Family Day Trip: 12 Hours in Newport, Rhode Island

A self professed travel researcher (especially when it comes to my family’s travels) I was in for a big surprise when it came to Newport, Rhode Island. Sometimes I feel learning all about the new destination we are headed to is the same amount of fun as when we are actually traveling.

Working with Andrea from Discover Newport (Rhode Island’s tourism boars), and shooting ideas off of her, she came up with an itinerary that none of my research found. It included three options that I didn’t find anywhere else. That’s why I love working with tourism boards; they are either natives or long-time locals and truly love where they live. So why not follow their recommendations?

6 Things to Do in Newport, Rhode Island with Kids

1. The Breakers Mansion – This is a given when coming to Newport. You can’t come here without visiting one of Newport’s mansions. Our time was limited so we chose the grandest of them all.

2. Wharfs of Newport – Newport is located on the Atlantic Ocean and is one of the most famous maritime cities in the US. It is a place where sailing is as common here as hockey is to Canada.

But that’s not the only thing you can do here. It is also a town where you can walk around and simply enjoy what you see. There are tons of tiny shops on the main street and many more wharfs and piers, you will probably spend a whole day looking at them without even knowing it.

3. Lobsters and Seafood – New England is known for its lobsters and crabs. You can visit the Lobster company, where workers will allow you to hold the largest one they caught.

4. Cliff Walk – This is one of the most famous attractions of Newport. It is a 3.5 mile walk along the coast that includes areas easy to walk, some rockier. Some of it is closed, but being repaired, due to storm Sandy. We had a stroller so it wasn’t very accessible. But if we have had the time, we would have visited it in the morning, when the boys are full of energy, to avoid taking the stroller with us.

5. Ocean Drive – Also known as the ten-mile drive and something that you can’t miss if you have a car. The views are unbelievable and you can make it the pre tour to the cliff walk by starting at downtown Newport toward where the mansions are.

6. Ice Cream Train Tour – This is a new attraction, it never came up in my searches and sounded amazing! When we got our itinerary we had the choice of doing the train or a trolley tour. I do have prerequisites, like easy access to bathroom and run around space especially for my three year old.
The train had enough space for my boys to move around, a bathroom and ice cream, what else can you wish for?

The train’s main attraction is a dinner train ride during the evening that includes a show. But they recently came up with the idea of doing one during the day, along the coast, with ice cream included in the price and the option of buying lunch.

And you can pick all the toppings you want.

It was a bit too long for us. It lasted 90 minutes. After 60 minutes, once the ice cream was gone and there was nothing more to see than the ocean my boys became restless. I wish we had the time to do the dinner tour with the show for the kids.

The itinerary that Andrea came up with allowed us to get a good feel of Newport. One important thing I learned, one day is not enough!