Newport RI driving Cliff Walk & Bellevue Avenue Walking - GPS Self-Guided Tours

Newport RI driving Cliff Walk & Bellevue Avenue Walking - GPS Self-Guided Tours

Welcome to Newport’s GPS enabled professionally narrated Self-Guided Audio Tours for iPhone and Android. You’ll find three tours in one app - Newport Self Drive, Cliff Walk, & Bellevue Avenue.

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: Discover Newport, 23 America's Cup Ave, Newport, RI 02840, USA

THE GILDED AGE:

Well, the Gilded Age can be defined by two phrases: lavish wealth and unbridled excess. In the late 1800s, America’s Industrial Revolution had created a new batch of ultra-rich millionaires. These railroad tycoons and coal magnates had wealth that rivaled that of some European dukes and lords! Ultra-wealthy New York City families such as the Vanderbilts and the Astors sought refuge from the hectic city on the scenic coast of Newport. If you’ve heard these names before, that’s not surprising. They were a central part of American culture back in their day. In the few decades between 1870 and the early 1900s, they spent fortunes on endless luxuries….including summer homes in Newport.


Duration: 5 minutes

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

Notice the wide, shingle-style building across the street. That’s the International Tennis Hall of Fame that you just heard about! MMW designed it in 1880. Back then, it used to be the Newport Casino.

Duration: 10 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.

Duration: 5 minutes

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

Up ahead, turn left on King St. Directly across as you turn is the red brick Edward King House. Today, it’s the Newport Senior Center.


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

Look for the white, pillared building on the left. That’s Bellevue House. It mixes classic American styles with European architecture.


Duration: 5 minutes

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

Today, Bell House is also open to visitors, so feel free to come back later for a tour.


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

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Chepstow, Narragansett Ave, Newport, RI 02840-6954

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.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Ochre Court, Newport, RI

It’s the second largest of 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.

Duration: 5 minutes

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

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

Today, Vernon Court is the National Museum of American Illustration. 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.

Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Frederick Law Olmsted Park, Newport, RI 02840, USA

Do you see that unique clock on the corner? It marks the edge of the Frederick Law Olmstead Park. Olmstead designed New York’s Central Park, the White House grounds, and several gardens right here in Newport.

Duration: 5 minutes

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

Continue looking to the left as we continue down Bellevue. Coming up soon, you’ll see a white mansion set far back from the road. That’s Rosecliff, the mansion built for Theresa and Hermann Oelrichs in 1902.

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

Coming up on the right is Belcourt Castle, the 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

Coming up on your left is the sprawling mansion Rough Point, home to the Duke family. The English-style manor was originally commissioned by Frederick Vanderbilt in 1887. James Duke purchased it 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: Ocean Drive, Newport, RI

You’re now traveling along Newport’s Ocean Drive. Watch the ocean and the rocky shore slide by on your left. On your right, you’ll see more of the historic properties which have come to define Newport. This stretch of road is the perfect encapsulation of what makes Newport so special.

Duration: 5 minutes

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

Look out across the water. 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

Up ahead is Brenton Point State Park. 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.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Castle Hill Inn, 590 Ocean Drive, Newport, RI 02840, USA

It 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: OceanCliff Hotel, 65 Ridge Rd, Newport, RI 02840, USA

On the left, you’ll see a stone Romanesque structure. That’s the entrance to Ocean Cliff, a historic estate-turned-hotel. Take a quick detour inside if you’d like to see it up close.


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: 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

Stop At: Thames Street, Newport, RI 02840

This area is the Irish district. This district was home to the first substantial Irish population in Rhode Island. Although the 19th century was rife with prejudice against Irish immigrants, and wages were criminally low, Newport residents have maintained pride in their Irish heritage.


Duration: 5 minutes

Stop At: Narragansett Beach, Narragansett, RI

We’re almost at the end of our tour. We’ll follow Spring Street until the end, where it intersects with the busy Memorial Boulevard. From there, you have a choice… you can turn left and go back to the Visitors Center, or you can turn right and visit some of the mansions on Bellevue Avenue.


Duration: 5 minutes

Pass By: The Chanler at Cliff Walk, 117 Memorial Blvd, Newport, RI 02840, USA

The Chanler – Built: 1870-1873 was designed for New York Congressman, John Winthrop Chanler, and his wife, Margaret Astor Ward (great-granddaughter of John Jacob Astor- the first multimillionaire in America), as a summer home. Book the tour to learn how much the house cost at the time of construction and why?

Stop At: Easton's Beach Snack Bar, 175 Memorial Blvd, Newport, RI 02840, USA

If you look out over the bay to your left, you’ll have a good view of Easton’s Beach. Easton’s Beach was frequented mostly by middle-class New Englanders to appear more like the upper-class New Yorkers who summered at the mansions. Book the tour for more interesting facts!

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Cliff Walk 40 Steps, Narragansett Ave, Newport, RI 02840, USA

The Newport tradition holds that David Priestley Hall built the first Forty Steps in the 1830s so that his children could have access to a beach on his property at the base of the rocky shore. Book the tour to learn when it was opened to the public and other interesting facts.

Duration: 10 minutes

Pass By: McAuley Hall, Newport, RI 02840, USA

Designed in 1882 by famed architects Peabody and Stearns, Vinland Estate was first built for Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, a tobacco heiress. Book the tour to learn about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem “The Skeleton in Armor,” and how it inspired building this estate.

Pass By: Point Section of Newport, RI, Washington Street, Newport, RI 02840

Anglesea, a seaside Victorian cottage along the Cliff Walk, was designed by Detlef Lienau, a German architect who is credited with having introduced the French style to American building construction, notably the mansard roof and all its decorative flourishes. Book the tour to learn about Walter Herron Lewis, for whom the house was built and other interesting facts and history