Art Historian’s Gilded Age Newport: A Self-Guided Driving Tour
Newport, USA
- 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
While many Newport visitors cram onto slow-moving tour buses, you won’t join them with this self-guided audio tour. Driving the mansion-packed Ocean Drive Historic District at your pace, you’ll explore from Cornelius Vanderbilt to Jay Leno, from the Cliff Walk to America’s Cup. Stop and start as you like, or even take the tour at home—there’s no wrong way to step back into Newport's Gilded Age.
- Simply download the app and enter a code to get started
- Learn all about this famous coastal drive from venerated guides
- With turn-by-turn directions, simply follow at your pace—no WiFi needed
- Follow the 45-minute itinerary, or stop and start as you need
What's Included
- Lifetime access to this tour in English
- VoiceMap app for Android and iOS
- Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
- Tickets or entrance fees to any museums or other attractions en route
- Smartphone and headphones
- Transportation
- Food and drink
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- 1 W Marlborough St, Newport, RI 02840, USA
Before arrival, please install the mobile app and use the code provided on your confirmation ticket. This is a self-guided audio tour that you can start, pause, or restart at any time and complete at your own pace. Detailed starting point instructions are available after downloading.
End point
- 232 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI 02840, USA
Bellevue Plaza Shopping Mall parking lot
Arranged start time
Confirm time with the local provider in advance of your experience.
- 06/30/2022 - 04/09/2027
Monday - Sunday : 12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Itinerary
America's Cup Avenue (Pass By)
Whitehorne House Museum (Pass By)
King Park Beach (Pass By)
Hammersmith Farm (Pass By)
Fort Adams State Park (Pass By)
Brenton Point State Park (Pass By)
Portugese Discovery Monument (Pass By)
Rough Point (Pass By)
Belcourt of Newport (Pass By)
Marble House (Pass By)
Rosecliff (Pass By)
The Breakers (Pass By)
Ochre Court (Pass By)
The Preservation Society of Newport County (Pass By)
The Elms (Pass By)
Kingscote (Pass By)
Newport Historic District (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
3.8
based on 24 reviews
Dianne_S, Nov 2025
Great information and overview of the area. Easy to follow and you can stop as you like. Would definitely purchase a similar tour again
Steven_D, Oct 2025
This was a very enjoyable and informative audio tour. The drive was beautiful and the narration perfectly timed and very easy to listen to. I highly recommend this experience.
Carol_M, Sep 2025
The guide was good, once we got it downloaded and found the starting point. There are lots of steps to get it working, so download everything ahead of time. We were on a timeline and I got very frustrated and was ready to give up.
Having the voice guide really helped the experience of the ocean drive. Without it, it would have been just a nice ride.
Gwendolyn_D, Aug 2025
This is great. Very detailed and easy to follow ❤️ The sights were beautiful. It did not take a lot of time to do and is a very valuable thing to do for great memories.
Robert_M, Jun 2025
Your website is so confusing. went to location we were supposed to be the trolley. never found it could not get on your website. Clearly you sending me codes that never came through. Just wasted an hour and a half of my time Never went on the trip. Definitely would advise not taking this.
Response from Host, Jul 2025
Hi there,
I'm sorry that you were unhappy with your experience. We recommend downloading your tour using a WiFi connection before heading to the start point, it shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes. Once you've downloaded the tour you'll receive clear instructions to the start point. We also provide instructions to the start point on the Viator description.
Can you email more information to support@voicemap.me? This way, we can identify exactly what went wrong and process a refund.
Best, Helene
David_D, Dec 2024
This was a total bust. After spending 15-20 minutes down loading and registering with two different apps to be able to use the tour we traveled to the starting point (don't bother trying to use Waze to do that because it doesn't want to work with the tour app) we wasted 30 minutes trying to get the map to load. It wouldn't, so we gave up. By this time we had lost so much daylight we toured the area in the dark without the app.
Response from Host, Dec 2024
Hi David – We're very sorry you had trouble using the app. We had hundreds of people successfully completing tours on the same day as you, and there were no issues with either the app or our servers, so we'd love to understand what went wrong here. Could you please email support@voicemap.me so we can look into this for you?
bellsuzanne, Dec 2024
Great tour and like others said, the set up was a bit of a pain but it all worked out.
The narration was great and we learned a lot about Newport along the way.
Michael_G, Dec 2024
It worked really well, guiding from place to place. I've been disappointed with other similar tours in the past, but this one was good.
Heidi_L, Nov 2024
Great tour! Didn’t work well with Waze, but using the app for directions and stories worked well. Many opportunities to pull over for photos and lots of interesting information about the area.
Terry_B, Oct 2024
It was very difficult to find the starting point for the drive and then we couldn't figure out how to play the tour audio. We were expecting it to be able to play on my phone so my husband and I could both listen to it while we were driving. I realized that there was a headphone icon on my phone screen, so I put in my earbuds and could then hear the audio tour. Thankfully I have wireless earbuds, so I kept the right ear one and gave my husband the left one, so he could hear the tour and know where to drive. I'm glad it only cost me $1.00 because I had Viator credit that paid for most of it. The audio was interesting once we got to listen to it.
Response from Host, Oct 2024
Hi there,
I'm sorry that you were unhappy with your experience. Can you email more information to support@voicemap.me? This way, we can identify exactly what went wrong. Did you not receive the email and SMS with instructions we sent you when you booked?
We can troubleshoot the issue and process a refund if you email us your details.
I'm sorry for your frustrating experience.
Tracy_Z, Aug 2024
I loved learning the history of the area, and the modern use of old homes. The tour guide is very knowledgeable.
David_W, Aug 2023
i couldn't get the tour to start from where i was, it wanted me to go back to the seaport for the start but i was already near the ocean drive.
Response from Host, Sep 2023
Hi David
You do have the option of starting the tour using our Resume function. That said, our tours have a dedicated start and end point and follow a set route in order to provide the best experience and clear turn-by-turn directions. Starting the tour in the middle (without having started from the beginning initially), or trying to do it backwards wouldn't work.
Keep well,
Alicia
Jean_G, May 2023
This tour covered so much of the area. I felt well oriented, informed about Newport and its history and saw the most beautiful scenery.
Linda_C, May 2023
Could not get audio drive to work. Downloaded app but would not let me enter code/certificate #. Disappointed.
Response from Host, May 2023
Hi Linda
We're sorry to hear that you weren't able to do the tour. It's one that people enjoy which is why it has an average of 4.5/5 from 39 ratings on VoiceMap.
It sounds like you might have downloaded the wrong app. This does occasionally happen. You should have received an 8-character code to enter into the app. Had you contacted us, we'd have been able to send you the code directly.
Keep well,
Alicia
From $9.99
per group (up to 15)-You will not receive a refund if you cancel.
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