Bring your bikes. You can bike to many places. Eastern Shore is so flat, you are barely at 10 feet above sea level.
Or you could rent bikes at the shop next to the Refuge Inn in the town of Chincoteague. From there, head east into the National Seashore on Assateague Island. Just a minute away. It's maybe 4 easy flat miles once you are inside. Sometime, you can see the horses along the bike trails.
Not too many shops are open but the big ones are. Seafood restaurants and that pizza place&Ledos are open. The creameries are open. Not alot of people at all in April.

If you mean Assateague State park (MD) and the Assateague National Seashore for camping, that is totally different than Chincoteague. These two areas are 1 hour away from Chincoteague. Marylanf's Assateague State park and the Assateague National Seashore (next to each other) both are camping only, no other accommodation. You can drive through the National one and check out the wildlife, and kayak or canoe(if it's open). You can not enter the MD state park unless you camp there. However, you can park at the visitor lot and bike into there.

Our favorite restaurants are Pico Taqueria and Sea Star Cafe. Call ahead for hours or orders...they definitely operate on “island time”. The ice cream place is Island Creamery.

We just finalized our accommodations for visiting Chincoteague during spring break. I've never been there, so I don't have much advice. We settled on a VRBO. I'd been looking at them for a while, and I saw several of the ones I liked get booked in the past 2 weeks. But likely there are still a lot available. There are some nice hotels in Chincoteague and if we had gone that route, I would've picked the Comfort Inn Suites Bayside Resort. The Hampton Inn & Suites also looked good.

OP here. Thanks for all the advice! I am getting really excited!

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify - although you probably know this - Assateague is not inhabited by people, there’s no place to stay there except if you’re camping.

+1
You’ll stay in Chincoteague, VA which is a little beach town. You cross over a bridge into Assateague and there will be national park gates. There is no where to stay on Assateague unless you camp. It’s also accessible from Maryland on the northern side.
We like to rent VRBOs close to that bridge so you can bike across. The hotels are mainly on the other side of the island So you have to drive.
Spring break time will likely be cold and windy unless you luck out on weather.
Don’t miss the ice cream shop!!

This thread is making me envious as my long weekend at Chincoteague/Assateague was one of my favorite vacations ever and I’m itching to return someday. Way up in New England now so it will definitely be a post-pandemic pursuit to get back there.

Anonymous wrote:Just to clarify - although you probably know this - Assateague is not inhabited by people, there’s no place to stay there except if you’re camping.

On that end you stay in town and drive or bike over. We love the Refuge Inn.

Just to clarify - although you probably know this - Assateague is not inhabited by people, there’s no place to stay there except if you’re camping.

I have been to Chincoteague in April and it’s nice because there are fewer bugs, but most things in the town weren’t open yet. I Agree that at Chincoteague the horses are farther away usually. At Assateague there isn’t anywhere to stay except camping and the state campground doesn’t open until mid-April (you can still go to the National Park campground). The closest hotel is probably Ocean City, which is not far.

Go to both, it’s totally doable. I spent a few days there in April one year and loved it. Stayed at a wonderful B&B called Miss Molly’s which is the site of the authoring of Misty of Chincoteague. It’s within an easy walk of some nice eateries (or was a few years ago, anyway) and shopping. The breakfasts were terrific. It’s a short drive to Assateague Island National Seashore where I explored the nature center, took a bus tour that brought us up close to ponies, and saw lots of birds - make sure to bring or rent binoculars if you and spouse and child like birds because there are terrific birding opportunities on both islands.

I've been to Assateague many times and always saw horses, often up close since they'll just wonder around the roads. Been to Chincoteague once and hardly saw any. What horse we did see were far away.

So if your main thing is horses, Assateague is a sure bet. But Chincoteague has a beautiful lighthouse and more varied hiking, if that's more your speed.

I used to go to Ocean City, MD regularly around the end of February, and over to Assateague while in OC. There are lots of hotels along the beach/boardwalk that would be fun to stay at with your DS. Find one with an open pool There are lots of shops and things open on the boardwalk, even during the winter/early spring. Ripleys Believe it or Not is open (I've never been, but I was at OC last weekend and there were people going in and out). There are also the outlets near OC.
I've always seen horses on every visit to Assateague; sometimes large groups, and close, sometimes just one off in the distance. It's a lot of luck. Make sure to dress warmly since the wind can be cutting. There's a nice visitor center that's worth stopping at, and the park itself has 3 trails you can go walk; the dunes, the woods, and the marsh. All are relatively short and easy to do; good for seeing horses.

I've never been to Chincoteague other than to the town to get ice cream, so I can't speak to that. Have a good trip!

Anonymous wrote:We went to both and the horses came right up to you.

From where? The parks? Which ones? Chincoteague wildlife refuge or assateague? NP here and I've been looking too. Don't understand why clear info on all this is so hard to get.

We went to both and the horses came right up to you.

We are interested in going to Assateague /Chincoteague during spring break next month with 8 yo DS.
Which is better?
If you have been in March, did you see horses?
Where should we stay (we do no want to camp)
What are other activities in the area?