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Day Two
Home » Rhode Island » Rhode Island Vacations: A Five Day Itinerary » Day TwoMake your way to Portsmouth, Rhode Island which is just a hop, skip, and a jump from downtown Newport and visit the Green Animals Topiary Gardens. This is an extraordinary collection of 80 pieces of topiary trees and hedges in all shapes and sizes throughout the gardens. It is a self guided tour that takes approximately 90 minutes to complete. Open Mid-May through October from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a fee of $10.00.
Next, head to East Main Road and Union Street there in Portsmouth to see the Old School House, the oldest school house in the United States. It features antique desks, textbooks, and school bells.
Select a restaurant of your choice in Portsmouth or head back to Newport for lunch. After lunch, take a drive around Ocean Drive. You can also take a trolley that leaves from the Visitors Center on America’s Cup Avenue. This is a ten mile drive that combines history with public parks and shoreline. Start the drive at The Elms on Bellevue Avenue and go south to Narragansett Avenue.
Turn left on Narragansett and drive to Ochre Point Avenue. Turn right on Ochre Point Avenue and you will see several historical estates. Turn right on Ruggles Avenue and drive past some carriage houses that are currently being used by Salve University.
Turn left on Bellevue Avenue and drive by the Beechwood, Marble House, Rosecliff, Belcourt Castle, and Rough Point. Rough Point was the home of American Tobacco Company heiress, Doris Duke. At the end of Bellevue Avenue you will see Reject Beach.
Turn right on Coggeshall Avenue and take the first left on Ocean Avenue. As you drive along Ocean Avenue you will see Hazard Beach which is a private beach and Gooseberry Beach which is open to the public. You will pass the Cove, King’s Beach, Brenton State Park, and the Inn at Castle Hill.
Turn right on Castle Hill Avenue and drive north to Ridge Road where you will turn left to go past Ocean Cliff. At the end of Ridge Road, turn left onto Harrison Avenue and you will pass Hammersmith Farm, considered to be the summer White House of John and Jacqueline Kennedy. You will also see Ft. Adams which is a great place to view the Newport Harbor.
At the following intersection, turn left on Halidon Avenue and you will pass the New York Yacht Club. Continue right onto Wellington Avenue to see the Ida Lewis Yacht club and King Park. You should now be back in downtown Newport.
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