Fodor's Expert Review Roger Williams National Memorial

This 4½-acre park dedicated to Rhode Island's founder has a symbolic well to mark the site of the spring around which Roger Williams built Providence's original settlement in 1636. A visitor center has a five-minute film about the park's namesake. There's the park's flourishing pollinator garden, as well as a demonstration garden showing how Native Americans cultivated corn, beans, and squash, and how English colonists grew herbs (call ahead to see if it's open). The park has several picnic tables, public restrooms, and 20 free parking spaces (a two-hour parking limit is strictly enforced).