BEST NEWPORT RI ATTRACTIONS & ITINERARIES

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 Best Newport RI Mansions ~ The Breakers
Newport RI Mansions: Best Newport Rhode Island Tours The Breakers Newport Mansions Thre Breakters, Rosecliff Marblehouse Newport Rhode Island Mansions
Newport Rhode Island Mansions: Best Newport RI Tours The Breakers
In a city known for its Gilded Age glamor, if you're only going to see one of the so-called "summer cottages," then make it The Breakers. In true -- for its time -- Donald Trump-esque style, it's the biggest, the boldest, the most over-the-top. But unlike The Donald, the Vanderbilts were truly one of America's richest families. Built in 1895 by New York railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt II, The Breakers sits on 13 acres over-looking the Atlantic Ocean. Prominent Architect RIchard Morris Hunt and a large crew of European craftsmen built this Italian Renaissance style palazzo with exquisite detail. Newport's Preservation Society now maintains The Breakers along with most of the other significant Newport mansions (except Doris Duke's Rough Point, see below). One-of-a-kind, from an another era. Must see.

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Phone: 401-847-1000  Tickets: $15 In-person or online   Season: Open all year. Tours 9-5.   Location: Ochre Point Avenue, off Bellevue Avenue
Best Newport Mansion Tickets
Newport Rhode Island Tours: Newport Mansions Mansions Experience
When one is simply not enough. Admission to The Breakers, The Elms, Marble House, Rosecliff and Chateau-sur-Mer. Experience it all for just $31. Pack a lunch,
get a bite at the Elms Carriage House seasonal snack bar or take a break between cottages if you're planning to do it all in a day.  Visit Website

Newport Mansion Hopping
Rooftop & Behind-The-Scenes: A different view of the mansions. See how the other half lived and kept these summer cottages up and running. Offered at The Elms only,
Self-Guided Tours: Marble House,The Elms, and The Breakers feature self-guided audio tours for those who like to set their own pace and route.
Chinese Tea House at Marble House: Another one of the Vanderbilt cottages, this one features -- what else --.marble everywhere. But it is the later added Tea House out back by the Cliff Walk where Mrs. Vanderbilt hosted many tea parties and a number of rallies for women's rights.
Most Movies: Rosecliff is the easy winner, having been the setting for The Great Gatsby, High Society, True Lies and Amistad among others.


 Best Newport Rhode Island Beach ~ Second Beach
Newport Rhode Island Beaches - Best Newport Beaches Best Newport RI Beaches
Forget Newport's often over-crowded Easton's Beach (First Beach). Second Beach has it all: less crowd, more beauty, better waves, and it's three times bigger. Officially named Sachuest Beach, it's better known as Second Beach, and while techically around the bend and over the line in Middletown, it's still on Aquidneck Island. The beautiful 3 mile crescent of sand is dramatically framed on the west by the spires of St. George's Prep School Cathedral on a hill and and to the east, Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge. Rated as one of the east coast's best, you'll see why. The west end is wavier and set aside for surfing. The entire beach is guarded during the summer season, when there is a snack bar, changing rooms and plenty of room to spread out. The water gets deep gradually -- especially at low tide. In the quieter seasons, dogs are allowed and Second Beach is a joy to walk or run on.

Details
Phone: 401-849-2822  Season: Memorial Day to Labor Day Cost:  Parking $10  Location: Sachuest Point Road, Middletown


 Best Newport RI Winery & Wine Tour Tasting
Newport RI Winery: Greenvale Vineyards Newport Wine Tours Tasting Best New England Wineries
Newport Rhode Island Winery: Greenvale Vineyards Newport Wine Tasting Tour
Greenvale Vineyards   Located on a 50 acre picturesque historic farm in Portsmouth, Greenvale is Rhode Island's only still-active gentleman's farm. A restored Victorian gem, Greenvale's wine tasting room barn, and some of its other famous buildings, are on the National Historic Register. The farm-turned-winery, has been in the same family for five generations, and now produces about 3500 cases of wine. The bucolic vineyard sits on rolling hills, overlooking the Sakonnet River. Pack a picnic lunch, and enjoy some terrific views with equally appealing regional wines. Vidal Blanc has been called New England's Pinot Grigio and Cabernet Franc, one of the main Bordeaux blending grapes, is a very tasty and drinkable red wine on its own. Minutes from downtown Newport, but worlds away. Enjoy jazz at the vineyard on summer and fall weekends.

