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What to Do in Rhode Island: Top Tourist Destinations (2022)

If you’d like to learn more about Rhode Island’s best places to visit, you’ve come to the right place. With awe-inspiring mansions, stunning sea views, and fascinating museums and libraries, the tiny state of Rhode Island punches well above its weight and offers a rich array of sights.

Keep reading for an itinerary that lays out what to see in Rhode Island on a budget during a long weekend in November. You can do something similar for most of the year. Be sure to check the opening hours for the main attractions to ensure they’re not closed before you arrive.

When to Go to Rhode Island

The best time to visit Rhode Island depends on your priorities. You’ll enjoy the longest hours for top sightseeing attractions and the best weather during late spring, summer, and early fall. Naturally, you’ll have more company from other tourists during these times, especially in the summer.

Rhode Island, and especially the Newport area, makes for a fine getaway at any time of year. Note that some of the historic Vanderbilt mansions are closed for the season by November, and it’s likely that only The Breakers, The Elms, and Marble House will be open then. However, you’ll see far fewer tourists during shoulder season (spring and fall) and off season (winter).

It’s wise to book tickets to the Gilded Age estates well in advance if you’ll be visiting during peak season. Expect to pay around $25-30 to see one property and $60 for up to five properties. If you’re visiting during shoulder season or the low season, you might save more money by buying a winter passport to the mansions that are open at the Newport Visitor Center.

Overview of 4-Day Itinerary

Here’s a quick list of fun things to see and so on a 4-day itinerary in November. Visiting the mansions is a Rhode Island must do during your trip.

• John Brown House (Providence)
• Providence Athenaeum (Providence)
• Newport History Museum and Viking Trolley Tour (Newport)
• The Breakers Mansion (Newport)
• The Elms Mansion (Newport)
• Marble House Mansion (Newport)
• Cliff Walk (Newport)
• Historic Walk (Newport)

Now let’s explore this itinerary laying out fun things to do in Rhode Island in greater depth.

Day 1: Providence, Rhode Island – What to Do

Arrival by Plane or Train

If you’re flying in or taking the train, it makes sense to visit Providence, Rhode Island first. It’s an easy landing spot because it hosts a major airport and train station.

The main airport is T.F. Green International Airport (PVD), located in Warwick about 10 minutes from downtown Providence.

For those arriving by train, Providence’s Amtrack/MBTA station (PVD) is located at 100 Gaspee Street.

Upon arrival in Providence, pick up your rental car.

John Brown House

If there’s still daylight left, you can make good use of the afternoon with a visit to the John Brown House Museum, built in 1786-1788. John Quincy Adams called the house the most magnificent and elegant private mansion on the Continent. Note that it typically closes at 4:00 p.m.

At the house, pick up the self-guided audio tour and start your tour the rooms, passing many somber paintings and statues. Visit the parlors and the dining room, where John Brown and others once dined on turtles.

You’ll learn some interesting anecdotes. For example, John Locke popularized the use of alphabet blocks. In the 18th century, many people thought babies should be up standing and walking around like adults as early as possible, and that’s why wheeled walkers became popular.

Disease was omnipresent in the 1780s when the home was built, with yellow fever being of particular concern. The afflicted would vomit black blood and have yellowish skin and eyes. Cholera, diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid, typhus, and whooping cough were among the many other disease threats of the time, and most families would lose at least one child to sickness.

Walk into the bathroom, and you’ll see an impressive rib cage shower and green porcelain wall tiles depicting classical themes. You’ll also see a sick room, kids’ room, bedrooms, and butler’s pantry in the house.

Dinner at Hemenway’s

For dinner, consider heading over to the renowned seafood restaurant Hemenway’s. A garage nearby charges a couple of dollars per hour for parking. At Hemenway’s, you might try the lobster bisque with crackers and a seafood casserole with lobster, scallops, shrimp, cod, Monterey Jack, and asparagus. It comes with a few slices of whole grain, olive, and sourdough bread.

Providence Athenaeum

Walk off some of that big meal by heading over to the Providence Athenaeum, one of the oldest libraries in America. Athenaem, by the way, refers to a temple of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom. The library is chock full of modern and historic books, some of which occupy shelves on an upper-level mezzanine. Sometimes the basement hosts special events like whiskey tastings.

