Experience the best of Newport

Newport sits at the southern end of Aquidneck Island, at the mouth of Narragansett Bay, and has been a port since colonial times. Its old streets hold Touro Synagogue, built in 1763 and the oldest surviving synagogue building in the United States, and the harbour is full of yachts; the America's Cup was raced off Newport for decades. Fort Adams, a large stone fort on the bay, guards the harbour.

In the Gilded Age, wealthy families from New York built grand summer cottages along Bellevue Avenue, among them the Breakers, Marble House, Rosecliff and the Elms. The Cliff Walk, a path of more than five kilometres, passes beneath their lawns above the rocky shore. The International Tennis Hall of Fame occupies the Newport Casino, with historic grass courts, and the Newport Jazz Festival was first held in the town in 1954.

Clear-broth clam chowder, clam cakes, stuffed quahogs and fried calamari are Rhode Island seafood, with lobster rolls at the harbour. The waterfront fills in summer for sailing and festivals, and in autumn the crowds ease.