Newport offers lovely scenic drives especially in foliage season

Bring your car on the Block Island Traditional Ferry (reservations are required) out of Narragansett, RI [Point Judith] or rent one when you get off at Old Harbor – and then take your pick from several scenic drives on this picturesque island. You can drive around the island in its entirety in about an hour or drive out for the jaw-dropping views at the breathtaking cliffs of Mohegan Bluffs or out to one of the stunning beaches, great for a quick stroll or swim. If you’re leaving for Block Island from Point Judith, drive out to the lighthouse, then take Route 1A North to Narragansett Pier. If you’re leaving from Newport, RI you have to experience the 10-mile Ocean Drive, which takes you past fishing coves, parks, and beaches with views of those amazing mansions.

If you travel from Providence to Newport from the capital city’s back door, you can avoid I-95 and enjoy the sights of several towns, farm fields and vineyards on the east side of Narragansett Bay and the islands of the Bay. Leave Providence by traveling through East Providence on I-954 and then turn off onto Route 114, which will take you through the towns of Barrington, Warren, and Bristol. Along the way, you will pass (and may visit) Blithewold mansion and gardens in Bristol, Colt State Park, a bright and airy information-packed education center of Rhode Island Audubon.
Nearby Points of Interest:
♦ Blithewold Mansion, Gardens, and Arboretum
♦ Colt State Park
♦ Audubon Society of RI Environmental Education Center
♦ Newport Vineyards

Conanicut Island, home of the town of Jamestown as well as Beavertail Park, is located in Narragansett Bay between the mainland of southern Rhode Island and Aquidneck Island, home of Newport. Conanicut Island is a long, narrow, north-to-south strip of land, and it is a lovely drive past fields, towns, gardens, and salt marshes, with distant views of the bay, the mainland, and arching bridges. Two parallel north-south roads that travel the length of the island are East Shore Road and North Main Road. Toward the southern part of the island, take Beavertail Road to the magnificent Beavertail Park, with its expansive views of the bay, rocky shores, and lighthouse.

In the early 1800s many wealthy people from New York and Philadelphia escaped to Newport on Rhode Island during the hot summers. Some of those luminaries of the Gilded Age build the famous mansions -- The Breakers, Marble House, Rosecliff -- clustered near Bellevue Drive. Today, people drive, walk, and bicycle Ocean Avenue to enjoy dramatic vistas of the waters, islands, and bridges of Newport and neighboring Jamestown. Please watch for the safety of bicyclists; the shoulder on this road is slim.
Nearby Points of Interest: Bannister’s Wharf on America’s Cup Avenue in downtown Newport; Fort Adams State Park, site of the Newport jazz and folk festivals; Breton Point State Park, with wonderful views of Narragansett Bay.