Take the self-guided tour of this historic building with the help of strategically placed information displays.

In the 1840s, this was where Edgar Allan Poe liked to hang out with his girlfriend, Sarah Whitman.

You might find a special exhibit here with selected belongings, photos, and signed letters of Walt Whitman, with a focus on his Leaves of Grass. The library has an exceptional rare books collection, including a study of Egypt that Napoleon commissioned and an original copy of John Audubon’s Birds of America. You’ll see a bronze bust of H.P. Lovecraft and classical statuary.

Drive to Newport

Return to the garage and drive an hour south to Newport. Check in at your hotel or Airbnb. I stayed at the Mainstay Hotel, which had a good value suite at $80/night. My bedroom adjoined a small living room with a kitchen and refrigerator.

If you’d like to save money by doing some of your own meal preparation, Aldi and Stop and Shop are nearby. At the Stop and Shop, you might encounter an autonomous robot named Marty that roams the aisles looking for debris or spills to report to staff!

Day 2: Newport, Rhode Island – Places to Visit

Corner Café and Newport Visitor Center

Wake up early and drive over to Corner Café. If you arrive by 8:00 a.m. or so, you’ll probably be able to snag a parking space right in front. The eggs, toast, and potatoes with coffee are priced very affordably.

Walk a few blocks to the west, passing several historic buildings, and arrive at the Newport Visitor Center. It’s well worth your time to get oriented to the city here. One of the helpful staffers can give you excellent advice and printed materials, including a Newport, Rhode Island Tourist Map. Here you can buy a winter passport to the open mansions (only $35 when I visited) and a Viking Trolley Tour ticket ($20 when I visited).

Newport History Museum

It’s likely that you’ll have some time before the next scheduled Viking Trolley Tour. While you wait, take a look at the Newport History Museum. The highlight is the mystery of the old stone tower. Over the years many have speculated about its origins, with Vikings, Chinese, Knights Templar, and Benedict Arnold the Elder all suspected of being responsible for it.

The museum’s bookstore has some interesting selections, including a book called Quackery, which has descriptions of some of the craziest treatments for disease in history.

Viking Trolley Tour

Aim to take the 2-hour Viking Trolley Tour around late morning. As you ride, your guide will provide remarks about the history of Newport, starting in 1639 when it was founded by those seeking to escape religious intolerance in Massachusetts. Rum was big business back then, and Newport played a role in the triangular trade, whereby rum was traded for slaves. The British occupied Newport for three years during the Revolutionary War, then by French allies under Rochambeau.

You’ll hear about the Gilded Age from the late 1800s until the early 1900s, when the super-rich competed to outdo each other with increasingly lavish mansions. The Gilded Age drew to a close in 1913, with the introduction of personal income taxes.

Touro Synagagoue (the oldest in synagogue in the United States), the Redwood Library, Eisenhower House (the summer White House for President Eisenhower), and Hammersmith Farm (the summer White House for President Kennedy) will be among the next stops. You’ll also see a house that belongs to Judge Judy and Fort Adams.

After the trolley tour, find a good restaurant for lunch. Brick Alley Pub serves a good meal of clam chowder, hamburger, and mashed potatoes, but it can get crowded. They gave me my clam chowder free of charge because of the long wait for my food.

Day 3: Newport Gilded Age Mansions

Mansion – The Breakers

Plan to arrive early at the first of the Newport mansions, The Breakers, for the 9:00 a.m. tour. Railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt II, who made a fortune of $100 million, built this stunning mansion in 1895. It’s a vast estate, with 70 rooms and 300 windows sprawling over 138,300 feet. Mansions like these had what was then state-of-the-art technology such as hot running water and electricity.

I’d recommend that you plan to spend all morning here.

The whole house built in two years, and was called The Breakers because of the ocean’s waves breaking against nearby cliffs. The original house was wood but tragically burned down 1892. Its replacement was all brick, stone, and steel.

The Breakers was built during the Gilded Age, a time of great economic growth that made some lucky individuals into millionaires. Many consider “Gilded Age” a derogatory term. Mark Twain coined the phrase in a reference to the appearance of great wealth that covered up staggering inequality in the society of the late 1800s. If something has a bright and shiny exterior that masks something baser and darker, that’s no compliment. The age came to an end with growing taxes, wars, and fewer available servants.