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Phone: 401-847-3777  Wines Produced: Vidal Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Meritage   Location: 582 Wapping Road, Portsmouth
Coastal New England Wineries
Southeastern New England Wine Growing Appellation: Follow the coastal wine trail tour from the Newport area through coastal Massachusetts. The vineyards below are included   Visit Website
Sakonnet Vineyards: The pioneers of regional wine in Rhode Island. The beautiful rolling vineyards alone make the 45 minute trip to Little Compton worth the drive.   Visit Website
Newport Vineyards: Five minutes from downtown Newport, the area's most extensive tasting room and its most visited. Try their signature Ice Wine. Visit Website
Westport Rivers Vineyards: Well known producer of sparkling wines that have been served in the White House. Consider adding to the trip if you're visiting Sakonnet. It's another 15 - 20 minutes into Massachusetts.   Visit Website


 Best Eco Walking Tour ~ Norman Bird Sanctuary
Newport Rhode Island Walks: Norman Bird Sanctuary Best Newport RI Walks Newport RI Walks: Eco Tours Newport Bird Watching

A walker and nature lover's delight, Norman Bird Sanctuary is Newport County's largest preserved open space. It dramatically stretches out over 325 acres of woodlands, fields, beaches, tidal basins, and ridges with spectacular ocean vistas. Seven miles of trails wind through the varied terrain, that majestically sit above Second and Third Beaches and the Atlantic Ocean. Of note, "Hanging Rock" juts out above the treeline with panoramic views of the beaches and ocean -- easy to see why its has been a focus of hikers and artists alike for more than a century. There is a nature center with classes, and year-round guided walks are offered. Of course the birding is incredible, from hawks to woodland ducks. Birds, however, are only the beginning.

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Phone: 401-846-2577  Season: Year round Cost:  Adults $5, children $2  Location: 583 Third Beach Road, Middletown



 Best Overall Newport RI Walking Tour ~ Cliff Walk
Newport Rhode Islande Walks: The Cliff Walk Best Newport RI Tours
Newport Rhode Island Tours: Cliff Walk Best Newport RI Walking Tours
Talk about an attraction that is truly one-of-a-kind... The Cliff Walk winds its way between the rocky cliffs above the Atlantic Ocean and the front yards of Newport's renowned mansions. The views along the 3.5 mile walk are simply spectacular. It has been named a National Recreational Trail and is the only one to run through a National Historic District. The first two-thirds are flat and easy going but the last third is rough and rocky. There are exits about every quarter or half mile where you can cut back up to Bellevue Avenue and catch a city trolley. However, in season, there is no parking at any of the exits. Unless you plan on walking round trip, you will need to make transportation plans. Cliff Walk begins at First Beach and ends at Bailey's Beach. An absolute Newport original. A must do.

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Location: Begins at Easton's Beach (First Beach) on Memorial Blvd. Entrance/Exits at Narragansett Ave., Webster St., Ruggles Ave., Marine Ave., Ledge Rd., Bellevue Ave. Ends at Bailey's Beach (private).
Other Self-Guided Newport Walks
Historic Hill: Walk the old New England streets around Trinity Church and enjoy homes from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Look for self-guided tour signs, including a number of stops on Pelham Street -- America's first gas-lit street.
The Point: The largest group of colonial homes in Newport. Right on the harbor, behind the Gateway Visitors Center. Many of these are the homes Doris Duke helped save.
Kay & Catherine Street Area: Just off Bellevue Avenue by the Viking Hotel, is a residential area with many of Newport's finest Victorian homes, including Night Before Christmas author Clement C. Moore (look for the Santa Claus plaque on 25 Catherine Street).


 Best Newport RI Golf Course
Newport RI Golf: Newport National Best Newport Rhode Island Golf Courses Newport Rhode Island Golf Courses: Best Newport RI Golf
Newport National   The setting is serene. Two-hundred rolling acres of former farmland with sweeping Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic Ocean views. Newport National's Orchard Course is an Irish style links course designed by golf architect Arthur Hills and Drew Rogers. It opened to rave reviews in 2002 and has been named Rhode Island's top course by Golf Week Magazine. It features greens, tees and fairways consisting of 100% seaside bent grass, and grand, swaying fescue often exceeding 4’ in length. The fairways and greens are designed to play fast and firm. A world away but 10 minutes from downtown Newport.

