Top attractions in Newport, Rhode Island: What a cool city by the coast and one of our favorite places on the east coast!
Mark Twain: “Newport, Rhode Island, that breeding place-that stud farm, so to speak-of aristocracy; aristocracy of the American type.”
Back in the good old 1980’s when there was no internet, the only way we could learn about a faraway place was usually through popular media, like television, print media (magazines, newspapers), or word of mouth. We couldn’t simply turn on our smartphones or tablets to get information in an instant, like we’re doing these days.
Although the internet age has brought about the best & the easiest way to access information like never before, I, a Generation X child of the 80’s, sometimes get nostalgic for the past (just sometimes) where faraway places really did feel exotic. As a child growing up in New York City, just about anywhere outside the city felt so far and exotic.
Encountering new places on a magazine, a newspaper advertisements, or television ads made my mind imagine and wonder what they are really like. I believe the mind is still our greatest tool for making us imagine a different & and a better world, than our typically mundane reality.
We like to imagine what it would be like to experience a new place with new stimuli everywhere. What would our lives be without experiencing new things and places? Our minds will wither away and die from lack of new and interesting stimuli…
Newport, Rhode Island, was one of those exotic places that I wondered about for years. It was, and still is , a city full of huge mansions, rich folks, and beautiful scenery I could only dream of. It wasn’t until I was well into my late twenties that I finally got to visit this beautiful city by the ocean.
On my first trip to Newport, a work colleague of my brother, offered to pay for the day trip and to sweeten the deal, we even took his car. The only condition was that I drive, and be a tour guide for the day. Despite never seeing the city previously myself, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse. I mean, a trip to a new place with someone else picking up the tab??? Sign me up!
We took the usual route to Newport (the ubiquitous I-95) and spent a day walking around the city gawking at huge, stately mansions, eating tasty seafoods, and even stopping at a racino (casino & race track in one place) for some adult fun.
It was a memorable, fun filled day, and I was longing to see the city again as years went by. It would take close to 30 years to again see this magnificent city by the sea.
This time around, my wife and I were staying fairly close by in a small fishing village called Fairhaven in Massachusetts. At just over 30 miles to get to the city (vs over 170 miles NYC to Newport), we took full advantage of our Airbnb rental’s close proximity to this city.
Summer traffic, anywhere near the coast on the east coast, can be horrendous. We experienced it while spending two months living in Maine, as well as living close to twenty years in New York City. Getting to Newport, was no exception.
A typical 32 mile drive should take around 40 minutes, but that wasn’t to be. The closer we got to Newport, traffic backed up, all doing the same thing, that is, get to Newport!
We were almost bumper to bumper, but that is the price of admission. If you can’t handle the summer traffic there, you probably shouldn’t go there during the peak summer season.
After braving the heavy traffic into town, almost crawling at each intersection, we finally made it into the city. These attractions below are some of our favorites in the city:
- King Park
- Brenton Point State Park
Located at the southwestern end of Newport, Brenton Point State Park is a popular destination for locals and tourists alike. This was our original destination when we were heading to the city, before we made our impromptu stopover at the King Park above.
As we got closer to the park, the views got better and better. The iconic rocky cliffs were visible, bringing the point home that we were indeed in New England.
As we passed the rich people part of the city with their million dollar homes with water views, we noticed parking was at a premium until we got to the Brenton Point State Park. Thankfully, the state park had plenty of parking spots for the non-rich folks like us, with wonderful access to the ocean just across the road.
As we pulled into the park, we immediately saw kite enthusiasts flying their kites high into the blue New England skies. There were easily 10+ enthusiasts working their craft, using the breezy wind provided free by nature, at this part of the city.
Once we parked our car, we walked across the road to properly check out the ocean, of course. Newport has some of the most spectacular ocean views we’ve seen anywhere, familiar in that the ocean (Atlantic Ocean) is the same we have been seeing along various cities on the east coast like Ocean City, Atlantic City, Myrtle Beach, but also different in that those rocky cliffs are totally unique to New England.
We took our time taking in the scenery, sniffing the briny ocean (it smelled that day like there were more seaweeds than we were used to) and seeing far out into the ocean. Wow, it sure was nice to be back in Newport after all these years…
Views were spectacular, nice cooling breeze were providing relief from the hot summer sun, and we were living in the moment. What’s not to like about the ocean with views this unique and beautiful?