The interior of The Breakers is astounding. You’ll find that just about every square foot from floor to ceiling is richly adorned, with marble and gilded woods everywhere.

As you walk about the estate, you’ll probably notice many acorns—a Vanderbilt family symbol. You may also see artwork of dolphins—an ancient symbol of hospitality.

Look at the Dining Room. The Vanderbilts used this spectacular room to entertain those who they considered to be the top 400 members of high society. Each of these members in turn was expected to throw lavish dinner parties and balls. A Great Triumvirate of social coordinators kept the system running. Liveried servants would deliver invitations to such events to those deemed worthy on fancy letters.

Speaking of servants, the mansion once employed 40 servants to maintain the estate and assist with these events. Each day, they would chop up 20 bouquets of roses to decorate the rooms. Most of the home’s servants were immigrants from Europe. Life was rough for them, and they generally had to work 18-hour days seven days a week.

Life was far easier and more extravagant for the owners. They enjoyed sumptuous meals and balls. Newport women changed their outfits seven times per day. The staircases were made to be especially short to make movement easier for them when wearing long gowns.

Check out the Billiard Room, adorned to look like an ancient Roman room with marble and mosaics.

Proceed into the 2.5 story Great Hall.

Inside the Sitting Room, you’ll learn about the mysterious silvery metal covering the walls that never needed polishing.

What was it?

Platinum.

Enter the Music Room, covered in red and gold. Check out the beautiful library with coffered ceilings and Circassian walnut panels from Russia.

Proceed to Vanderbilt Hall, which was built in honor of William Henry Vanderbilt II, who died of typhoid during his junior year at Yale University.

You’ll see an intriguing marble bathtub built to look like a Roman sarcophagus. The tub had to be filled and drained several times before the water was warm enough to use. Of the bathroom’s four faucets, two were for salt water; at the time, people thought salt water was best for bathing.

You’ll see Gertrude Vanderbilt’s room, which is covered in pink and green floral patterns. She went on to found the Whitney Art Museum in New York.

A few of the other notable sights in the mansion include a sitting bath (a bathing chair used for washing the lower half of one’s body), a stained glass window by LaFarge, and 17^th-century tapestries depicting Alexander the Great and the family of Darius paying homage to him after the Battle of Issus.

Take a look at the kitchen. Here a team of cooks once worked on its giant cooking surface. It appeared in an older version of the movie The Great Gatsby.

On your way out, make sure to spend some time admiring the exterior of The Breakers and the well-kept grounds.

We’re lucky that such places still exist, as they were almost eradicated. In the 1940s, at least 20 Gilded Age mansions were destroyed. Historic preservation wasn’t a priority then, taxes were very high, and many saw the mansions as outdated. There were no laws to protect them until 1966.

Find a good spot for lunch and get ready to visit The Elms.

Mansion – The Elms

In the afternoon, make your way over to the second mansion, The Elms. Pick up the audioguide and start exploring. This grand estate belonged to coal magnate Edwin Berwind, whose coal supplied the navy for many years.

Edwin Berwind and his wife Herminie used The Elms for only 8-12 weeks out of the year. July-September was ball season for the prominent families of Newport, and they would spend months preparing and cleaning ahead of time. This was an expensive business, and would often cost $300,000 a season to put on the expected entertainment for others.

In its heyday, The Elms had some of the most advanced technology available. In 1901, electric lighting was a luxury. Berwind had a staggering 1,551 electric sconces installed throughout the home. However, these were dim bulbs, at just 10 watts each.

Enter the Berwind Library. It’s a stately room, with dark woods and dark reds. You’ll hear more about the life and times of Berwind on the audioguide here.

The Drawing Room is at the opposite end of the style spectrum. It’s an airy, pastel-colored room with flowery Rococo elements, previously used for art collection. The ceiling has a painting of Dawn and Flora. A portrait of Maria Hatfield Cosway hangs on the wall. Thomas Jefferson, after he became a widower, had a big crush on her and broke his wrist jumping over a fence while trying to impress her.

