Nearly everyone drives. The nearest small commercial airport is in Salisbury, Maryland, with flights from Charlotte and Philadelphia and an hour's drive south. Norfolk International has many more flights and is two hours away. From the south, the route is Interstate 64 east from Richmond to Norfolk, US 13 north across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel ($12 toll), then about ninety minutes up the Eastern Shore to Oak Hall, where you turn right on Route 175. The road runs east past the NASA base at Wallops and across a string of bridges - a causeway over open marsh that is its own slow welcome - and lands you at a stoplight on the edge of town. From the north, head to Salisbury, take US 13 south, and turn left on 175 at Oak Hall.

Summer roads on Chincoteague get crowded. Bicycles solve most of the resulting problems and unlock the best parts of the island - which are the trails inside the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on neighboring Assateague. The Wildlife Loop is a 3.2-mile flat ride past freshwater impoundments where waterfowl congregate. The Swan Cove Trail is half a mile of bayside marsh leading to the beach. The Black Duck Trail is a mile through pine forest. The Woodland Trail is a 1.6-mile loop where Chincoteague ponies are often visible. For the brave, the 7.5-mile service road runs north up Assateague - walkers only most of the year, but open to bikes and cars during Waterfowl Week in November. Rent from the Bike Depot near the refuge entrance. Bikes get into the refuge free; cars pay.

The main beach on Assateague is wide, clean, and beautifully empty of commercialization - no Coke machine, no boardwalk, no food trucks. Bring plenty of water and snacks. The Herbert H. Bateman Educational and Administrative Center on the refuge has exhibits and activities for families. The Tom's Cove Visitor Center sits near the beach and has a touch tank. If you want quieter sand, walk north to the Wild Beach - a secluded strip accessible via the half-mile Swan Cove Trail or a hike up from the main beach. The crabbing piers on Maddox Boulevard, right before the bridge to Assateague, are a free entertainment: bay view in one direction, wild ponies grazing across the road in the other. Bring bait, a hand line, and time.

Pony Penning is the last Wednesday and Thursday of July. On Wednesday at slack tide, the Saltwater Cowboys herd the wild ponies across the Assateague Channel, walking them through town to pens at the carnival grounds. On Thursday the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company auctions that year's foals; the rest swim back to Assateague on Friday. The week draws crowds and books rooms a year in advance. If you can't be here in July, the Chincoteague Pony Farm on the island lets visitors meet ponies year-round - Don Leonard has raised them since the 1960s and now runs the farm with his sons and grandchildren. The Refuge Inn keeps a small herd from the Pony Farm on site that guests can pet and feed.

Maddox Boulevard is the lodging spine - the Refuge Inn with its indoor-outdoor pool and on-site ponies, the Sea Hawk Motel across from Island Creamery, the Blue Heron Inn with its picnic pavilion. On Main Street, the Waterside Inn has a marina pier for fishing and crabbing and lets guests dock boats for free; the Island Motor Inn has waterfront views and the Island Cafe. Snug Harbor Marina on East Side Drive rents cottages cheaper than most hotel rooms, plus kayaks, canoes, and pontoon boats. Buy sunscreen, aloe, bug spray, and a beach book - the essential Chincoteague kit. The Second Saturday celebration downtown turns the sidewalks over to local artists and shopkeepers once a month. The Island Creamery is the social anchor for ice cream. If you walk outside and there is wind off the bay, you have probably caught Chincoteague at its best.