After several minutes of walking around the ocean, we headed back to the park to see the rest of it. The views were definitely helped by the park’s awesome location right at the corner of the Aquidneck Island, which Newport is located in.
At the tip of the park, we saw the Portuguese Discovery Monument, a tribute to Portuguese discovers of the Golden Age of maritime exploration spanning from the 15th to the 16th century. Knowing a restroom might be hard to come by, we used the convenient public restroom at the park before moving on to our next destination, the Cliff Walk.
- Cliff Walk
Cliff Walk is a 3.5 mile public access trail along the coast that offers views of the Gilded Age mansions on one side, and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. This is quite possibly our favorite attraction at Newport as it’s absolutely stunning to walk around.
Sure, the stately mansions are nice, but these days, I’m more attuned to beauty of nature, rather than man made stuff. Cliff Walk is almost untouched by man, and it offers a totally unique views anywhere, with the rocky cliffs the absolute best feature out of all of them.
As we left Brenton Point State Park heading east and north along the famous Ocean Avenue, we started to see the beginning of Cliff Walk. Views of huge waves crashing along the rocky shoreline is spectacular anytime of the year, and seeing the beautiful, upscale waterfront homes/mansions made the drive rewarding.
We had to pull off on the shoulders few times to properly see the amazing scenery along the way, like these below:
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| Somewhere along Ocean Avenue |
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| Awesome beauty |
We kept going along Ocean Avenue, looking for a suitable parking spot to hike a portion of Cliff Walk. Traffic was bumper to bumper as we neared Cliff Walk Ochre Point. We were unable to get a parking spot along Webster St, so we made a U-turn and went back the same way about a block or two.
We found one along Ochre Point Avenue, right in front of Salve Regina University. After parking, we walked back two blocks to enter Cliff Walk Ochre Point.
It was a busy day with throngs of fellow tourists (and locals) walking along the Cliff Walk. We briefly glanced at some of those beautiful mansions, but we were actually more interested in walking the famous Cliff Walk.
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| Along Cliff Walk |
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| Beautiful mansion |
We eventually ran into the popular Narragansett Ave/40 Steps to walk down the stone stairs. Place was packed, and we waited our turn to descend those stairs. Wow, what a view!
We got to the bottom of those stairs then took our time walking around the rocky shores. We saw several fishermen lazily casting their fishing rods into the ocean and we saw someone swimming in the ocean right in front of us.
It was just a perfect summer day in Newport and they knew how to enjoy life! Cool.
We spent several minutes taking in everything surrounding us. We were so happy we finally got to walk at least a part of the famous Cliff Walk. We had never done it, but we totally fell in love with the place. This is a must visit attraction that should be on your list of places to visit in Newport!
- Bowen’s Wharf
Bowen’s Wharf, located on Newport’s waterfront, is one of the most popular destinations in Newport. It boasts a lively harbor area with over 30 restaurants/bars/shops with plenty of opportunities to people watch.
We were drawn in by this area as we passed through town to get to Brenton Point State Park further south. I had researched a suitable place to park prior to our visit, and found the area near Newport Lobster Shack on Washington Street, a perfect location for that purpose.
After parking, we noticed a very pungent, fishy smell wafting through the air. Yup, we were definitely near the ocean.
We paid for two hours of parking, then walked towards Bowen’s Wharf. America’s Cup Avenue, the main thoroughfare along Newport’s waterfront, beckoned us with its wide roads with ever better walkways that were clean and well maintained.
We encountered Perrotti Park and the Newport High-Speed ferry along the waterfront as soon as we turned right on America’s Cup Avenue. We stopped to see the ferry traverse through the waters, then sat under a shaded tree to get a feel for the place.
Park was busy, with all kinds of people enjoying a beautiful sunny day in summer. There were cacophony of people, especially the young ones, happily running around and screaming in delight immersed in their own little games of hide & seek.
We used the convenient public restroom at the park, then continued onwards towards Bowen’s Wharf, just 2 blocks away. We arrived in no time, fully aware that this was indeed, a very popular spot.
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| Perrotti Park/waterfront |
We walked through the wharf, checking out different restaurants’ menus and various shops. We inwardly gawked at the crazy prices on some of these shops/restaurants, kind of glad that we’re minimalists these days, not needing to buy souvenirs and what I consider fairly useless stuff to remember the place by.
