JWTR 🪩

The Most Perfect 24 Hours in Newport, RI

I didn’t mean to fit this much into 24 (technically 28) hours in Newport, RI, but I SURE DID AYEE!!

What an incredibleee little New England town!! If you have to prioritize a town up here, let this one be towards the top of your list!!! It’s been upgraded to one of my personal favorites of all time!!

It’s cute as hell, has physical activities (cliff walk), great coffee shops, antiquing and boutiques, food, drinks, and night life, all on it’s beautiful coastline!!!

Newport is a sight to see & I’ll tell you exactly how I spent my time here 🙂

Okay, so we traveled from the north (Salem, MA) and arrived at 10:00 am.

We stopped in Middletown (town right before Newport) to check out the popular French bakery, Bec le Sucré, for a pastry.

They are only open from 7-10:30 am Wed-Sun and they sell out of all their pastries in that time!! I mean when we got there we had the choice between and plain and almond croissant. No complaints though– I went with the almond & it was the best croissant I’ve ever had.

They have 4.9 stars on Google reviews for a reason 🙂

Then we headed right down the road to Custom House Coffee (stumbled upon it by accident) and their coffee was GOOOD! I got their nitro cold brew.. mmmmm!

I noticed within our 24 hours in Newport that their coffee was also being served in local restaurants.

Side note: They’ve won Best of Newport ten times, Best of Rhode Island several times, and Best New England Roaster in Yankee Magazine.

Now that we were sugared up & caffeinated… we headed to the Cliff Walk– the famous 3.5 mile public recreational trail on Newport’s gorgeous eastern shoreline, hosting views of mansions from the Gilded Age.

This is an absolute staple on a trip to Newport!

Warning!! The later part of the trail has some parts that are not paved & require you to walk on rocks, so wear GOOD walking shoes, pay attention to your steps & maybe reconsider doing the second half if you/ someone you’re with has difficulty going off-roading. 

For sake of time, we only did the second half, where “the Breakers” begin.

**There was free public parking and a public access on Wetmore Ave. The whole walk is so fun and gorgeous! The trail ends at a public beach, so if you’re prepared, you can jump in the crystal clear water if you want 🙂 

Heading back to our car, we went on the other side of the path to look at the fronts of the famous mansions.

We prioritized seeing the Marble House, the house built from all marble by William Vanderbilt as a 39th birthday present for his wife, Alva.

Again, for the sake of time & the fact it was over $30 a person to get in, we just admired it from the outside. At least when we went, they weren’t ticketing at the front gate, so we just wondering around the grounds for a few minutes and got the gist. 

We then checked into our airbnb– The Poplar House Bed & Breakfast.

Hosted by our new friend, Walt, the Poplar House B&B was a quirky little place I found in the heart of town (we could walk everywhere!!) & not charging a ridiculous amount during peak season (mid August). It was perfect for us, but maybe not for those who require a 5 star hotel experience haha.

It’s an apartment in his historic home with two bedrooms that share a bathroom with the other guest(s) that stay there & it has a kitchen with snacks you can help yourself to.

I felt like I went back in time staying here– it felt very New England core.

We personally didn’t have issues with the shared bathroom situation & hardly saw the other couple staying there. Walt was super relaxed, allowed an early check in & had so many recs to share, which I obviously appreciated 🙂

Anywhooo it did the job for us & I’d stay here again, especially if I was with another couple I knew and we could rent the whole B&B together.

After we showered our  5-mile morning walk off, we changed & walked over to Goat Island, so I could see the the Newport Harbor (Goat Island) Lighthouse because it’s gorgeous & iconic!!

The lighthouse is in the back of the Newport Harbor Island Resort— which seems like the place you want to stay if you’ve got f*ck you money lollll. I’m basing this off of the cars that were rolling in/out of here and the amount of designer handbags on the lady guests… chaaa ching!

But hey, I love an imposture syndrome experience, so I just walked my  little non-guest, middle class ass around the grounds, vibing out, enjoying the gorgeouss views & of course getting photos for the ‘gram! 😛 No one stopped me, so assume anyone can go!

P.s. they do have multiple restaurants & a bar at their pool on the coastline, where it looked like a fun place to have a drink!

