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Rhode Island Travel Guide

Capital: Providence

The Breakers mansion, Newport. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Rhode Island is the smallest state with an outsized coast: 640 km of shoreline wrapped around Narragansett Bay. Newport's Gilded Age mansions (the Breakers, Marble House) and the 5.6 km Cliff Walk are the headline.

Providence's WaterFire installations light the rivers on summer evenings. Block Island, an hour by ferry, is the car-optional beach escape.

Destinations in Rhode Island

  1. The Breakers mansion, NewportThe Breakers4.7Vanderbilt's 1895 70-room 'cottage'; the Preservation Society tour.
  2. The Cliff Walk, NewportCliff Walk4.7The 5.6 km path between mansions and the Atlantic.
  3. Ocean Drive4.4The 16 km coastal drive past the great estates.
  4. WaterFire, Providence4.4The bonfire installations on the rivers, select summer evenings.
  5. Block Island4.4The ferry, Mohegan Bluffs, the Southeast Light.
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Top Cities & towns in Rhode Island

Providence ›Newport ›Block Island ›Narragansett ›Westerly ›

Regional food

  • Clam cakes and chowder (the Rhode Island clear-broth style)
  • Stuffies (stuffed quahog clams)
  • Coffee milk (the official state drink)

Read the full American food guide ›

Getting there

Providence (PVD) is the gateway; Boston is an hour by train. Newport is 45 minutes from Providence; Block Island ferries run from Point Judith.

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