I know I’ve done plenty of that, buying up those kitschy, ubiquitous magnets (and other stuff like t-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, flags, etc.) they sell at just about every gift shop at every tourist hotspot. I’m glad we moved on from those frivolous spending days.
We’re both perfectly content living with less. We definitely feel free living this way…Bottom line: The less you spend, the quicker you can become financially independent. It worked for us, why not you?
After touring the area, we continued along the main road and found other smaller wharfs along the way, like Hammetts Wharf. Although not as popular as Bowen’s Wharf, these wharfs do provide a little place of respite, a place to relax under a shade to catch a breath.
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| View from Hammetts Wharf |
- Washington Square/Eisenhower Park/Thames Street
We enjoyed Newport so much that we decided to revisit the city one more time. Whereas our second trip to the city took over 20 years, our third trip took less than a week, thanks to our proximity to Newport from Massachusetts.
On our second trip, we decided to walk around the area across from the waterfront, where all the buildings seemed to be huddled together. We were drawn in by the tall, stately government buildings near Washington Square with a park right in front of it.
We later found out the government building was the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office and the District/Superior Court. Another building, even older looking than this one, was the Old Colony House -State House, which was built in 1739! Very cool.
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| Washington Square |
We walked along the busy Washington Square, passing bunch of shops and restaurants. We continued east few blocks and got to the Eisenhower Park, already seeing plenty of foot traffic from locals and visitors.
The beautiful government buildings near the square added to the ambiance, and we kind of felt like we were in Washington D.C. We imagined walking the same streets as the early colonists some 200+ years ago.
Streets were well maintained, very clean, and we felt safe walking around. That is not always the case in some cities…
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| Old Colony House-State House |
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| Attorney General’s office/District Court |
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| View of Washington Square from Eisenhower Park |
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| Thames Street |
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| Trinity Church |
We continued our tour of downtown area by walking along Thames Street, another area full of bars/restaurants/shops. There were even more people packed along here than Washington Square. Newport is indeed a popular destination.
We came upon a beautiful Trinity Church just couple blocks away. This seemed to be one of the more popular areas for picnicking and relaxing. We certainly joined in the others and relaxed under a shaded tree to take a breather.
Word to the wise: take breaks when you can, drink when you can, and find a shade when you can, especially during the hot summer months! Despite Newport’s location right near the ocean, it still gets hot after walking for 30 minutes under a blistering sun.
Honorable mention:
- International Pocket Cafe
Located in Middletown, about a 15 minute drive from downtown Newport, this place was so good, we ended up eating 4 meals! Selling delicious Middle Eastern foods like chicken shawarma, falafel, baba ganoush, tabouli, this place is highly recommended if you’re looking for a great tasting meal on a domestic light beer budget, kind of like us.
We initially ordered just 2 entrees, but ended up ordering more to eat as dinner on our first trip. We stopped over and did the same thing on our return trip as they were so good.
With friendly people, inexpensive food, and most importantly delicious offerings, this has become our go-to place for food near Newport. Sure, we could’ve eaten at any number of eateries along the main road, but most of them charge exorbitant prices to eat there.
We’ve eaten at enough expensive places in our lifetime. We don’t need to post on social media what we eat every single meal. Live at your own pace, don’t live for others…
We like to balance things out: save money when we can and eat at fast-casual restaurants, treat ourselves once in awhile at expensive sit-down restaurants.
In life, you can’t have everything. Be grateful for what you do have, and stop comparing yourself to others. That, is one way to be happier!
In conclusion:
My first trip to Newport was done in a typical fashion: that is, get there quickly as we can, see the neighborhood quickly, see the sights quickly, then grab something to eat. With only a day to see the place, this was best we could do at the time.
On our second (and third) trips, we were staying nearby which made everything so much better. We didn’t need to rush, really spending a good amount of time on popular attractions. Although it took over 20 years to revisit this beautiful city by the sea, we’re just glad we got to see it again after all these years.
Newport has so much to offer with world class scenery, attractions, history, and plenty of places to explore. We will definitely be revisiting this city in the future, and we highly recommend this city to anyone who loves to travel, period.
Thank you for reading and happy trails!
Jake
Wandering Money Pig
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