NJ_Gal

Hello All
I am planning a road trip north. I would like to make Newport RI my home base and then take mini trips during the day. We are planning a visit to Boston, Salem, Provindence and perhaps NH and even Vermonth and Maine. We have about 10 days we can spent traveling around.I need advice on things to do, places to see, and if anyone has ever stayed at the Pelham Court off Thames? Also what hotel recommended? Doesnt have to be right in Newport. Since we are driving we are free to do and go anywhere. We have done this before and loved it. Would like a suite/kitchenette type of hotel. At night we will try out the casinos in the area. If anyone knows where they are and what they are called I can set them into the GPS. All info appreciated. We are going the end of March. Oh will stop at Mystic for a short time since we did that already and it didnt hold our interests. Love the beach even in the winter, gambling, nightlife , dining and shopping.
Thank you!!!

tchoiniere

Staying in Newport and doing day trips to Maine, NH and Vermont will not work when you look at the traffic and time in a car. I suppose you could do a long day to Kittery but thats a 2.5 hour drive each way (without accounting for traffic, weather)

Casinos in CT are Mohegan Sun (my favorite) and Foxwoods.

NJ_Gal

Ok tchonineire, I will have to rethink the plan. I do like Newport. Anyplace in the "one hour each way" area that you would recommend?

emalloy

Depending on what you like to do, why not spend half the time near Newport and the rest at another place, maybe Cape Ann, perhaps Rockport as a base with trips to Salem, Newberryport, Portsmouth or up to southern Maine.

One hour from Newport would put you at Mystic, CT where there is a great Seaport Museum, focused mostly on whaling in the 1800's. This has a whole village with shops, chandlery, blacksmith, weavers, cooperage, etc. as well as tall ships, maritime art museum and more.

The Mystic Aquarium is also near there.

Foxwoods has an excellent Native American museum, mostly dealing with the natives of the area.

You could go to Point Judith, RI and take the ferry to Block Island for the day. Rent bikes or a moped or taxi around the island.

Or go on a whale watch or fishing trip.

Pop over the toll bridge to Jamestown and take a picnic to Beavertail State Park...

Check out the Blackstone Canal system.

tchoiniere

Maybe stay in Newport for a couple of nights since you enjoy it. Then go up to Portsmouth, NH or Manchester, NH and base out of there. It really depends on where you want to go in Maine and Vermont. These 2 would be fine for Kittery and Ogunquit. But its still 2 hours to VT (Brattleboro) from here. Thats the part of "stay 1 location, see all of New England" itineraries that is the most difficult. There is no 1 good place to stay to cover all of New England. There aren't many major roads connecting these 3 states so travel is slow, which is ideal for NE except when you need to get some place.
Maybe there is someplace further north in NH that is more central to each but I am not sure that there is.

NJ_Gal

emalloy, I did Mystic last year and loved it!! Im going to bypass it this year so I can free up the time to see more things. Im tyring to figure out how to split the trip. Newport a few days etc.
Keep the ideas coming please!!

dfrostnh

To give you an idea of timing, Providence RI to Concord NH is about 2 hours on good roads without any traffic problems. You can pretty much count on heavy traffic on Friday evenings headed north esp along Rt 93 in NH due to skiers heading out. Just below Concord NH Rt 89 heads off to VT.
I agree with the suggestion for the native American museum at Foxwoods. It's separate from the casinos. Very interesting museum. Plan a 1/2 day.
My favorite tours in Boston are now the culinary tours offered by Michelle Topor (and staff). There's one for Boston's North End. The one for China Town ends with a dim sum lunch. Since both require a lot of outside walking they might be better for good weather although lately we've been having a pretty mild winter. The Kennedy Museum is wonderful.
There is outlet shopping in Wrentham MA, not far from RI. If you get some bad weather, Providence Place Mall is very nice with some good restaurant choices attached to the mall. The downtown parking garage has a walkway thru the Westin hotel to a skywalk across to the mall. Long walk but all indoors.

flep

I would suggest if you would like Ri to be your home base then I would stay in a hotel in the Warwick area. There are many hotels there that you can get at a reasonable rate, plus you will have easy access to the highway. Staying in Newport may becomee costly since the toll is 4 dollars each way. But if you want to stay in Newport I personally like the Vanderbuilt, though the do not have a kitchen area. The hotel is within walking distance of Thames. I would visit the shops in Newport and the Mansions. The Castle hill Inn is a nice place to eat and has beautiful water views of the Newport bridge. Providence has federal Hill with many restuarants to choose from. Also Thayer street has nice restuarant and night life. The only casinos are Newport and Lincoln, but only has slot machines. If you want to travel to Ct the is foxwoods and Mohegan. In Boston I Would suggest the Historical sights and shopping on Newbury Street and Copely, Stephanies on Newbury has great food.

Cranachin

Most people think of New England as being "small" and do not realize that the region as a whole is larger than states such as Washington and North Dakota.

Maine alone is larger than South Carolina and almost as big as Indiana.

janie

I agree with several others here that you split your trip into part of the time in Newport and part of the time somewhere North of Boston. With 10 days, you could even spend part of the the time (maybe 2 nights)nearer to the casinos since you say you are interested in gambling dining and shopping. In bad weather, driving from Newport to and from the casinos can be a pain, and there are some really good deals to stay at the casinos midweek at this time of the year and then you are also really close to Mystic.

Cranachin

To which I should have added that New England outside Maine has about the same area as Kentucky (i.e., the other 5 combined are bigger than Maine).

Imagine trying to see all of South Carolina based only in Columbia (with day trips to Charleston), or all of Indiana based out of Indianapolis, or all of Kentucky based out of Louisville.

You get the picture!

NJ_Gal

Thanks to all the information you offered me. I just booked a few days at the Nylo hotel in Warwick. I thought it was funky and chic. Anyone know anything about it? I did read the reviews and they seem positive. Anything about Warwick? I really cant wait to head north.

flep

Nylo is a cool hotel. It has a cool industrial feel to it. Across the street the is a small mall and movie theater. There are many stores down the street on Bald Hill road, TJ Maxx, Christmas Tree shop etc. There are many chain resturaunts there. Garden City is 5 minutes away for outdoor shopping, and Papa Razzi and Spain resturant around the corner. Its only minutes from Providence. You can hit Federal Hill, Pastiche which is a pastry cafe is a must! The fresh fruit tart is awesome. You can go to Providence Place mall for shopping and eating at the cheesecake factory. My favorite restuarant downtown is il forno, the pizza is a must and there homemade pastry is awesome. Thayer street has some unusual shops and good restuarants Karter bar, Paragon, Andreas. Lincoln Park is also close to warwick for gaming and restuarants. If you want to take a 20 minute drive to narragansett you can also go to the coast guard house for dinig with great oceanviews. Sergios in North Kingstown is a great place for authentic italian food. Jamestown go to cafe simpatico and take a drive around very beautiful. Also providence performing arts if you want to watch a play.

emalloy

For great Italian food in Providence, try Al Forno. It is closed Sunday and Monday tho.

NJ_Gal

I am taking ALL this info with me and I will try my best to hit them all. Thank you so much!