Newport, RI recs?

[penguingrrl]

H and I are going to Newport next weekend for our anniversary. We already have a lovely inn booked. Can anyone recommend must dos?

We plan to do the cliff walk one day. I know part is out of commission right now, but we’ll do the rest. I’m very excited to see the mansions.

Anything else that’s a must do? We’ll be rolling into town midday Friday and leaving early Sunday to go to Old Sturbridge Village.

Also, we’re looking for a truly spectacular restaurant for our anniversary. Fancy would be good, I want to dress up for once! But we mostly care that the food is excellent!

Thanks!

[preppy]

I live in Newport and coincidentally also have our anniversary next weekend. For next weekend I would start calling asap to try and see if you can get reservations for dinner. Be persistent so you can find a cancellation spot. If you want something fancier I would recommend Clarke cooke house upscale, there are two options in cooke house and the first two levels is the “candy store” which I love and is super nice but not fancy, the top floor is fancy and has a separate menu and men need jackets etc. Cooke is my favorite restaurant in town. Other nice but not super fancy places I like for a nicer date night is TSK, the lawn at castle hill (you can also just grab a drink here on the lawn and I highly recommend you do - great place to watch sailboats), the dining room at Vanderbilt grace (they also have a roof deck with great drinks and views but the roof doesn’t have a full menu). I also love pasta beach.

In general things I like to do in town that I recommend is def mansions, specifically breakers, drinks on the lawn at castle hill, taking a boat ride, you can do one of the afternoon sailboat trips or even just the water taxi over to fort adams. You can grab the water taxi, hit fort adams to check it out over there and take in the sights from the water that way. If you like hiking I also highly recommend doing the hanging rock trail at Norman bird sanctuary or the trails at sachuest for amazing views. The tennis hall of fame is cool and the sailing hall of fame just opened on Thames. I haven’t been to the sailing HOF yet but heard that it is very cool. For non dinners out I love corner cafe for breakfast, cru is a good casual lunch spot, empire has the best coffee.

Have a great weekend!

[deadwing]

If you're going to do the mansions, make sure you do the servant life tour at the Elms. It offers a very different perspective of the era. This tour requires tickets in advance. I would recommend doing any of the conventional mansion tours before this one so you have some context for how the wealthy lived to compare with what you'll learn about the servants.

[spinnaker5]

If the weather forecast looks good, see if there are any spots left for a 12 meter sailboat cruise: www.12meteryachtcharters.com/

[wanderingback]

When I was there went to a brewery and then a winery right outside of Newport for wine tasting and Sat outside and relaxed. I don’t remember the exact names but I just googled at the time and they weren’t too far apart from each other so that’s why I picked those.

Also did a sunset champagne sail boat trip which was nice to be on the water with unlimited champagne.

Went to Fort Adams to walk around.

[preppy]

Jun 29, 2022 8:04:31 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

When I was there went to a brewery and then a winery right outside of Newport for wine tasting and Sat outside and relaxed. I don’t remember the exact names but I just googled at the time and they weren’t too far apart from each other so that’s why I picked those.

Also did a sunset champagne sail boat trip which was nice to be on the water with unlimited champagne.

Went to Fort Adams to walk around.

There are two vineyards - the bigger one is newport vineyards and they are busy on weekends and have a lot of options and an on-site restaurant. There is also Greenvale vineyards which is quieter and very nice.

There is a brewery in Newport vineyards but there is also Newport Craft which is expanding right now and closer to downtown and the Ragged Island is in Portsmouth further up island.

[eponinepontmercy]

My sister and her husband went for a weekend after their wedding in April, and I've been twice for work, but a few years ago. Here are some random restaurants:

- Scratch Kitchen and Catering
- Hungry Monkey (casual for breakfast or lunch)
- The Mooring (nicer, but hard to get a table)
- Belle's Cafe (casual for breakfast or lunch, on the dock)

I've done the audio tours of the Breakers and Marble House, and I loved them both.

I went to Bar and Board for dinner by myself one night, and they gave me a piece of dry pasta to use as a straw. I do not recommend.

[penguingrrl]

Jun 29, 2022 8:00:40 GMT -5 deadwing said:

If you're going to do the mansions, make sure you do the servant life tour at the Elms. It offers a very different perspective of the era. This tour requires tickets in advance. I would recommend doing any of the conventional mansion tours before this one so you have some context for how the wealthy lived to compare with what you'll learn about the servants.

Oh yes, I knew about that one! I wouldn’t miss it. I’m a professional historian, so I won’t be too surprised at how the regular people lived compared to the wealthy!

[penguingrrl]

Jun 29, 2022 8:04:31 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

When I was there went to a brewery and then a winery right outside of Newport for wine tasting and Sat outside and relaxed. I don’t remember the exact names but I just googled at the time and they weren’t too far apart from each other so that’s why I picked those.

Also did a sunset champagne sail boat trip which was nice to be on the water with unlimited champagne.

Went to Fort Adams to walk around.

Those all sound great, thanks so much!

[just]

I just did the cliff walk last weekend, and the part that's blocked off is very small, and the detour is well signposted and brings you around the front and side of Salve Regina, and it's fairly pretty detour.

[mags]

We did a weird history walking tour in the evening. It was fun and we learned a lot of interesting history. There is a walking food tour as well. We love Newport.

The Dining Room at Castle Hill Inn
White Horse Tavern
Bowen's Bar and Grill
5th Element
The Mooring