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Assateague or Chincoteague?

Travel Info
For those that have visited there, which do you recommend?

Travel Tips

Both.

Assateague Island has the Assateague National Seashore, Assateague State Park, and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, which is across from Chincoteague Island and the town of Chincoteague. You can go to the town and then over to the Refuge, and that would be enough for a day. If you want to visit the beach, you can drive up to the entrance to the state park and seashore on the Maryland end, but you won't see much more there than at the Refuge. I'd stick with the Chincoteague approach, there's more to do and see there. That's on the south end of the island - the Virginia side. You go through the town first.
Others

Theyre both beautiful. Chincoteague is a little bit further off the beaten path, with a little less to do. There are still restaurants, shops, hotels and parks though.

Assateague is a bit more central, and has more to do in the way of beaches and parks. Its still the "country" but its a little more like a "City" than chincoteague.

I highly reccomend getting a room in a quaint B&B - I did it and it was a great weekend!

Have fun!
Chincoteague is across a narrow channel of water from Assateague and I don't think that there are any tourist/hotel facilities at all on Assateague - it's a wildlife preserve known for the wild ponies. There are really nice beaches there - you can bicycle to them or drive. There are tons of places to stay around Chincoteague and the surrounding towns. If you don't mind a bit of a drive go to Onancock while you're there and take the ferry to Tangier Island for the day. Onancock is a lovely little town with a lot of "shore" atmosphere. Do not forget to bring lots of insect repellant and wear long sleeved/long pants after dark or you will be very sorry and I speak from painful, itchy experience.
We just returned from a week there! We were down there for the week of the 4th of July.

You pretty much have to stay on Chincoteague, if you're going to the VA end of Assateague. It's not like it's far, though. From where we stayed, it took all of 15 minutes to get to the beach.

I think on the MD end of Assateague, there might be some campgrounds, but as the previous person said, I don't think there are any buildings or hotels there, other than the nature center and park ranger offices.

And yes, be sure to bring your bug spray. There are nasty mosquitoes and biting flies. We went through tons of the Bug Guard spray!
I vacationed there with my husband and our four kids.