Visit Rhode Island: A guide to RI travel, tourism, vacations, hotels, food, and attractions

> 60 Great Things to Do in Rhode Island

Rhode Island vacation offers beaches, Newport mansions, Providence restaurants

Rhode Island is notable for its natural beauty -- especially its beaches – as well as its Newport mansions. Providence, the capital city, has gone through a restoration since the 1990s, centered upon its downtown, its new Waterplace Park, and the spectacular art event known as Waterfire. A slew of original restaurants serving Italian and New American cuisine was introduced in the ’90s by the legendary Al Forno. Classic Italian food is abundant in the Little Italy neighborhood, Federal Hill. Providence lodgings include classic and contemporary high rise hotels, bed and breakfast inns, and motels for children and families.

To many people on vacation from distant places, the primary image of Rhode Island is Newport and its fabulous Gilded Age mansions, like Rosecliff, Marble House, and the Breakers. It also is known for the Newport Jazz Festival and Newport Folk Festival. Hotels, bed and breakfast inns, and rentals can be found in abundance in this historic Colonial city.

Elsewhere in the state, South County has the most wonderful long, sandy beaches where children and families can spend whole days playing in the sun. The town of Westerly has a beautiful Victorian-era park as well as the elegant town of Watch Hill. Moving west and north, the Blackstone Valley is the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in America: at Slater Mill in Pawtucket, visitors can see where, in 1793, Samuel Slater built the first factory in the United States. The town of Woonsocket is a home for centuries to people of French Canadian extraction.

The state’s second-largest city is Warwick, on the west shore of Narragansett Bay. Together with its southern neighbor, the town of East Greenwich, Warwick offers many good ethnic, seafood, and Colonial-themed restaurants. Warwick is home to T.F. Green Airport, which is served by several nearby airport hotels.

> 60 Great Things to Do in Rhode Island