The 10 Best Things to do Good for Big Groups in Rhode Island, United States

Watch Hill bird sanctuary.

Rhode Island Lighthouses & Newport Harbor Tours Take a narrated cruise past 10 Rhode Island Lighthouses in Narragansett Bay along with a complete Newport Harbor Tour. This 30 mile cruise also takes you past 10 beautiful islands, under the breathtaking Jamestown & Newport Bridges, past mansions, historic Fort Adams and many other famous Rhode Island sights. Whether you live in Rhode Island or are here on vacation, Rhode Island Bay Cruises will provide you and your guests with the best way to see Narragansett Bay! There is no other sightseeing cruise like it in New England!

7 MILES FROM NEWPORT w/ ample FREE PARKING! Since 2017, the Newport Car Museum has welcomed tens of thousands of visitors from around the world. Located in a converted 3-acre building that once served as a missile manufacturing facility, the Newport Car Museum presents 75+ cars as art, displaying them in six galleries that use theatrical lighting, specially commissioned large-format artwork and award-winning videos to tell the story of Ford/Shelby, Corvettes, World Cars, Fin Cars, Mopars and American Muscle Cars. Meticulously kept cars are displayed on low-rise platforms and turntables, with no barrier ropes, allowing for unobstructed 360-degree inspection, especially appreciated on “Hoods Up” Weekends held the second weekend of every month. Docents ignite lively exchanges; Mid-Century modern furniture provides comfortable seating; and eight driving simulators allow a spin in virtually any car on any track in the world. (Cool gift shop, too!)

This innovative and internationally renowned museum showcases more than 80,000 works of art from Paul Revere's silver and caricatures of 18th century Europe, to French Impressionists and the avant-garde works of recent alumni. A 12th-century Japanese Buddha has its own room with benches for meditating.

This imposing marble building houses King Charles' 1663 charter of the Rhode Island colony.

The Breakers is the grandest of Newport's summer "cottages" and a symbol of the Vanderbilt family's social and financial preeminence in turn of the century America. Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt established the family fortune in steamships and later in the New York Central Railroad, which was a pivotal development in the industrial growth of the nation during the late 19th century. The Commodore's grandson, Cornelius Vanderbilt II, became Chairman and President of the New York Central Railroad system in 1885, and purchased a wooden house called The Breakers in Newport during that same year. In 1893, he commissioned architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a villa to replace the earlier wood-framed house which was destroyed by fire the previous year. Hunt directed an international team of craftsmen and artisans to create a 70 room Italian Renaissance- style palazzo inspired by the 16th century palaces of Genoa and Turin. Allard and Sons of Paris assisted Hunt with furnishings and fixtures, Austro-American sculptor Karl Bitter designed relief sculpture, and Boston architect Ogden Codman decorated the family quarters.

A scenic 3.5 mile walkway that borders the back lawn of The Breakers and many other Newport mansions.

Marble House was built between 1888 and 1892 for Mr. and Mrs. William K. Vanderbilt. It was a summer house, or "cottage", as Newporters called them in remembrance of the modest houses of the early 19th century. But Marble House was much more; it was a social and architectural landmark that set the pace for Newport's subsequent transformation from a quiet summer colony of wooden houses to the legendary resort of opulent stone palaces. Mr. Vanderbilt was the grandson of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, who established the family's fortune in steamships and the New York Central Railroad. His older brother was Cornelius II, who built The Breakers. Alva Vanderbilt was a leading hostess in Newport society, and envisioned Marble House as her "temple to the arts" in America. The house was designed by the architect Richard Morris Hunt, inspired by the Petit Trianon at Versailles. The cost of the house was reported in contemporary press accounts to be $11 million, of which $7 million was spent on 500,000 cubic feet of marble. Upon its completion, Mr. Vanderbilt gave the house to his wife as a 39th birthday present.

The marked scenic route along the dramatic Atlantic shoreline that circles Newport.