Newport RI Self Driving Audio Tour Guide for iPhone and Android

Newport RI Self Driving Audio Tour Guide for iPhone and Android

Welcome to Newport’s GPS enabled professionally narrated Self-Guided Audio Tours for iPhone and Android.

Newport - the "City by the Sea" is a true tourist's paradise. Enjoy the rich history and scenery of Newport, from Colonial days through the Gilded Age to the present.

After you book the tour, we will email you the link to the APP and the TOUR PASSWORD.

FULLY-AUTOMATIC & OFFLINE: Each point of interest along the tour has a narrated story, narrated directions, and helpful images. As you walk along the path and approach a pin, it’s story will automatically pop up and start playing.

FASCINATING STORIES: Engaging, and entertaining story about each point.

FREEDOM TO TRAVEL: No scheduled tour timings, no crowded groups, and no rush to move along past stops that interest you.

PRE-TRAVEL PREPARATION
We recommend that you download the app & the tour while you have a good internet connection.

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: International Tennis Hall of Fame, 194 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI 02840-3515

The International Tennis Hall of Fame was designed in 1880. Back then, it used to be the Newport Casino.

In the 1800s, a “casino” wasn’t just for gambling; it was more of a social club. Before this building, Newport just had one social club, the Reading Room.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Audrain Automobile Museum, 222 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI 02840-3515

At the intersection, you’ll notice a beautiful red-brick, white-arched building on the left. That’s the historic Audrain building, which has been converted into a luxury car museum. It’s open for tours.

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Edward King House, 35 King St, Newport, RI 02840, USA

The Edward King House, is a monumentally scaled residence at 35 King street in Newport, Rhode Island. It was designed for Edward King in the "Italian Villa" style by Richard Upjohn and was built between 1845 and 1847, making it one of the earliest representations of the style

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Kingscote, 253 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI 02840-3571

George Noble Jones, a man made rich by southern plantations, commissioned the house in 1839. When the Civil War broke out, Jones suddenly found himself in hostile territory. He fled Newport and sold the property to William Henry King. The Kings maintained and renovated the Gothic Revival-style mansion until the 1900s.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Bellevue Avenue, Bellevue Ave., Newport, RI

Bellevue House mixes classic American styles with European architecture.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Isaac Bell House, Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI 02840

Isaac Bell House is one of the outstanding examples of Shingle Style architecture in the United States. It was designed by McKim, Mead, and White, and built during the Gilded Age when Newport was the summer resort of choice for America's wealthiest families.

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: The Elms, 367 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI 02840-6915

Built in 1901, The Elms cost $1.4 million. This was probably just a drop in the bucket for Edward, a coal magnate and one of the 58 most important men in America at the time.

The Berwinds’ guests at The Elms included President Teddy Roosevelt and Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II. You can be a guest yourself since the house is open for tours.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Chepstow, 120 Narragansett Avenue, Ward Ave, Newport, RI 02840, USA

Try to spot a bit of the white Italianate-style mansion behind the trees. Built in 1860, Chepstow first belonged to Edmond Schermerhorn. Edmond was a reclusive cousin of the famous Mrs. Caroline Astor.

It then passed into the hands of the Morris-Gallatin family, who could trace their lineage back to the American Revolution.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Ochre Court, Newport, RI

It’s the second largest of the Newport’s mansions, and one of its most expensive. It was built in 1892 for banker and real estate mogul Ogden Goelet. The cost of construction was roughly $4.5 million. That’s almost $125 million in today’s money!

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: The Breakers, 44 Ochre Point Ave, Newport, RI 02840-6906

The Breakers is the largest, and most famous of Newport’s “summer cottages.” It measures at a staggering 125,339 square feet. The mansion’s name is taken from the waves breaking against the rocks at the base of the cliffs to your left. Commissioned by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, The Breakers stands as a testament to the Vanderbilt’s legendary railroad wealth during the Gilded Age. Cornelius contracted Richard Morris Hunt, who lead the building of many of Newport’s mansions, to take charge of the construction of The Breakers. Richard is the man responsible for the final, jaw-dropping result, but he did not live to see his final project completed. Richard died in 1895, just as The Breakers was nearing completion.

