady flow of flush wallets; and that the cost of living on the island was nearly 60 percent higher than the national average. But the island also has relatively inexpensive dining and accommodation options and shopping bargains. And such pursuits as going to the beach and strolling through the historic towns are free.

To see how easy it is to visit the island on a budget, I made a trip over Memorial Day weekend. The bottom line? I spent less than $1,000, including transportation from New York, for three nights and four days for me, my wife, Kate, and our 7-month-old daughter, Alice. Transportation is by sea or air — see “If you go” for options from Providence. Accommodations cover a wider spectrum, from $1,000 suites to camping. If you really want to save some money, you can book a tent spot ($48) or a one-room cabin ($125, bring your own bedding and utensils) at the Martha’s Vineyard Family Campground ( www.campmvfc.com). Or Hostel International-Martha’s Vineyard ( www.usahostels.org), where dorm beds are as little as $27, a private room $75 to $150.

You’ll also find B&Bs with rates around $100 a night, even in high season, but those tend to be up-island (meaning, in the more rural, western part of the Vineyard), and may not allow small children.

A good online source is the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce ( www.mvy.com/

islandinfo/placestostay.php). We stayed at the Dockside Inn, and judging by the size and location of the room, we got the last one. Just a few blocks from where we debarked in Oak Bluffs, the inn is accurately described on its bathroom soap wrapper as a “candy colored Victorian B&B on the harbor.” Our room had two chairs on a porch so Kate and I could hang out after the baby went to bed, a hot tub in the garden area and, most important, a very reasonable rate of $105 for Sunday and Monday nights and $150 for Saturday.

After checking in, we walked across Circuit Avenue into the Coop de Ville bar and restaurant, and started our weekend with a Wachusett Green Monsta Ale ($5) and a nicely fried, though possibly hyperbolic, “Vineyard’s Best Fish Sandwich” with fries ($7.99).

There are six towns on Martha’s Vineyard. Oak Bluffs, because of its size, green spaces and confluence of dining, night life and accommodation options, is the most trafficked and touristy, but also the most fun. It has a town beach, a pretty seaside park with a gazebo, and a lively bustle along Circuit Avenue, the main drag.

Tucked behind the T-shirt and fudge shops is a relatively untouched piece of New England history: the Martha’s Vineyard Campmeeting Association ( www.mvcma.org), a former Methodist tent camp that evolved into a dollhouse-like neighborhood of small gingerbread cottages around a large tabernacle.

Walking between the tiny colorful houses, where neighbors enjoyed afternoon drinks on their porches, was free, and the Cottage Museum (a bargain at $2) captured Kate’s imagination with its depiction of how camp dwellers lived. Then we took her for her first carousel ride ($1.50) on the Flying Horses Carousel, the oldest continuously running platform merry-go-round in the country and a national historic landmark.

Getting between towns without a car is easy, and cheap, on the highly reliable Martha’s Vineyard Transit Authority ( www.vineyardtransit.com) buses. We took multiple trips between Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, Vineyard Haven and West Tisbury (with requested intra-route stops at the beach and a farm). The basic fare is $1 per town you ride through; so from Oak Bluffs to adjoining Edgartown, it costs $2 each way. But you can also get a $6 day pass (or $15 for three days).

At Edgartown, one of the island’s tonier enclaves, the two main attractions, it seems, are looking at the pretty homes of the affluent residents and shopping. Neither interests me very much, though I did make a stop at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. It was closed, but as a lighthouse fan I was delighted to see that one highlight, the massive 1854 Fresnel lens, is outside and fully visible from the street.

Edgartown dining choices are either expensive or unimpressive. Among the few exceptions was the Newes From America pub, a brick tavern in the Kelley House Hotel with a wood-beam roof, copper pipes and a bit of colonial kitsch. A grease-stained paper bag of addictively seasoned fries ($5) was more than the two of us could finish with our mugs of Capt’n Eli’s draft root beer ($3.25) and Sea Dog Blue Paw wheat ale with real blueberries floating in the carbonation ($6).

A block away, we got a chunky lobster roll to go at the popular Among the Flowers Cafe for an acceptable (if not cheap) $14.95. An even cheaper lunch spot is Morning Glory Farm, a mile outside of Edgartown on the No. 6 bus. The working farm (with a greenhouse) sells fresh produce and salad, gourmet snacks and prepared foods, which make an instant picnic on the outdoor table or rocking chairs. For about the price of the one lobster roll, we had salad for two; thick, flavorful red lentil soup; drinks; and a huge slab of freshly baked strawberry-rhubarb cobbler.

We decided to do our shopping among the less expensive, more eclectic boutiques of Vineyard Haven (the other main ferry port). Rainy Day offers a large, bright collection of home décor including hand-printed Indian tablecloths ($37), and cheerful patchwork aprons by Funktion ($42.95), one of which Kate bought for a friend. We found our most enjoyable shopping experience (no small praise coming from a shopaphobic like myself) at Midnight Farm, a sprawling and homey collection of carefully selected furniture, art books, toys, clothes and CDs.

