nordic

My two sisters and I are planning our 2nd trip to Newport April 1st - 8th. We will be driving from Baltimore. I own a timeshare in Newport, but unfortunately, the time we can go is limited. Our 1st trip was last April during the same time. We had a great time and explored most of Newport. Unfortunately the weather was cold and windy, and I am told it can be during April. We are going back again this year, but would like to explore more of the surrounding cities. We would like to go to Boston and Salem, but am concerned about driving to Boston. How far is it and what do we do about parking? We have a whole week in Newport. Any suggestions?

wyatt92

Boston is about an hour and 45 min from Newport. It's an easy drive. What you could do is drive to Norwood (probably a little over an hour) and take the commuter rail into Boston. Check out mbta.com for more info.

nordic

Thank you. Is the commuter rail the same as the subway system in Boston? My husband and I had gone to Boston and found their subway system very easy to use. I'll check out their website also. Thanks again.

wyatt92

Yes, they are both operated by the MBTA. The commuter rail doesn't run as often or as late as the "T" so you'd just need to be aware of the schedule.

nordic

Thanks,any other suggestions in regards to places to see and things to do while we are in Newport? Since, we have a car, we don't mind taking day trips. Last year, alot of the places were closed because it was still considered the off season in Newport. And unfortunately, we are going the same time again this year. I appreciate any suggestions you might have.

escargot

If you don't want to drive at all, I think there is a bus from the transportation center in Newport to Boston South Station which would get you right into the city. I don't know about getting to Salem from there, but you coudl have a great day in Boston.

Otherwise, the drive to Boston is easy too, ifyou want to continue to Salem, - if not, I agree with other poster about driving to Dedham and taking the train into South Station, (or the bus from newport) - avoid the parking thing altogether - but if you want to continue up to Salem, then you'd probably want your car - but it's likely depending on traffic, another 45 min to Salem
and I think that would make for a long day.

Providence is also a cool city with lots to see and do, some great restaurants and shopping, so you might want to check out their web site for things.
good ones are providenceri.com or pwcvb.com, also I don't know when the water fires/bonfires on the river starts, but they also have a site, i think waterfire.org

For ideas in Boston for a day, you could get ideas from the web, try sites like boston-online.com, bostonbw.com, and gobostoncard.com

you may have done some of these things in newport, but the winery has a nice tour, don't know when polo starts but you could check that out as a possibility.

wyatt92

Well let's see. There's obviously plenty to do in Boston.

You could take a day trip to Providence, do some shopping, go to Federal Hill for some great Italian.

There's some great outlets in Wrentham, which would be on your way to Norwood/Boston. Early April is tricky though. Have you done all the mansion tours in Newport?

lvk

You could spend a day wine tasting:

www.sakonnetwine.com/visit.cfm
www.westportrivers.com/visit.htm

Did you do the Cliffwalk last time?www.cliffwalk.com

Cape Cod would also be a do-able day trip from Newport, as would Mystic Connecticut.

nordic

Providence, sounds good. Thanks for the websites. I will check them out.
The only mansion we did was the Breakers. We took the tour and it was beautiful. Some of the mansions were closed because of being the off season. But our intent is to do another mansion this year. New England is beautiful no matter what time of the year and there is so much history there.
Thanks for all the information.