As the summer crowds head home with the school buses, the island settles into its finest season. The water stays warm well into October, the birds pour down the Atlantic Flyway, and you can find a parking space anywhere you like. Come and enjoy Chincoteague at its quietest and best!
Better still, our Two + Tuesday special makes it easy: book a three-night stay that includes a Tuesday and your Tuesday night is half price. We recommend Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, heading home Friday morning. The fall window runs September 7 through November 26.
Recommended 3-day itinerary:
Tuesday
Arrive on Chincoteague Island and check in at the Refuge Inn, then wander across the parking lot to meet our ponies at the fence. When you are ready for dinner, enjoy the freshest local seafood at the Village Restaurant overlooking Eel Creek, where the fried oysters are at their very best this time of year. Top off the evening with a cone from Island Creamery, and finish with a swim and a soak in the hot tub back at the Refuge. Our pool is open until 10pm.
Wednesday
You have two wonderful mornings to choose from, so pick whichever suits your party.
For a long walk on an empty beach, head out to Tom’s Cove Hook, which reopens around the first of September once the piping plover chicks have fledged. It offers the best shelling of the year and hardly another soul on it, with three to nine miles of soft sand depending how far you would like to wander. Wear old shoes and take a bag.
If you would rather ride, rent a beach cruiser or a tandem from the Bike Depot, adjacent to the Refuge Inn, and take the Woodland Trail through the pine and maritime forest before picking up the Wildlife Loop. The loop is 3.2 paved miles and closed to cars until 3pm, so you will have it to yourselves, and September and October bring the hawk migration overhead.
Spend the afternoon with the island’s most famous story. The Museum of Chincoteague Island is just up Maddox Boulevard from us, and the Beebe Ranch, where Misty herself lived, is out on Ridge Road. A combination ticket covers both, and both are open Tuesday through Saturday.
Wind down with dinner from Famous Pizza, enjoyed on your balcony or up on the rooftop deck if the evening is fine.
Thursday
Begin at the NASA Wallops Visitor Center, across the causeway and free to visit, open Thursday through Saturday from 10am to 3pm.
In the afternoon, get out on the water with Cowboy Cruise Company. Their Teaguer Tour goes looking for ponies, dolphins and eagles, with plenty of island history along the way, and stops at the clam and oyster grounds so you can harvest, shuck and taste your own.
Treat yourselves to dinner at Bill’s PRIME Seafood & Steaks, a Chincoteague institution at 4040 Main Street since 1960, then finish the evening back at the Refuge in the pool.
Friday
Stop at Amarin Coffee on your way off the island for chocolate croissants and a Vietnamese iced coffee before the drive home.
Two + Tuesday applies to our Deluxe Queen and Deluxe King rooms on the Best Available and Peace of Mind Flexible rates, including the crib and roll-away packages. It cannot be combined with AAA, AARP, senior, military or veteran discounts, and it does not apply to the suites.