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Chateau-sur-Mer, Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI 02840

Chateau first built in 1852, the mansion’s name literally means “castle on the sea”.Back in the 1800s, all of the land from here to the water was pasture so you had a clear view of the ocean. William Wetmore, who made his fortune in the China trade, commissioned it in 1852. Since the Wetmore's were Rhode-Islanders, they didn’t just summer at Chateau -- they lived here year ‘round.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: National Museum of American Illustration, 492 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI 02840-4127

National Museum of American Illustration was previously known as Vernon Court. The museum features classic artworks by Norman Rockwell, JC Leyendecker, and more. Even if you don’t know those names, you’ve almost definitely seen some of their work. You know that iconic photo of Uncle Sam pointing at the viewer, saying “I want YOU for the US Army”? Well, you can see it on display at this museum! In fact, the illustrator James Montgomery Flagg modeled the face of Uncle Sam on his own.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Rosecliff, 584 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI 02840-4265

Most of Newport’s mansions were the site of lavish dinner parties and balls during the summers of the Gilded Age, but Rosecliff had them all beat. It was home to some of the most extravagant parties you could imagine. Theresa, made wealthy by her father’s silver fortune, spared no expense when entertaining.

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Marble House, 596 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI 02840-4265

Marble House, the immense, pillared estate to your left, was by far the most expensive of any of the Newport mansions. That was mainly thanks to the 500,000 cubic feet of marble used to build the structure. In 1892, it cost William Vanderbilt $11 million. Today that would be over $300 million!

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Belcourt of Newport, 657 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI 02840-4280

The Belcourt Castle is a white-and-grey summer cottage of Oliver Belmont. Oliver was a wealthy bachelor with a fondness for horses when he commissioned Belcourt in 1891.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Rough Point, 680 Bellevue Ave, Newport, RI 02840-4283

The sprawling mansion Rough Point is home to the Duke family. The English-style manor was originally commissioned by Frederick Vanderbilt in 1887. James Duke purchased it in 1922. Duke, founder of Duke University and the American Tobacco Company, left it to his daughter, 12-year-old Doris. She was known as “the richest little girl in the world.”

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Gooseberry Beach, 130 Ocean Ave, Newport, RI 02840-6515

You might be able to make out Gooseberry Island far in the distance. The island used to be inhabited in the early 1900s. That changed when the Hurricane of 1938 hit. The hurricane’s damage was so extensive that the state decided not to try rebuilding the settlement. To this day, the island remains a nature reservation.

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Brenton Point State Park, Ocean Drive, Newport, RI 02840

You wouldn’t know it now, but there used to be a mansion on this land. It was built for Theodore Davis, a lawyer, and businessman. He called it The Reefs and lived there until his death in 1915. In 1922, automotive mogul Milton Budlong purchased the property.

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Castle Hill Lighthouse, 800-870 Ocean Ave, Newport, RI 02840-6514

Castle Hill Lighthouse was originally the summer home of Alexander Agassiz, a marine biologist, and explorer from Harvard University. He felt that there were few places better suited to observing marine life than the coast of Newport.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Newport Country Club, 280 Harrison Ave, Newport, RI 02840, USA

The club was founded in 1893, and hosted the first U.S. Open in 1895. It was spearheaded by Theodore Havemeyer, whose family owned the American Sugar Company. Together with John Jacob Astor IV and Cornelius Vanderbilt II, Havemeyer purchased 140 acres on which to establish his country club and golf course.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Hammersmith Farm, 225 Harrison Ave, Newport, RI 02840-3784

The wall marks the boundary of Hammersmith Farm, the Victorian estate of Jackie Kennedy. Jackie was the wife of US President John F. Kennedy and this estate was her childhood summer home.

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: 80 Fort Adams Drive Fort Adams State Park Visitor Center, Newport, RI 02840-4388

Constructed to defend against any potential naval attack on Narragansett Bay, Fort Adams never saw any real battles. It was outfitted with 17 guns in the early 1800s, but never had to use them.

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Beacon Rock, 147 Harrison Ave, Newport, RI 02840, USA

Beacon Rock was commissioned in 1887 by Edwin D. Morgan, a US Senator. Designed by MMW, it mimics a grand vision of an ancient Greek temple.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Bonniecrest, 111 Harrison Ave, Newport, RI 02840, USA

Bonniecrest was built in 1914 for banker Stuart Duncan. Duncan’s family made their fortune by importing Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce. Yep, you heard that right! Gilded Age society wasn’t just made up of coal barons and railroad tycoons… it included sauce merchants too!

Duration: 5 minutes