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Phone: 401-848-9690  Green Fees: In Season May - Sept. Weekdays $125, Weekends $150   Location: 324 Mitchell's Lane , Middletown


 Best Newport RI Museums ~ Tennis Hall of Fame
Newport Rhode Island Tennis Hall of Fame: Newport RI Tennis, Best Newport RI Museums Tennis Hall of Fame
Baseball has Cooperstown, and Tennis has Newport. The Hall of Fame is a must-see for tennis fans but the good news for the rest of us, is that it's interesting for anyone. This is where tennis really took hold in America, including the tournament that is today, the U.S. Open (first U.S. National Lawn Tennis Championships in 1881). The museum itself is housed in the old Newport Casino, a private social club for the Vanderbilts and other Gilded Age giants. The building was architect Sanford White's first commission and is to this day cited for its historic architectural significance. The Hall of Fame also has the oldest continuously used grass competition courts in the world and the only ones open to the public. Every July features the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships -- the only ATP event played on grass in North America -- along with the annual induction of the hall of fame players. There's really nothing else quite like it anywhere.

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Phone: 800-457-1144  Admission: $8 Season: Museum year round. Outdoor grass courts May - September   Location: 194 Bellevue Avenue


 Best Art Collection & Exhibition ~ Rough Point
Newport Rhode Island Museums: Historic Newport Mansions Rough Point Doris Duke,  Newport RI Attractions
When she was the richest woman in the world, Tobacco heiress Doris Duke called Newport home for many summers. While Rough Point probably sits on the most dramatic location along mansion row and the Cliff Walk -- overlooking the Atlantic -- it is the art collection that makes it a show stopper. Assembled over 7 decades, the Duke family collection of fine and decorative art is stunning. There are works by Renoir, van Dyck, Gainsborough, Reynolds and Bol. You will also see some incredible tapestries, textiles and oriental porcelain. Tickets for Rough Point work a little differently than the other Newport mansions. You can buy them ahead of time online, and then park at Rough Point. Otherwise, buy them at Newport's Gateway Visitors Center and a shuttle bus takes you there and back.

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Phone: 401-849-7300  Tickets: $25 (Children under 12 free)  Season: April 12 - May 12, Thurs., Fri., Sat. 9:45 - 1:45 May 15- Nov. 10 Tues - Sat. Tours 9:45 - 3:45  Location: Bellevue Avenue


 Best Newport RI Cultural & Religious Discoveries
Newport Rhode Island Tours: Touro Synagogue Newport RI Museums Attractions Trinity Church, St. Mary's Church
Newport has a long and pivotal role in colonial religion and religious tolerance, and is home to a number of historic places of worship, from colonial times to the Camelot era of the Kennedys. Newport had the largest communities of Jews and Quakers in colonial America. And to this day, Touro Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in America, is still an active congregation. Designed by America's leading colonial architect Peter Harrison in 1763, it is considered his finest work. The synagogue (above left) was the first religious struc-ture to be named a National Historic Site. Atop Historic Hill sits Trinity Church (above right). This colonial beauty was built in 1726 and features the only three-tier wineglass pulpit of its kind in America. Among the Episcopal church's many historical notes, the organ was tested by Handel before being shipped from England, George Washington worshipped there and it was occupied by the British during the Revolutionary War. Another famous spire looking down over Newport Harbor (above middle), is St. Mary's Church, the oldest Catholic parish in Rhode Island. But it is probably best known as the church where Jacqueline Bouvier married then senator John Kennedy in 1953. All three of these houses of worship are active and open to the public.

Details
Touro Synagogue: 401-847-4794   Location: 85 Touro Street
Trinity Church: 401-846-0660  Location: Queen Anne Square
St. Mary's Church: 401- 847-0475  Location: Spring St & Memorial Boulevard
Best Newport Guidebooks & Resources
Moon Guidebooks Rhode Island: Typically more used on the West Coast but probably the best overall coverage of Rhode Island of any of the guidebooks. The Newport section is comprehensive Visit Website
Frommer's New England: The most widely distributed of all the guidebooks. Herbert Livesey, who writes the Newport section for the New England edition, knows the city very well.   Visit Website
Karen Brown's New England: Another veteran West Coast guidebook series that has moved into New England and Newport. Writer Jack Bullard is himself now a Newporter. Reviews and itineraries are spot on.   Visit Website
Getaways for Gourmets: Veteran husband and wife travel writers Richard and Nancy Woodward know their hospitality properties plus cover restaurants. The series is good for all destinations it covers -- including Newport. Visit Website
GoNewport.Com: Run by Newport County's Convention and Visitor's Bureau, a good overall website for all things Newport. Visit Website