I love Providence! I hope you are there for the Fires! They are magical! Block Island is not to far on a ferry and it is has a Nantaucket feel. Also Newport and the mansion tours are alot of fun too. Boston is also very close if the weather is not perfect for beachy things. Thayer St is where Brown and RISD are and it is neat artsy area. I hope you have a great time! Mystic Ct is another nice piece of New England and also less than a hour from Providence. One wonderful thing about RI is everything is close!

Hope St., too -- I think that's where a Seven Stars Bakery is, and a few cute, arty shops.

Burlington VT is a great place to visit but it's probably a 5 hour drive from Providence.

A day trip to Block Island, if you have time. The drive to Pt Judith will probably be close to an hour depending on traffic, then the fast ferry is 1/2 hour, I think. Have lunch on the front porch of the National Hotel across from the ferry dock!

The federal hill area of Providence is chock full of Italian restaurants. We love Mediterraneo. We go every summer.

Bristol, RI, is a cute town, too. And Little Compton is beautiful. Our summer place is in RI so we usually take day trips every summer to Tiverton/Little Compton, Bristol, Providence. You can see a polo match at Glenn Farm in Portsmouth, which is fun -- we haven't been in two years but I think they play most weekends at 5 pm? You can google it. It's not far from Newport.

Wickford is another quaint town with great shops and some historic homes.

And of course, Boston has tons to do. It's about an hour, maybe a bit longer, from Providence.

Thanks Sue! Sounds great! What wonderful options.

Newport is beautiful! We went to the Tennis hall of fame and only on the grounds of the Breakers. Our kids were so little that we couldn't do a house tour then, but we really want to go back.

Mystic is a nice town in CT, where I am. They have a seaport village and really nice aquarium (I like it more than the one in Boston).

If you do go to Boston, I loved the Institute of Contemporary Art. I don't know if you have kids, but they have a great science center and children's museum (if you get a membership to a local reciprocal museum, those are both free and more than paid for our local natural history museum pass). One of my favorite finds in Cambridge was the MIT museum. I happened to stumble on it with my 3 kids on a free day while my dh was in a conference, and it was small but incredible....now I want to go again! : )

We haven't done block island yet, but there are lots of local people here that frequent it.

It's pretty far from Providence, but we just went to the Hancock Shaker Village last weekend and it was great. But it's in Western Mass in the Berkshires (about 2 hrs from New Haven).

How long will you be there, who will you be with, and what kinds of things do you like to do?

For example, you may want to go to the Williamstown, MA Theatre Festival. While there, they have a great museum, the Mass MOCA, which is right across from the neatest hotel ever, Porches. ANd if you are so inclined, there is also a great, paved, 12-mi riverside bike trail (a "rails to trails" path), and spot to rent bikes.

In Providence, you must must eat at Nicks on Broadway. Think artisinal, locavore. And get one of the counter tables so you can watch the chef!

Block Island is pretty but there is very little to do there. Relatively few shops, and IMHO only one great restaurant (Eli's). It does have a lot of charm though, as it is a tiny little island with rolling hills and relatively little development. If you squint, it's Ireland. (btw, no offense, but the hotels there are pretty run down, seeing customers pretty much only 3 months a year).

Newport has the mansions, and blocks of cute streets selling mostly ice cream, tshirts and "art" (but does't this describe a lot of places?). Also some good restaurants. It tends to be overrun with tourists, but it has some nice inns and the mansions, i think, are worth it.

I also like the shoreline north of Boston. Cape Ann, Rockport. Pretty topography.

Were you thinking of VT, too?

How long will you be there, who will you be with, and what kinds of things do you like to do?

For example, you may want to go to the Williamstown, MA Theatre Festival. While there, they have a great museum, the Mass MOCA, which is right across from the neatest hotel ever, Porches. ANd if you are so inclined, there is also a great, paved, 12-mi riverside bike trail (a "rails to trails" path), and spot to rent bikes.

In Providence, you must must eat at Nicks on Broadway. Think artisinal, locavore. And get one of the counter tables so you can watch the chef!

Block Island is pretty but there is very little to do there. Relatively few shops, and IMHO only one great restaurant (Eli's). It does have a lot of charm though, as it is a tiny little island with rolling hills and relatively little development. If you squint, it's Ireland. (btw, no offense, but the hotels there are pretty run down, seeing customers pretty much only 3 months a year).