Enter the superb Dining Room, decorated with assorted marbles, Venetian paintings, and a bust of Roman Emperor Caracalla. Look up to see coffered green and gold ceilings with sculptures of lions and crosses. A painting depicts three mortally wounded men and a winged angel who pleads with Fate to spare them as she is about to cut the threads that sever their lives. On the opposite wall is a painting of someone becoming the Doge of Venice.

Each guest at dinner here would receive a handwritten menu at their chair. Footmen in white livery uniforms would stand behind each chair. Each guest had to hold on tight to their plate so footmen didn’t snatch it away as the meal proceeded from course to course.

Exit to the Main Hall. Here giant paintings depict the life of prominent Roman General Scipio, who declined Rome’s honors, claiming that commanding his troops was reward enough. Berwind was a great admirer of Scipio’s virtues.

Look at some of the servant areas, which are decorated much more simply with plain white subway tile on walls. Upstairs are the bedrooms of 16 members of the household staff. The servants had a social hierarchy of their own and ate in separate areas. The butler, the chef, and the housekeeper were at the top of the pecking order.

You’ll hear the story of Ernest Birch, an Englishman who became butler for the Berwind family at the age of 20. When Berwind died, he left Birch a sum of $5,000—worth more than $85,000 now. Birch and his wife were lucky, as that was a lot of money during the Great Depression.

See the cold kitchen, which had a zinc table that repelled mold and germs. The room contains an annunciatior, an old callbox used to summon servants. The kitchen made food on an industrial scale. You’ll see a giant copper container with a spigot for soup.

Day 4: Newport – Cliff Walk and Gilded Age Mansions cont’d

I recommend taking a short break from the mansions this morning to avoid “mansion fatigue” after visiting two the preceding day.

For breakfast, go to Bishop’s Diner and try eggs, toast, potatoes, and a delightful Rhode Island delicacy called Johnny Cakes. These are made from a special kind of cornmeal, cooked like flapjacks, and then coated with butter.

Cliff Walk

Try to park your car at the Forty Steps by 8:00 a.m. to walk a portion of the 3.5-mile long Cliff Walk. On this National Recreational Trail, you’ll enjoy majestic views of waves crashing against rocky cliffs and beaches as well as views of the backyards of several great estates and Salve Regina University.

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Mansion – Marble House

Aim to arrive at the Marble House by 10:00 a.m. This grand estate, built between 1888 and 1892, has over 500,000 cubic feet of marble. Per Newport tradition, this 50-room mansion was dubbed a “cottage.”

The Vanderbilts built a very successful transportation empire, and under William had a massive fortune of $200 million, which was close to  $200 billion in today’s dollars—with no income tax!

Vanderbilt gave his wife Alva this house as a gift for her 39th birthday along with $11 million to furnish it. Built to impress, the house was inspired by Versailles and The Parthenon. Notice the soft gold and cream-colored marble on the floors and walls. The Vanderbilts stayed here for only six weeks out of the year, and rotated between homes in South Carolina, Long Island, Cuba, Florida, and Europe.

Some of the tapestries hanging here were made in 1791 as the French Revolution was underway, and depict the assassination of a French Protestant admiral and the axe murder of a merchant rebelling against authority. The subject matter understandably made King Louis XVI nervous. He was guillotined two years later.

The Dining Room contains rose-colored marble from Algeria (incidentally, another nice place to visit in north Africa).

Each chair weighs 75-100 pounds and had to be moved by footmen. They’re made of bronze covered in gold. The gilded threads in the red velvet chairs give them an iridescent look. A lot of work must have gone into these; each chair contains two miles of gilded thread.

Table service was done Russian style, with dishes served sequentially and one at a time by footmen wearing powdered wigs. This is in contrast to the French style, in which all of the courses are brought out and displayed at the same time.

Guests would first have oysters. Soup and a side dish would follow. Subsequent courses included fish, meat and vegetables, the entree, punch, sherbet, a roast, salads, and dessert. Plates would be whisked away quickly.

As you proceed through the house, listen on your audioguide to the rags to riches story of Alva Vanderbilt. She was born into a southern family in Alabama that lost everything in the Civil War, but she married into the Vanderbilt family. She did quite well, since most women of the time had to be teachers, nuns, prostitutes, or wives.

