This article may include affiliate links. We may earn a small commission if you shop through them.
Two cities. One tiny state. More beauty, history, and very good oysters than you’ll know what to do with.
I go on an annual trip to Rhode Island each year, and I’ve learned that there are things there that you would never find in places like California. It’s quaint, but cool, elegant, but grounded, historic but also modern. There are so many faces to Rhode Island that it’s hard to take it all in.
It’s a state so small you can drive its length in an hour, yet somehow it contains multitudes: one of the most vibrant food cities on the East Coast, a string of gilded mansions that make Versailles feel like an overreach, and a coastal light that painters and wanderers have been chasing for centuries.
The formula is simple. Spend a day or two in Providence — eat, wander, repeat — then follow Narragansett Bay south to Newport, where the Atlantic unfolds and the Gilded Age never really ended. You won’t want to leave. That’s the point.
PROVIDENCE
WHERE TO STAY
THE DEAN HOTEL — Splurge Providence’s coolest address is also its most approachable. The Dean lives in a restored 1912 building in Downcity and gets everything right that boutique hotels usually overthink: rooms that are genuinely stylish without being precious, a basement speakeasy (The Magdalenae Room) that locals actually go to, and a lobby that hums with the right kind of energy. It’s bohemian in the way that feels lived-in rather than curated, which is exactly what Providence calls for. 122 Fountain St, Providence
THE BEATRICE HOTEL — Splurge A newer arrival on the Providence scene, the Beatrice pulls off an elegant, understated European feel in a city that rewards that kind of restraint. Art is taken seriously here — the collection throughout the hotel is worth pausing for. Rooms are quiet and well-appointed; the kind of place you actually sleep well. 15 Burnside St, Providence
GRADUATE PROVIDENCE — Save Part of the Graduate Hotels group, which has a talent for giving college towns a hotel they actually deserve. Stylish, reasonably priced, and perfectly located near Brown and the RISD Museum. A genuinely good deal in a city where good deals are harder to find than they used to be. 11 Dorrance St, Providence
WHAT TO DO
THE RISD MUSEUM — Free for members; modest admission otherwise Possibly the most underrated art museum in America. The Rhode Island School of Design’s collection is astonishing — Impressionist paintings, ancient Egyptian artifacts, a Japanese wooden Buddha the size of a small building — all housed in a series of connected buildings that make the scale feel intimate. Budget two hours, minimum. 224 Benefit St, Providence · risdmuseum.org
BENEFIT STREET — Free Called the “Mile of History” for good reason — one of the finest stretches of Colonial and Federal architecture in the country, running along the hill above downtown. Walk it slowly, heading north toward Brown’s campus. There’s no agenda here. That’s the whole point. College Hill, Providence
WATERFIRE — Free If your visit aligns with a WaterFire evening — check the schedule, it runs on select dates May through November — don’t skip it. Braziers of fire float across the rivers at the center of the city as music drifts through the dark. It sounds theatrical and it is. It’s also genuinely, inexplicably moving. waterfire.org for dates
WHERE TO EAT
OBERLIN — Splurge The best table in Providence right now. Chef Benjamin Sukle’s cooking is seasonal, disciplined, and quietly thrilling — the kind of menu where you order everything that sounds uncertain and are rewarded every time. The room is small and warm, the wine list is thoughtful. Book ahead. 186 Union St, Providence
CHEZ PASCAL — Mid-range A proper French bistro on the East Side, with a chalkboard menu that changes with the market and a room that feels like it was airlifted from a Paris side street. The charcuterie is made in-house. The steak frites are as good as they sound. Come for dinner; linger over the cheese course longer than you planned to. 960 Hope St, Providence
JULIAN’S — Save The bohemian brunch spot Providence has been leaning on for decades, and with good reason. Eclectic menu, big portions, art on every wall. Come for the huevos rancheros or whatever the specials board is offering. Cash-friendly, wallet-friendly, soul-friendly. 318 Broadway, Providence
ELLIE’S BAKERY — Save For morning. Impossibly good pastries, very serious coffee, and a light-drenched room that makes you want to cancel your plans and stay all day. The almond croissant has a cult following for good reason. Go early — they sell out. 61 Washington St, Providence
“Providence is what happens when a great food city, a great art school, and 300 years of history occupy the same few square miles.”
