Walking Tour Descriptions

Colonial Newport Lantern Tour: Enjoy a lantern-lit walk through Newport’s historic streets. Learn about Newport’s early history including stories of rebellion, revolution and religious liberty. This tour lasts approximately 75 minutes.

Colony House Kids Tour: Created with young learners in mind, ages 5-10, this historic site tour of the 1739 Colony House merges learning with engaging activities. Families explore the site’s main rooms learning about the location’s rich history while enjoying games, imagination exploration and more. This tour lasts approximately 60 minutes.

Creative Survival: Newport’s African American History: Discover the history of Newport’s people of color, enslaved and free. Explore the places where enslaved people lived and labored, along with locations where free African Americans built their enterprises and supported a new local industry. This tour lasts approximately 90 mins.

Common Burying Ground: Explore the stone carvers, their art and the diverse people buried there who helped shape Newport’s history. This tour lasts approximately 75-90 mins. 

Discover Colonial Newport: Hear stories of entrepreneurship, African American heritage and religious diversity during Newport’s colonial period. This tour lasts approximately 75-90 mins.

French in Newport: Explore the heart of 18th century Newport and discuss the year-long period when roughly 12,000 French soldiers and sailors lived alongside Newport citizens during the American Revolution. Learn how the French contribution to the Revolutionary War was vital to the success of American Independence—and it began in Newport. This tour lasts approximately 90 mins.

George Washington’s Footsteps: From fetes to battles, explore Newport’s Old Quarter and hear stories about George Washington’s many connections to Newport. Presented by a guide wearing authentic historical clothing. This tour lasts approximately 75-90 mins. 

Golden to Gilded: From Newport’s colonial Golden Age to Gilded Age summer colony, discover the transformation of the city and its people. This tour lasts approximately 75-90 mins. 

Holiday Lantern Tour: Hear the history of early American holiday traditions on an evening walk. Learn how Newporters did, or didn’t, observe the holidays. This tour lasts about one hour. 

Legends and Lore: Did the British Army steal the town records when they withdrew from Newport during the American Revolution; is there a tunnel on Touro Street; did an artist on Mill Street discover the tomato? This tour teases out the truth from the fiction in these stories and other infamous Newport tales. This tour lasts approximately 60-75 mins.

Newport’s British Occupation: In 1777 as the Revolutionary War officially began, 7,000 British and Hessian soldiers invaded Newport creating an occupation that lasted for nearly 3 years. Explore the sites and stories of the soldiers and citizens affected during this time. This tour lasts approximately 75-90 mins.

Point Neighborhood: Home to craftsmen, merchants, religious dissenters and more, discover the Point neighborhood’s rich colonial history. This tour lasts approximately 90 mins.

Religious Tolerance: The colonial history of Newport begins with English settlers fleeing their home country and the Massachusetts Bay Colony because of the intolerance of their religious beliefs. Newport became a safe haven for people with marginalized faiths and aligned by the importance of separate of church and state. This walking tour will introduce a few of the religious and civic leaders of Newport, and show how the foundation of religious tolerance led to the political power and economic growth of Newport. This tour lasts approximately 90 minutes.

Road to Independence: Riots and rebellions, enemies and allies! Learn about Newport’s role in the American Revolution. This tour lasts approximately 75 mins.

Rogues & Scoundrels: See where scoundrels lived, pirates profited and criminals were punished. Find out why this colony was known as “Rogue’s Island.” This tour lasts approximately 75 mins.

Rum & Revolution with Rum Tasting: From the thriving colonial rum trade through the temperance movement and Prohibition era smuggling, learn about the changing role of alcohol in the Newport community. This tour lasts approximately 75 minutes and it concludes at Stoneacre Brasserie to enjoy a historically inspired rum drink or mocktail along with a small bite. Tour participants must be 21+.

Stamp Act Tour: In August 1765, a group of Newporters organized a riot that turned leading citizens against each other and set Rhode Island on a path to rebellion against Great Britain. This tour explores what happened on those fateful summer days and offers a glimpse into life in colonial Newport on the eve of revolution. This tour lasts approximately 75-90 mins.

Women in 18th Century Newport: Follow a guide in authentic historical clothing as she retraces the lives of the shopkeepers, tavern owners, teachers and more of 18th century Newport. This tour investigates the many entrepreneurial women who once lived and worked in this diverse seaport. This tour lasts approximately 75 minutes.

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