DISTANCE: 3 miles (5km)
TIME: A full day
START: Gateway Visitor Center
END: Marble House
POINTS TO NOTE: This tour can be combined with that of Providence and a frequent Ripta bus service (1 hour; www.ripta.com) links the two. If driving, park at the Gateway Visitor Center, where you will also find Newport’s Visitor Information Center (23 America’s Cup Avenue; tel: 800-326-6030; www.discovernewport.org; daily 9am–5pm).
Downtown
Begin at the Gateway Visitor Center, then walk south along America’s Cup Avenue to the Museum of Newport History 1 [map] (127 Thames Street; tel: 401-841-8770; http://newporthistory.org; daily 10am–5pm; donation), on the left in the restored 1762 Brick Market building.
Follow Touro Street to No. 85 to find the Touro Synagogue 2 [map] (tel: 401-847-4794; www.tourosynagogue.org; tours Sun–Fri except Jewish holidays). Built in 1763, it is the nation’s oldest Jewish house of worship.
Walk south down Spring Street to Queen Anne Square, home to the white clapboard 1725–6 Trinity Episcopal Church 3 [map] (tel: 401-846-0660; www.trinitynewport.org), said to be based on the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. Walk a block west to Newport Harbor to lunch at the Black Pearl, see 1 [map].
The Breakers in winter
Newport, RI Convention & Visitors Bureau
Bellevue Avenue
Many of Newport’s attractions line the thoroughfare of Bellevue Avenue, a few blocks to the east. The 1862 Newport Art Museum 4 [map] (No. 76; tel: 401-848-8200; www.newportartmuseum.org; Tue–Sat 10am–4pm, Sun noon–4pm) exhibits works by George Innes, Winslow Homer, and regional artists.
Housed in the Newport Casino is the International Tennis Hall of Fame 5 [map] (No. 194; tel: 401-849-3990; www.tennisfame.com; daily 10am–5pm, July until 6pm). Despite the building’s name, it never had anything to do with gambling, but was America’s most exclusive country club when it opened in 1880 and hosted the first US National Tennis Championships the following year.
Trinity Episcopal Church
Newport, RI Convention & Visitors Bureau
The Mansions
If you plan to tour several mansions, the Preservation Society of Newport 6 [map] (242 Bellevue Avenue; tel: 401-847-1000; http://newportmansions.org) sells various tickets for admission to up to 10 properties and offers tours; check their website, as seasons and hours at the properties vary greatly. The following are recommended, if time is limited.
Coal-rich Edward Julius Berwind commissioned The Elms 7 [map] (367 Bellevue Avenue), based on Château d’Asnières near Paris. It borrows from a range of styles, including Chinese, Venetian, and Louis XIV, and is surrounded by gorgeous gardens. Sign up for the ‘behind the scenes’ tour to see the mansion from the servants’ point of view as well as to go up on the roof.
An opulent Italian Renaissance palace, completed in 1895 for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, The Breakers 8 [map] (44 Ochre Point) is considered the most magnificent of the Newport cottages, with rooms extravagantly adorned with marble, alabaster, gilt, mosaic, crystal, and stained glass. The kitchen alone is the size of a small house.
Built in 1892 for William K. Vanderbilt and styled after the Grand and Petit Trianons of Versailles, Marble House 9 [map] (596 Bellevue Avenue) upstages The Breakers for ostentation, although it is not as large. A Chinese tea-house stands in the grounds.
Food and drink
1 Black Pearl
Bannister’s Wharf; tel: 401-846-5264; www.blackpearlnewport.com; mid-Feb–Dec, daily 11.30am–10pm; $$
Popular with the yachting set, this harborside place is very reliable and offers a range of dishes from seafood snacks and sandwiches to grilled meats and fish.