NEWPORT
WHERE TO STAY
THE VANDERBILT, AUBERGE RESORTS — Splurge There is nowhere else to stay in Newport if you’re doing it properly. A restored Gilded Age mansion run by Auberge Resorts, The Vanderbilt has the bones of a great house and the service to match: an indoor pool, an exceptional spa, and a restaurant that would hold its own in any city. Rooms blend period grandeur with contemporary restraint. 41 Mary St, Newport · aubergeresorts.com
THE CHANLER AT CLIFF WALK — Splurge Fourteen rooms perched directly on the Cliff Walk, each decorated in a different historic style. The views of the Atlantic from the terrace stop conversation entirely. A genuinely intimate property in a town that can otherwise feel like a parade. 117 Memorial Blvd, Newport
INN ON BELLEVUE — Save A charming, well-kept inn right on Bellevue Avenue — meaning you’re steps from the mansions, the Cliff Walk, and the best of Newport, for a fraction of the price of the grand hotels. Rooms are comfortable without being flashy, service is friendly and personal. The kind of place that reminds you that Newport existed before it became a luxury destination. Bellevue Ave, Newport
WHAT TO DO
THE PRESERVATION SOCIETY MANSIONS — Mid-range The Breakers is the obvious starting point — a 70-room Italian palazzo built for Cornelius Vanderbilt II that remains the most staggering private home ever constructed in America. But don’t stop there. Marble House, The Elms, and Rosecliff each tell a different story about the families who built them and the era that made such excess possible. Allow a full day. Combination tickets make visiting multiple mansions more economical. newportmansions.org
THE CLIFF WALK — Free Three and a half miles along the Atlantic, with the ocean on one side and the back lawns of the Gilded Age estates on the other. Go in the morning before the crowds arrive. Bring a jacket even in summer — the wind off Narragansett Bay will remind you exactly where you are. But if abuela has a hard time walking, keep in mind it’s a long walk! Dress for walking. Access from Memorial Blvd or Bellevue Ave, Newport
FIRST BEACH (EASTON’S BEACH) — Free (seasonal parking fee) Newport’s best public beach, a long crescent of sand at the northern end of the Cliff Walk with a Victorian-era carousel and a bathhouse that has been there since 1887. In the shoulder season it belongs almost entirely to you. 175 Memorial Blvd, Newport
BELLEVUE AVENUE & THE NEWPORT CASINO — Free to walk; modest museum admission The great Gilded Age boulevard, flanked by estate walls and carriage houses. The Newport Casino — now the International Tennis Hall of Fame — sits at its northern end: a Stanford White masterpiece and one of the finest examples of Shingle Style architecture anywhere. We had lunch here last year and I’m still thinking about the pasta. You’ll also recognize some of the grounds from HBO’s Gilded Age. Bellevue Ave, Newport
SAILING NEWPORT HARBOR — Splurge Newport’s relationship with sailing is existential — this is where America’s Cup history was written. A sunset sail on a classic 12-meter yacht is the way to understand why people have been coming here for 150 years. Several operators run excursions; the wooden boat options are worth seeking out. Newport Harbor, various operators
WHERE TO EAT
TALLULAH ON THAMES — Mid-range The restaurant Newport needed — locally sourced, genuinely creative, and lodged in a warm space on Thames Street that feels nothing like the tourist circuit a block away. The small plates rotate with what’s good at the moment. Arrive early or book ahead. 464 Thames St, Newport
THE DINING ROOM AT THE CHANLER — Splurge Dinner on the Cliff Walk, more or less. The Chanler’s restaurant serves refined New England cooking against a backdrop of Atlantic views. Unabashedly romantic. Perfect for a celebration, or simply because you’re in Newport and you can. 117 Memorial Blvd, Newport
FLO’S CLAM SHACK — Save An institution. A genuine, unpretentious Rhode Island clam shack with plastic trays, picnic tables, and a clam cake-and-chowder combo that has been making people extremely happy since 1936. No ambiance except the right kind. The fried clams are the real thing. Don’t miss this. 4 Wave Ave, Middletown (First Beach)
THE MOORING SEAFOOD KITCHEN & BAR — Mid-range A Newport institution: proper Rhode Island seafood, a rambling deck right on the harbor, and a chowder that sets the standard by which all other chowders should be judged. Come for lunch. Order the chowder and the oysters. Look at the water. 1 Sayer’s Wharf, Newport
GARY’S HANDY LUNCH — Save A Newport diner slinging no-nonsense breakfasts since 1959. Counter seating, coffee that arrives immediately, and a clientele that runs from fishermen to locals to the occasional bewildered tourist who wandered off Bellevue Avenue and ended up somewhere much better. Cash only. 462 Thames St, Newport
Getting There: Rhode Island is a short drive from Boston and a 3-hour train ride from New York Penn Station. Newport is 30 minutes south of Providence by car. The mansions are open year-round; summer brings the full social season, but shoulder seasons — May, September, October — offer the same beauty with considerably less company.