By this point we were starvin’ & were in desperate need of food, when we just stumbled upon the Newport Lobster Shack, where they sell seafood caught right in the Rhode Island waters by their own employed fishermen.

This place is a quintessential New England seafood experience with no frills, no alcohol for purchase, but a view on the water and fresh ass seafood.

We split the fish and chips… the flakiness of the fish & the lightest crisp of the breading… oh-em-geeeee– it was fire!!

You may be able to discretely BYOB here, which I found to be the case all over Newport if you have a backpack to keep a few cold ones on you as you explore, but if you get in trouble, you didn’t here it from me!!!

We did not come prepared and were now in desperate need of a bevy, so we wondered over to Bar Cino, which is way more than just a bar!

It had a very European vibe & the menu looked so good– their specialty being their grilled pizzas, made to order. If we hadn’t just ate or had more time, we would have dined here too. I got the spicy tequila cocktail on the menu, obviously, and it was the exact pick-me-up I needed before heading back to the B&B to get ready for the night. 

We got dressed in our fancier clothes & called our Uber to the Castle Hill Inn for cocktails at golden hour/ sunset 🌅 which was a VIBE… 11/10 worth the hype!!

A few pointers: the outside bar is where you will get drinks if you are not dining here.

There will be a line. It will be worth it, but might I suggest, if you are also here for a photo-op, like I obviously was, get there at golden hour (6:30-7 in the summer) and get your pics in before standing in line for your drinks.  I could feel the anxiety of my fellow picture obsessed girlies while they were standing in line, feeling the golden hour slipping away.

Also, there are limited Adirondack chairs & people will not be budging from them until post-sunset, so if you’re able, maybe bring a towel/blanket.

We travel everywhere with our Sand Cloud, but didn’t think to bring it here, so ended up just sitting on the lawn, which was perfectly fine by us… got to touch some grass & ground lol.

We then called our Uber back into town to Thames Street– the main happening strip downtown. We decided on Midtown Oyster Bar for our next stop because it was recommended by a dear friend with impeccable taste (heyy Marleyyy)!

They have a rooftop that looks out onto Thames Street and we were able to get bar seats up there for dinner (aka a few apps and cocktails hehe). The scallop crudo was the star of the show– holy melt in your mouth! I was also a big fan of their espresso martini… super frothy & strong 🙂

This would also be a great bar to hit post dinner– it was really filling up with a hip crowd when we were on our way out to the next bar.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much of a party town Newport was! It had so many lively bars! Be careful though, I heard a lot of the popular bars have covers (sometimes hefty ones)!

Personally, we decided to wonder from the main strip back towards our airbnb to the Irish pub, Fastnet Pub & then to Pour Judgement, which were more laid back, lacked covers, and served two mean Guinness pours 🙂

They both have their fair share of entertainment most nights, so look them up when you’re in town if that’s your vibe!

We slept well, woke up refreshed, and packed up from our one-night stay. We were able to stay parked in our free street parking spot while we explored the rest of the morning/early afternoon (another great perk of our Poplar House stay). 

We headed to the viral Nitro Bar (Pond Ave. location) for coffee and breakfast and lemme tell ya, it did not disappoint.

I originally felt so basic for standing in a 30 minute line for a coffee place I saw on TikTok, but once I had one sip of my caramelized banana latte made with their signature nitro cold brew, I understood why the hype was reallll!

And don’t even get me going on the pizza bagel… holy frick I did not expect their food to slap so hard! I got the classic pizza bagel which had this hot honey & sausage spread on it…. wooo doggies it was delicious! The Cole’s breakfast sandwich was also very solid!

I was determined to find some cute souvenirs, so we spent the rest of the day just wondering back towards Thames Street walking in and out of stores.

They have so many great antique stores here, particularly on Broadway street! I wish I had a house in this area to decorate– I would have taken so much home with me! 

 There were sooo many local souvenir shops, some better than others, but it’s nice they had so many options!

I found my NPT hat at Island Outfitters, a cute surf shop all the way down Thames street, so I was able to leave Newport a happy customer! 🙂

That’s all we could pack into our quick trip, but I intend to be back one day to do some more exploring! Till next time, Newport!

xoxo, JWTR! 💋