Newport, Rhode Island is a magical seaside town on Aquidneck Island, and now one of my new favorite places to visit! Newport is mostly known for its Gilded Age mega-mansions. My tour guide mentioned that the island itself is only 11 miles long and gets crowded in the summer with millions of visitors! Luckily, I visited in the fall and it was uncrowded and peaceful. Explore lighthouses, boats, mansions, and more! Here is your guide to your next seaside vacation to Newport, Rhode Island.
Mansions
In the mid to late 1800s, New England’s wealthy families like the Astors, the Vanderbilts, and more, began building summer cottages (Gilded Age mansions) on the seaside town to help escape the city heat. You can drive down Bellevue Avenue to see most of the mansions. These homes are open to tour and some of these mansions were filming locations for the HBO series The Gilded Age. I only had time to tour The Breakers, home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II’s family. I signed up for a trolley tour of the island that included The Breakers Tour. You receive a pamphlet guide when you enter and can do the tour at your own pace. The guide is easy to follow. You can explore both the outside grounds and inside of the mansion. It’s truly exquisite! They have a small café and a gift shop.
In the gift shop I spotted a murder mystery book series based on these mansions and their owners called The Gilded Newport Mystery Books. They had autograph copies by the author, Alyssa Maxwell, so I bought the first book The Breakers. I loved it and have now downloaded the rest on audible. I love that the author incorporates some historical facts into the mysteries.
You can pay an entry fee for each mansion or do a package to tour 2 mansions, or do the trolley tour like I did that ended with The Breakers tour. More about tours below.
Cliff Walk
Make some time to take a beautiful stroll along the Cliff Walk, a national recreation trail. With 3.5 miles of sea side on one side, and the back yards of the Gilded Age mansions on the other, you will have beautiful scenery all around you! Be aware that only part of the walk is an easy walk and some is rocky. You’ll also want to watch out for any poison ivy.
40 steps
You can also visit the The Forty Steps. The Forty steps are beautiful steps that lead you down to view the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean. They are located less than half a mile from the start of the Cliff Walk. I parked on Narragansett Avenue and paid a small meter fee (about a dollar). The Forty Steps was a popular place for the mansion servants to hang out during the Gilded Age. The views are so beautiful! You’re sure to want to grab a pic.
Food and Shopping
A must stop on your Newport visit, is historic Thames Street. They have so many great restaurants, bars, and places to shop. I’m not a fan of sea food but if you are, you’re in the right place! Just keep in mind that if you go in the off season like me (in early October), a couple of the sea food restaurants will be closed for the season. I tried the Brick Alley Pub and had an amazing burger! I talked to my server and confirmed they had gluten-free buns and she helped me pick a gluten-free side. I parked in a lot right across from Brick Alley Pub and was able to validate the parking by shopping at one of the souvenir shops on the street. If you come during summer, you may want to take public transport as I was told that area gets very busy with pedestrians.
That morning, I had breakfast at The Corner Cafe, not too far from the beginning of Thames Street. It was a great little place that serves American style breakfast and had gluten-free options. I was able to park right in front.
White Horse Tavern is America’s oldest tavern and opened in 1673. Loyalists and British troops were quartered there during the British occupation of Newport during the American Revolution. The White Horse Tavern gets their fish local from the Narragansett Bay and are only open in the evenings for dinner. I wasn’t able to get a reservation in time so it’s on my list to do on my next visit! Tell me in the comments if you were able to make it and how you liked it!
Where I stayed
I stayed at The Carriage House Inn Newport. My room was huge (and I’m from Texas)! Not sure if all of the rooms are the large. I booked a room with 2 double beds. They had free parking and the man at the front desk was nice and full of great suggestions on where to eat. I asked to do a late checkout but he said they don’t do that. It wasn’t a big deal. It gave me time to drive around and refuel my rental car before driving to the Warwick airport the next day. It was a nice and quiet area at an affordable price and I would stay there again. I booked it and all my other hotels through Hotels.com. This is not a sponsored post but Hotels.com if you’re reading this you should totally sponsor me!
Tours
There are so many tours you can take from boat rides with mimosas, helicopter rides, and the trolley ride I took that allows you to see all of the island, while listening to fun facts. My trolley tour was great! I booked it through Trip Advisor and it was about $46 and 3 hours long. Our guide was funny and had a lot of historical facts. We pasted by Jay Leno’s mansion. Jay Leno was hosting Newport’s annual luxury car event that week. Because we all arrived on time for the tour, we had extra time to make a stop right on Ocean Drive and to get down and take photos. We passed by lots of other mansions, the Wharf, the International Tennis Hall of Fame. All the scenery was beautiful! We learned that the first cottage was built by the Jones family. Everyone else that decided to come build their cottages after were…you guessed it, keeping up with the Joneses. This meant every mansion built after “had to be” bigger and more extravagant. And now your learned something new 😉
My Final Thoughts and Taylor Swift
Newport was my final stop of my New England Trip. I landed in Hartford, CT, drove up to the Berkshires in Massachusetts then back to Connecticut, stayed for about 4 days exploring all of Connecticut, and spent the last of my trip in Newport, Rhode Island. My next trip to Newport will be much longer! I completely fell in love with this area!
I’ll write another post about my journey through all of these cities/states and my drive by Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island mansion on the way to Newport. I hope you have a fun gluten-free adventure on your next seaside getaway to Newport, Rhode Island!
