3 Best Sights in New Haven, Mystic, and the Coast, Connecticut

The largest of the state's public beach parks, Hammonasset Beach State Park has 2 miles of white-sand beach, a top-notch nature center, excellent birding, and a hugely popular campground with more than 550 open sites. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: swimming; walking.

Possibly the state's finest beach, the 50-acre park has a broad white-sand beach, an Olympic-size outdoor pool with a triple waterslide, an 18-hole miniature-golf course, an arcade, a half-mile-long boardwalk, kiddie rides, food concessions, a nature trail, and a picnic area. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (fee); showers; toilets. Best for: partiers; swimming; walking.

This little beach has calm, protected waters, a gazebo, and a lot of history. It has made the Boston Globe list of the 20 best beaches to visit in New England, and was the site where a small band of villagers successfully repelled an attack and landing by a squadron of the English navy on August 10, 1814, during the War of 1812. The two 18-lb. cannon used in the village's defense are now displayed in nearby Cannon Square. These days the beach is patrolled by lifeguards from Memorial through Labor Days. Amenities: lifeguards; parking (free). Best for: swimming; walking.