Discover boutique hotels in Newport, United States

When to go

From Memorial Day, May 30 to October, the town is abuzz with tourists. Shoulder season months – September, November and April – offer the same mansion-meandering, sloping seaside experience with smaller crowds and cooler temperatures.

Getting there

• Planes

  TF Green International Airport in Warwick is around 50 minutes from downtown Newport. Delta, United Airways and Southwest Airlines provide flights all over the USA. Air Canada also flies direct to Toronto. Grab a taxi for US$80, or book a shuttle via Cozy Cab (+1 800 846 1502; www.cozytrans.com) into town for US$25. International flights touch down in Washington DC with connections to Rhode Island.

• Trains

  South Kingstown (+1 800 872 7245; www.trainweb.org/kin), 25 minutes from downtown, is on Amtrak's East Coast route to Boston, New York, Washington and Richmond. Buses run from Newport to the station five times a day (US$1.25), but they are sluggish at best, so if you’re on a tight schedule it’s best to flag a cab for about US$50.

• Automobiles

  Newport's a four-hour I-95 cruise up from NYC. Peak season streets can be bumper-to-bumper, but the roadways are easy to navigate with plenty of parking. Having your own set of wheels is a necessity for shoreline drives and day-trips outside the city. Avis have an outpost at the airport, book ahead for vehicle pick-up at the airport. If you want to be driven, call local provider All Occasions (+1 800 4541380; www.alloccasionlimo.com).

• Taxis

  Traffic grinds to a halt during the peak season summer months, so catching a cab on the fly is unlikely. Unless you are leaving Newport you can easily get around on foot, or by bike. Call Cozy Cab (+1 401 846 2500; www.cozytrans.com) for longer-range local trips, and shuttles to the airport.