Rhode Island, a U.S. state in New England, is known for sandy shores and seaside Colonial towns. It’s home to several large cities, including Newport, which is famed for sailing and Gilded Age mansions, such as The Breakers. Providence, its capital, is home to Brown University, green Roger Williams Park, landscaped Waterplace Park and Riverwalk, with the famed WaterFire art installation.
Native Americans lived around Narragansett Bay for thousands of years before English settlers began arriving in the early 17th century. Rhode Island was unique among the Thirteen British Colonies for being founded by a refugee, Roger Williams, who fled religious persecution from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to establish a haven for religious liberty. He founded Providence in 1636 on land purchased from local tribes, creating the first settlement in North America with an explicitly secular government. The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations subsequently became a destination for religious and political dissenters and social outcasts, earning it the moniker “Rogue’s Island”.
Capital: Providence, RI
Population: 1,098,163 (2020)
Official Website: https://www.ri.gov/
Tourism website: https://www.visitpa.com/
Tourist Attractions for Rhode Island:
For such a small state, “Little Rhody” is packed with some of New England’s most popular tourist attractions. Newport, America’s best-known playground for the super-rich in the halcyon days of the early 20th century, is the state’s major draw, with its fabled mansions built to rival (and often imitate) the grand palaces of European royalty.
- The Breakers in Newport
- Cliff Walk in Newport
- Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence
- WaterFire Providence
- The Elms in Newport
- RISD Museum of Art in Providence
- Marble House in Newport
- Rosecliff in Newport
- Ocean Drive in Newport
- Walking Tour of Bellevue Avenue Mansions of Newport
- Narragansett Bay Beaches
- Colt State Park in Bristol
- Block Island and Mohegan Bluffs
- Providence Performing Arts Center
- Blitheworld of Bristol
- Benefit Street and John Brown House in Providence
- Herreshoff Marine Museum of Bristol