Newport and Providence

No U.S. state has a smaller area than Rhode Island, which is organized around Narragansett Bay, a stretch of sea full of islands and inlets. At the northern end of the bay is Providence, the capital, founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, who left the Massachusetts colony seeking religious freedom. On Aquidneck Island to the south is Newport, a port town since the 17th century.

Providence has a downtown of early-20th-century buildings and a marble statehouse on high ground. In the 1990s the city uncovered the rivers that had been buried under asphalt and created a waterfront walkway; on some nights from spring through fall dozens of bonfires lit over the rivers form the WaterFire. The slope of College Hill holds Brown University’s campus, the museum associated with the RISD art school, and Benefit Street, with 18th- and 19th-century houses.

In the late 19th century bankers and industrialists from New York began spending summers in Newport and built along Bellevue Avenue palaces modestly called “cottages.” The Breakers and Marble House, owned by the Vanderbilts, are among the best known and are open to visitors. The Cliff Walk runs between those gardens and the sea, and Ocean Drive follows the rocky coast to Brenton Point.

The city is also linked to sailing: it hosted the America’s Cup for more than 50 years, and the harbor, full of sailboats, has a colonial neighborhood of wooden houses. Providence and Newport are about 50 km apart, and it’s less than 80 km from Boston to Providence.

This destination brings together 2 cities: Providence, Newport.