No one would consider this shop, co-owned by Carly Simon (a Vineyard resident), a bargain store, but deals can be found — like the antique gold cut-out Frye boots Kate admired that were on sale for $161. Vineyard Haven, while the least picturesque of the island’s three largest towns and the most residential, had the most exciting dining options. Skip the apparel-promoted, pricey Black Dog Tavern and head for The Net Result, a fish store with two counters, a sushi station and several lobster tanks, that is crowded right before the 6 p.m. closing time with those in the know ordering meals to eat at the row of picnic tables outside.

For $35, we ordered a smorgasbord that we couldn’t finish in one sitting: stuffed quahog , a cup of lobster bisque, crab cake, scallop sushi, avocado roll, hummus sandwich, a half-pound of peel-and-eat shrimp and two drinks.

When we felt peckish later I popped out for cones at Mad Martha’s ice cream parlor. The thick and sweet mint Oreo cream and Reese’s cream ($4.29) cone did nothing to make me question the parlor’s popularity.

It was worth skipping the Continental breakfast the next day for the ArtCliff Diner, which opened 65 years ago and, judging by the vintage cartoon menu signs advertising a cup of homemade quahog chowder for 20 cents, has not been redecorated since. There are choices like the two-egg sandwich with Swiss, spinach and ham ($5) and a blueberry ’n’ honey crepe ($4.50). But we splurged on the eggs Benedict ($10.50) and the Bull’s Eye — a codfish cake, paired with two eggs and dressed with arugula, spicy hollandaise and mustard oil ($11) — as well as a huge orange current scone ($3) and bottomless cups of joe ($2).

We didn’t get to the towns of Chilmark and Aquinnah, but did spend a pleasurable hour up-island in West Tisbury, picnicking behind Alley’s General Store (1858), then crossing the street to stroll through the pleasant Field Gallery, which had outdoor sculpture and oversized prints of pressed flowers by Peggy Turner Zablotny.

We finished our weekend by hopping off the bus at Joseph Silvia State Beach between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown and enjoying the wide wind-swept expanse for an invigorating half hour, largely spent watching Alice discover sand.

On the train ride home, we agreed that the only disappointment was the room at the Dockside, which was ringside to the shenanigans of Memorial Day celebrants spilling out of the bars at 1:30 a.m., and the heat didn’t work the first night. Unable to change rooms the next day, we were given a loud space heater.

But on the third night they gave us a free upgrade to a larger and quieter room on the garden side, and later we received an unrequested refund to my credit card of $170, a fair and frugal conclusion of our trip.If you go

FROM PROVIDENCE: During the summer, Cape Air ( www.flycapeair.com; 800 352-0714) offers several flights a day from T.F. Green Airport to West Tisbury. Ticket prices vary but were hovering just above the $100 mark last week for one adult round-trip. Or you can take the high-speed ferry from Quonset to Oak Bluffs (about 90 minutes each way) for $75 round-trip. (See www.vineyardfastferry.com or call 401 295-4040.)

WHERE TO STAY

Dockside Inn, 9 Circuit Avenue Extension, Oak Bluffs; (508) 693-2966; www.vineyardinns.com.

WHERE TO EAT

• Coop de Ville, Dockside Market Place, Oak Bluffs; (508) 693-3420; www.coopdevillemv.com.

• Slice of Life, 50 Circuit Ave., Oak Bluffs; (508) 693-3838; www.sliceoflifemv.com.

• Newes From America, 23 Kelly St., Edgartown; (508) 627-4397; www.kelley-house.com.

• Among the Flowers Cafe, 17 Mayhew Lane, Edgartown; (508) 627-3233; www.mvol.com/menu/amongtheflowers.

• Morning Glory Farm, West Tisbury Road, Edgartown; (508) 627-9003; www.morninggloryfarmstand.com.

• Net Result, 79 Beach Rd., Vineyard Haven; (508) 693-6071; www.mvseafood.com.

• Mad Martha’s, 12 Circuit Ave., Oak Bluffs; (508) 693-9151.

• ArtCliff Diner, 39 Beach Rd., Vineyard Haven; (508) 693-1224.

WHAT TO SEE

• Martha’s Vineyard Museum, 59 School St., Edgartown; (508) 627-4441; www.marthasvineyardhistory.org.

• Field Gallery, 1050 State Rd., West Tisbury; (508) 693-5595; www.fieldgallery.com.

WHERE TO SHOP

• Rainy Day, 66 Main St., Vineyard Haven; (508) 693-1830.

• Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, 44 Main St., Vineyard Haven; (508) 693-2291; www.bunchofgrapes.com.

• Book Den East; 71 New York Ave., Oak Bluffs; (508) 693-3946.

• Midnight Farm, 18 Water-Cromwell Lane, Vineyard Haven; (508) 693-1997; www.midnightfarm.net.