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Once You’ve Toured Newport’s Mansions, Head To The Beach

  • Tour Newport's famous mansions or head for one of its...

    Steve Grant / Special To The Courant

    Tour Newport's famous mansions or head for one of its many beaches for sun and surf.

  • Newport has an impressive shoreline with a few beaches for...

    Steve Grant / Special To The Courant

    Newport has an impressive shoreline with a few beaches for sun, sand and surf lovers.

  • More sheltered and smaller is Gooseberry Beach, best described as...

    Steve Grant / Special To The Courant

    More sheltered and smaller is Gooseberry Beach, best described as semi-private. The beach is public, but the adjoining beach club is private.

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NEWPORT, R. I. — There are those of us who simply will not sit or lie on a beach all day.

Not that sun, sand and surf are not wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating. The question is, how much time are you going to bake in the oven, even with sunscreen? Me, I’m good for maybe two hours. Actually, if there are any waves at all, I’ll body surf until my sport shorts pockets are filled with sand.

I’m kind of antsy to begin with.

Which is why Newport is a great place to loll on the beach, or jump in the surf — or do other things, all in the same day, all in the same morning if you want. Newport has lots of beaches, some bigger, some smaller, each with its own personality, even its own demographics. Just as important, there are restaurants of every kind close by, some of them excellent, and sightseeing opportunities galore along with a thriving retail district where you can shop until you drop, as they say.

Of course, you already know about the mansions. Tours available.

Or, you could, as I did, choose to spend a couple of hours sampling the clam chowders of Newport restaurants. Rhode Island has its own style of chowder — clear broth, no milk or cream, no tomatoes either — but you can get almost any kind of chowder in this town.

But first, the beaches.

Think late morning, before it gets too hot, too crowded.

You are never far from the water in Newport. It is here, it is there, it seems as if it is everywhere. Tucked into the shoreline are all those beaches.

More sheltered and smaller is Gooseberry Beach, best described as semi-private. The beach is public, but the adjoining beach club is private.
More sheltered and smaller is Gooseberry Beach, best described as semi-private. The beach is public, but the adjoining beach club is private.

Perhaps the largest and most popular is Easton’s Beach, which, as beaches go, has just about everything you could want, including a boardwalk and even a carousel that runs daily until Sept. 5.

The beach itself is 3/4 of a mile long, a gently curved crescent of sand. You’ll often find a cluster of surfers at one end, an irresistible photo op for beachgoers with their smartphones.

Easton’s Beach has restrooms, changing rooms, showers, a snack bar and a picnic area. It also happens to be adjacent to Newport’s famous Cliff Walk, a spectacular and historic path with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and glimpses of some of Newport’s mansions on the other. You have the wildness of the sea contrasted with ever-so-ornate homes dating from Newport’s gilded age, side by side.

The walk is 3.5 miles and is a designated National Recreation Trail. Tens of thousands of people do the walk or a part of it every year.

There are places close to the trail that drop off steeply, especially at the southern end, so be careful.

Sachuest, Gooseberry And More

From Easton’s Beach, also known as First Beach, you can swim, sunbathe and go for a walk on part of the trail, all in a half day. Parking at Newport area beaches ranges from $15 to $25 a day, depending on whether it is a weekday or weekend.

Sachuest Beach, also known as Second Beach, is technically in adjacent Middletown, but is considered one of the Newport beaches. It is 1.5 miles long, and said to be the longest stretch of sand in the state. Surfers have their own piece of this beach that is justifiably popular with Newporters.

Tour Newport's famous mansions or head for one of its many beaches for sun and surf.
Tour Newport’s famous mansions or head for one of its many beaches for sun and surf.

Sachuest has a concession stand, lifeguards, restrooms, showers and a picnic area.

It also is adjacent to the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge with 2.5 miles of nature trails. The refuge attracts more than 200 bird species over the course of a year and is a popular birding destination.

More sheltered and smaller is Gooseberry Beach, best described as semi-private. The beach is public, but the adjoining beach club is private. It has a snack bar and lifeguards.

Gooseberry is popular with families. Just off the beach is a cluster of large, exposed rock shelves, part of the reason the water here tends to lap gently to shore, where the children play.

This beach is located along Ocean Drive, a 10-mile-long road with near constant ocean views and access to Brenton Point and Fort Adams state parks. Fort Adams has a small beach with relatively calm waters. It also has lifeguards, restrooms, showers and a picnic area.

After exploring Ocean Drive, there is the bustle of the Newport Harbor area with its wharves, thick with restaurants and shops. Newport at the moment has 236 retailers in the city, according to the tourism organization Discover Newport. Even on a weekday in summer, restaurants and other businesses will be busy, sidewalks crowded.

The Newport Visitor Information and Transportation Center is a worthwhile first stop when arriving in the city. Good maps, free, are available, as our countless brochures on city events and destinations. Clerks with detailed knowledge of the area are available at a large information desk.

The information center is at 23 America’s Cup Avenue, one of the main roads as you enter the city.