Newport travel guide

Newport Mansions

The Bellevue Avenue Historical District in Newport, Rhode Island, is home to some of the grandest, most ostentatious mansions in the American architectural canon. Eleven in total, including Kingscote, Marble House, and The Breakers, these enormous residences are important milestones in tracing the development of America's social history and seven of the properties are now National Historic Landmarks.

Ranging in style and period, from Carpenter Gothic to Colonial, Victorian to Gilded Age, visitors to Rhode Island have the Preservation Society of Newport County to thank for their tireless work in preserving and protecting these cultural treasures.

The Society runs expert guided tours of the mansions, during which visitors are educated about each property's architecture, interior, landscape, and social history. Consistently voted as one of the Ocean State's must-see attractions, visitors to Newport should not pass up the opportunity to experience these majestic mansions first-hand.

International Tennis Hall of Fame

The Tennis Hall of Fame Museum in Newport is an inspiration for fans of the sport. But even those who don't follow tennis will still enjoy visiting this historic establishment, which served as a premier gathering place of Newport society at the turn of the 20th century. Built around a large interior piazza for lawn games, turrets and verandas festoon the building commissioned by wealthy publisher James Gordon Bennett. Originally a private social and sports club, it became known as the Newport Casino. The venue now hosts professional tournaments, while also opening the courts to the public for play by reservation. The Hall of Fame museum presents an exciting timeline of the sport's history, from its beginnings to today's superstars. The collection contains more than 7,000 objects, including historic tennis equipment, period clothing, and a tennis library.

Touro Synagogue

The oldest synagogue still standing in the United States, the Touro Street building was designed by Peter Harrison and dedicated in 1763. The synagogue has, in its time, also been used as a venue for town meetings. George Washington, who visited Newport in 1790, attended a meeting in the synagogue and afterwards sent a letter to the congregation, which has become regarded as a classical expression of religious liberty in America. A copy of the letter is displayed on the wall of the synagogue, which has been designated as a National Historical Site.

Museum of Newport History

Visitors interested in history will find the Museum of Newport History an excellent place to begin a sojourn in the city. The museum offers a comprehensive overview, utilising decorative arts, artefacts of everyday life, graphics, old photographs, and audio-visual programmes to bring the past to life. The Newport Historical Society maintains the museum, which is housed in a restored 1772 building in Thames Street, off Touro Street. Highlights are an interactive computer tour of Newport's historic district and a video tour of historic Bellevue Avenue presented onboard a reproduction of an 1890s omnibus.

Block Island

Block Island lies barely 12 miles (19km) from the shore of the modern east coast. A tiny treasure island, peaceful pleasure and laidback relaxation are favourite pastimes and it's virtually unspoiled by modern progress.

Time seems to have stopped on Block Island, settling comfortably into the Victorian era. This is particularly evident in its main urban concentration known as Old Harbor. Ferries from Rhode Island arrive several times a day.

Quaint architecture, spectacular views, and delicious native seafood abounds. Charming inns, beautiful beaches, and gorgeous bike trails make up the entire tourist infrastructure that lures holidaymakers in droves every summer. It's also perfect for long lazy days spent in the water beneath warm sunshine.

Winter brings some savage storms, making life fairly tough for the 1000-odd permanent residents. Much of their living depends on warmly welcoming the annual influx of summer visitors, as well as a strong sense of close community.

Named after a Dutch navigator who chartered the island in 1614, Block Island is only seven miles (11km) long and three miles (5km) wide. It has a unique array of flora and fauna, varied terrain of hills and freshwater ponds, and the spectacular southern Mohegan Bluffs rising 200 feet (61m) above the sea.

National Museum of American Illustration

Established in 1998, the National Museum of American Illustration is devoted exclusively to American illustration artwork. The museum is housed in the beautiful mansion of Vernon Court, with its Gilded Age architectural style synonymous with the Golden Age of American illustration.

The museum's American Imagist Collection exhibits work by Normal Rockwell, James Montgomery Flagg, Maxfield Parrish, and more. The impact of these illustrators on subsequent American artists cannot be underestimated.

Working in the days before television, their art circulated in all major print publications. It was not only the primary medium through which members of the American public were exposed to images beyond their everyday lives, it also created a host of iconic characters.

These characters have formed an integral part of the American aesthetic ever since, such as the iconic Uncle Sam. Don't miss out on this opportunity to appreciate some of the art that was essential to the birth of modern American culture as we know it.