Newport has the mansions, and blocks of cute streets selling mostly ice cream, tshirts and "art" (but does't this describe a lot of places?). Also some good restaurants. It tends to be overrun with tourists, but it has some nice inns and the mansions, i think, are worth it.

I also like the shoreline north of Boston. Cape Ann, Rockport. Pretty topography.

Were you thinking of VT, too?

If you're there at the right time, check out the Brimfield MA antique fields. It's amazing! The next one should be around July 4th and then there is another in September.

If you like old houses, Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts is a wonderful day out, with delightful buildings in a beautiful setting.

Even though I live 15 minutes from downtown Providence, this is what I do when I have out of state visitors.
Go to Newport and take a couple mansion tours. Rosecliff, the Breakers- there are several all located along "the very best, sniff, sniff" stretch of oceanside Bellevue Avenue. All breathtaking, and you will get a fascinating dose of Gilded age history besides.
http://www.newportmansions.org/
If you have time and like the ocean, go on the cliff walks.
http://www.cliffwalk.com
There are charter sailboat tours leaving from the brick market area.
The wharf area has tons of little shops and some nice, waterfront seafood restaurants.
Providence has tons of good restaurants. I've never eaten at Nicks, will have to check it out. The Waterfire is so much fun.
http://waterfire.org/

Almost any little town in New England is worth a trip!

Almost any little town in New England is worth the trip!

I guess it depends on what you want to do.

Newport and the mansions and the cliff walk are really nice.

Mystic CT has the seaport with some old tall masted ships to tour including working 19th century buildings and exhibits, and it has an aquarium.

If you want to gamble or see a show, you aren't far from Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun. If you don't want to gamble, the Mashantucket Pequot museum is the largest museum of native american history.

Boston is great for doing a city/US history thing. In addition to what was mentioned above, there's the Freedom trail, the USS Constitution, Bunker Hill, the Old North Church (one if by land....) plus a most fabulous art museum, the Isabella Stewart Gardner. There's also the science museum. There's also Harvard and the museums there...including the glass flower collection which are the most incredible things ever...yes this is made out of glass.

And the north end has some of the best Italian pastries in the world, and not to forget Regina's pizza which is superb. They have one in the north end, and another at quincy market which is a fun place to visit.

If you want to do more mother nature, about 2 hour drive from Boston (3 from Providence) will get you to the White Mtn National Forest in NH and there's lots to see and do there....Franconia Notch, Mt. Washington where you can drive or take the Cog Train to the top and walk some of the Appalachian Trail for fun. Take a boat tour around Lake Winnipesaukee. There are other hiking places and interesting things to see in the area like Diana's Bath, the Flume Gorge. There are a lot of B&Bs in the area too.

Or, from Providence you can head out to Cape Cod if you want to do the beach thing....

Newport mansions is my #1 recommendation including the cliffwalk. As already pointed out Brimfield in central MA is amazing if the Fleamarket is there, and Sturbridge village is interesting. In western MA there is a world class museum: the large Springfield Quadrangle/Springfield Musuems comprising museums of Fine Arts, Science w/ a planetarium, a museum of antiquities from egypt and the orient, one of local history, etc. and up the street the Springfield Armory Museum, a national historic site - small but has exhibits of early firearms, etc. Also in Springfield, the Basketball Hall of Fame - can't say anything about it as not into sports. Further west in Stockbridge,is the Norman Rockwell museum, and the quaint town of Stockbridge itself, which is also the original home of Country curtains, still there at the beautiful Red Lion Inn. Not far away in Lenox MA is the famed Canyon Ranch luxury hotel/day spa/resort etc. And of course the famed Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is also located in Lenox. If you're up for nature and adventure, the Zoar Gap at Charlemont holds whitewater rafting on the Deerfield River along with zip lines, etc. And if you are in the area between Charlemont and Springfield, Northampton is a great place to stop and browse and is home to the Smith College Museum of Art!!

Highly recommend the Newport "cottages" aka mansions. My favorite one is Rosecliff, followed by The Elms and Chepstow. They are all beautiful though. The trees at the Elms are worth the journey. There is also a topiary animal garden that is really amazing. ... We went to Cape Cod when I was a little girl and I remember it as being very nice, very artsy. Of course love all the beautiful scenery in the upper New England states and the history. Have fun!