Enter the Gothic Room, and listen to the story of Alva’s daughter, Consuelo. Consuelo accepted a marriage proposal from the Duke of Marlborough (Churchill). The cash-strapped duke wanted money. The Vanderbilts wanted royal titles. So each party thought the marriage a useful exchange.

Look at the Grand Salon, which is covered entirely in 22-carat gold. It has 250,000 layers of gold leaf one inch thick. The room contains a statue of Apollo with rays of sunlight emanating from his face, which was the emblem of Louis XIV, The Sun King. You’ll find symbols of beauty, wealth, and power throughout the mansion.

Proceed to the William Vanderbilt room on the second floor. This floor has seven bedrooms and six bathrooms. In 1899, after the death of Cornelius Vanderbilt, William took over as head of the financial empire but slowly moved it over to professional financiers. William said inherited wealth was “the key to unhappiness” and meant the death of ambition.

Look at Alva Vanderbilt’s pink and white bedroom, decorated with statues of cherubs and stucco. Alva was a character. Unusually, Alva divorced her husband William, which was unheard of at the time. She married her former husband’s friend Oliver Belmont and moved to Belmont’s mansion at Belcourt down the street. Alva was a pioneer of suffrage, claimed God was a woman, and later in life offered tours of the Marble House for $5 (a little more than $100 in today’s dollars). She also managed to rub quite a few people the wrong way, from her French chef to superintendent Gilmour.

Explore Consuelo’s bedroom. It’s a relatively simple room decorated in red and gold. The Duchess of Marlborough also ended her marriage after 26 years. Also unusual for the time, her ex-husband got alimony.

Next visit Harold Vanderbilt’s trophy room. Harold became head of Vanderbilt University and led its desegregation effort.

The mansion contains only one guest room. Most of the time, even this was unnecessary, as guests usually got their own hotel rooms or rented their own houses.

Even in the summer, the mansion could offer ice cream. The household staff arranged to have giant blocks of ice cut out of frozen ponds on a farm during the winter. They’d be shipped to the mansion, with the giant ice blocks separated from one another using sawdust. The ice could be used to make fancy ice cream, a rare luxury anywhere during the warm summers.

Explore the kitchen. It burned 30 tons of coal each season and its French chef was paid an astronomical salary of $10,000 per year (possibly $200,000 or more today).

Richard Morris Hunt designed this and other Vanderbilt homes, having been inspired by his travel through Loire Valley of France and ruined temples in Syria and Greece. He also was the designer of the Vanderbilts’ Biltmore Estate in Asheville (also worthy of a visit), built to look like a 16^th-century French chateau.

Historic Newport Walk

Spend the rest of your final afternoon walking around historic Newport. Take a look at the building that housed the Naval Academy in 1861-1865, a stone tower built by Benedict Arnold’s great grandpa in the 1600s, and the exterior of Kingscote Estate.

Check out the Redwood Athenaeum and Library. Housed inside a reddish sandstone classical building with columns, it charges a steep $10 entry fee. Inside are portraits of luminaries from the colonial, revolutionary, and 19th century periods. You can browse its holdings, which include 19th and early 20^th-century editions of the works of Herodotus, Procopius, and many others.

If You Have More Time – Other Tourist Places to See in Rhode Island

This itinerary about fun things to do in Rhode Island is geared toward shoulder season and off-season travel. However, visiting the state during the warmer summer months when days are longer and more tourist attractions are open will broaden your sightseeing horizons.

Consider visiting some or all of the following tourist places if you have more time in the state. Some of these are located in other desirable Rhode Island towns to visit not mentioned earlier.

• Hunter House (Newport Mansion)
• Isaac Bell House (Newport Mansion)
• Rosecliff (Newport Mansion)
• Chateau Ser Mer (Newport Mansion)
• Roger Williams Park Zoo (Providence)
• Brown University (Providence)
• Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge
• Rocky Point State Park (Warwick)
• Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge (Middletown)
• Mohegan Bluffs (Shoreham)

Best Places to Visit Near Rhode Island

If you have even more time in the area, consider visiting some of the great places near Rhode Island in New England. These travel destinations include central Vermont, southern Vermont, Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and Acadia National Park in Maine.