Things to do in  Rhode Island

The Breakers, the crown jewel of the Newport mansions and the summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, is an architectural and social mark of the Gilded Age, with 70 rooms, five stories, and a design modeled after 16th-century Italian Renaissance palaces. Inside, all the furnishings on view are original; outside, open-air terraces give way to breathtaking ocean views. If America had castles, this would surely be one of the greatest.

The 50-room Marble House, one of the first Beaux-Arts structures in the US, was built between 1888 and 1892 as the Gilded Age summer cottage for William and Alva Vanderbilt. Inspired by the Petit Trianon in Versailles, the $11 million mansion made mostly of marble became a National Historic Landmark in 2006.

Rhode Island’s Newport Cliff Walk traces the perimeter of the southern edge of Newport town, high above the crashing surf of the Atlantic Ocean. The 3.5-mile (5.6-kilometer) public walkway fronts many of Newport’s famous Gilded Age mansions, such as Astor’s Beechwood, Rosecliff, Marble House, the Breakers, Ochre Coure, and Rough Point.

The breathtaking Rhode Island shoreline unfolds along Ocean Drive, a 10-mile (16-kilometer) scenic road along Newport’s southern coast. Points of interest include the New York Yacht Club, Fort Adams State Park, Hammersmith Farm (where President Kennedy had his wedding reception in 1953), Brenton Point State Park, and Gooseberry Beach.

Set against the picturesque backdrop of Newport Harbor and Narragansett Bay, Fort Adams State Park is a popular recreation area for swimming, sailing, fishing, and field games. The park also has a historic character thanks to sprawling Fort Adams, and is the home of major music festivals each summer.

One of the most recognizable mansions on Newport’s ritzy Bellevue Avenue, Rosecliff perfectly preserves the Gilded Age. Built around 1900 for Theresa Fair Oelrichs, a Nevada silver heiress, it was constructed specifically for parties—think The Great Gatsby, which is fitting, considering the 2013 film adaptation was in part filmed here. Today, the Versailles-esque mansion welcomes the public to explore its interior and historic rose gardens.

The birthplace of American tournament tennis, the International Tennis Hall of Fame showcases a collection of more than 20,000 artifacts, including vintage photos, trophies, tennis equipment, tennis clothing, and video highlights of famous matches. The facility has 13 grass tennis courts and one clay court, all open to the public for play.

The Elms is about as close to a French chateau as the U.S. gets. Built in 1901 to emulate—but not copy—the Chateau d'Asnieres outside Paris, the exquisite “summer cottage” of the Berwind family sits on Newport’s famed Bellevue Avenue, sharing the spotlight with its fabulous Gilded Age peers. Today, it’s owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County and open to the public.

If Newport’s eastern coast is dedicated to ocean views for the Gilded Age wealthy, Brenton Point State Park—on Newport’s southern coast—is those same fabulous panoramic vistas for the public. The halfway point down the famed Ocean Drive, visitors flock here for hiking, birdwatching, picnicking, kite-flying, and watching Narragansett Bay flow into the Atlantic.

Leafy Bellevue Avenue and its surrounding streets are home to some of the most exclusive properties in New England. The affluent area is mostly residential, and encompasses many of the Gilded Age summer “cottages” built by such iconic names as Vanderbilt and Astor. These include the Isaac Bell House, The Elms, Marble House, and Kingscote.

In 1658, more than a dozen Jewish families, mostly refugees from Spain and Portugal, founded a Sephardic community. A century later, British-Colonial architect and local resident Peter Harrison designed a two-story Palladian house of worship for this community, the Touro Synagogue. It continues to serve Newport’s Jewish community today.

While Chateau-sur-Mer is not Newport’s most lavish mansion, it is one of the resort town’s most important: It was the most palatial residence in its era, setting the bar for luxury—and establishing Newport as an ultra-wealthy getaway—40 years before the Vanderbilts would arrive. Today, it’s owned by the Preservation Society of Newport County and open to the public for tours.

The southernmost estate on the famed Bellevue Avenue, Rough Point belonged to 20th-century heiress Doris Duke, who inherited the property at age 12. The English-style manor faces the Cliff Walk Bridge, with stunning views of the crashing Atlantic below. Today, you can tour the home decorated just as Duke had it, from the plant-filled glass solarium and tapestry-rich Great Hall to the formal gardens.

This fascinating museum specializes in the display of illustration artworks, as designed for books and other print media. Over 150 artists have featured works on its walls, including Norman Rockwell, NC Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, and Howard Pyle. In fact, it’s the largest collection of illustrated masterpieces in the world. The museum is housed in a former mansion, a stately American Renaissance building with architecture that is worth a visit alone. Vernon Court was designed in the style of a French chateau, and has a ballroom, marble hall, and other elegant rooms now filled with art. The illustrations offer lots of insight into American society at the time they were created, and often reflect social change, attitudes, and behaviors. The art that remains from this era captures a moment in time before electronics, when books and magazines were the main form of entertainment. The mansion even displays period furnishings and decorative arts to create an immersive experience that provides context and reflects the time of the art. Self-guided and guided tours are available.

Easton’s Beach (also called First Beach) is Newport’s largest sandy expanse, stretching for nearly a mile (1.5 kilometers) with Atlantic surf. Locals and visitors gather here to swim, soak up the sun, and stroll along a boardwalk, while a 1950s carousel and weekly concerts entertain during the summer months.