SaraKat, I'm with you about Rosecliff. We lived in and around Boston for a number of years, and my DH's company had its annual do there - a beautiful dinner dance in the ballroom. I felt I'd landed in the pages of The Great Gatsby. (The book, not the awful new movie.)

If you go to the Cape, we like Chatham and Provincetown. But since you'll be in RI, Little Compton is indeed lovely, and less developed. I don't think I'd try to do so many things. I prefer to mosey around a smaller number of square miles, and get to know a place a bit.

In the Boston area, if you're traveling with children, I'd go to Concord and take the excellent Minuteman Park tour given by the National Park Service rangers. If you do that, pick up a picnic lunch at the Concord Cheese Shop on Walden St.

Here is a link that might be useful: Concord, MA, Minuteman Park

Salem is just north of Boston if you want to do the witch hunt thing...

deleting duplicate post

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Fri, Jun 21, 13 at 22:32

We are in the process of downsizing from 2 houses to one. I have a lot of furniture that needs to be reupholstered to work together in the smaller house. Could I use natural linen or does it wrinkle too much?

bronwynsmom, how wonderful to have gone to Rosecliff for those events. I am sure it was quite Gatsby like. I loved all the white which just made any color used stand out. Beautiful place, so glad the remaining cottages were spared the wrecking ball as so many were not.

I know!
I dreamed of throwing a black and white ball there - but, alas, the extra millions didn't arrive to make it possible.

Thank you ALL for the suggestions and the links! I am going with a friend of mine. No kids. Just a fun girls extra long weekend. I have been wanting to take a trip to New England for so long. I live in Texas so it will be a wonderful change!

Rosecliff with its sweetheart staircase is my favorite mansion too, followed by the Elms. I love the stories about Mrs Oelrich's incredible parties...including, if I recall correctly, that her budget just for the perfumes that were added to the chandeliers so the fragrance would waft down over the party goers was $65,000....when the average worker was making only about $400 per year!

Sorry...duplicate. I 've been having trouble with the system hanging when I hit submit and then have to resubmit.

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Sat, Jun 22, 13 at 8:00

A girls weekend-perfect! Do the Newport mansions, head up to Boston and spend some time in the North End. Walk the Freedom Trail. Go out to Lexington and Concord for the historic sites. I don't think you will have time to go to VT. I'd focus on RI and MA...plenty to do. Shopping? Newbury Street in Back Bay. Hip stuff? The Seaport area..more than enough for a weekend. I live in the 'burbs of Boston. There is SO much to do, but if you have only a weekend you have to make choices. It's all good!

A girls weekend-perfect! Do the Newport mansions, head up to Boston and spend some time in the North End. Walk the Freedom Trail. Go out to Lexington and Concord for the historic sites. I don't think you will have time to go to VT. I'd focus on RI and MA...plenty to do. Shopping? Newbury Street in Back Bay. Hip stuff? The Seaport area..more than enough for a weekend. I live in the 'burbs of Boston. There is SO much to do, but if you have only a weekend you have to make choices. It's all good!

I was told by a good friend that when she went to New England her favorite place was Salem.

Is Salem truly interesting and worth seeing or is it just a lot of hype? I took a fabulous open air ghost bus tour in Savannah and it was one of the neatest things I have ever done. However, sometimes these sorts of tours are just silly. I also took an on foot ghost tour of New Orleans and it was terrible.

So, does anyone have any thoughts on visiting Salem?

Thanks so much again for all of your wonderful suggestions!!!

I live in the Boston area, and I really like Salem -- but not for ghost tours. There is of course, the witch museum. The first time I visited, I was surprised by what a large, brick city Salem is, and yet so close to Boston. There are whole neighborhoods of really lovely old homes, including the House of Seven Gables, and a wonderful waterfront with restaurants and a great antique store. A main street loaded with restaurants, and the Peabody/Essex Museum is fabulous.

I agree the Peabody/Essex Museum is terrific. My single favorite thing to do in Boston is visit the Mapparium. It is a 30 foot in diameter stained glass globe portraying the world as it was in 1935 when it was made. The Center has a cafeteria and the cleanest public restrooms in Boston. The women's restroom has some classic art deco tile work that is in itself worth the trip.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mapparium