I always enjoying going on food tours because I get to try different places and the local guides…read moreprovide insights and history of the area. I participated in the Newport Foodies Stroll on Saturday, August 17, 2024 from 11:30am - 2:30pm. The tour begins in front of the wave statue/sculpture at the intersection of America's Cup and Memorial Boulevard. There were some parking on Memorial Boulevard at on-street metered spaces but it is limited to a maximum of three hours, which didn't work with the tour. The nearest paid parking lot is located right next to Surf Club. It was $30 to park till 1am. This worked perfectly since we were spending the rest of our day in downtown Newport. At 11:15am, my group met our tour guide, Susan (Sue) Maxwell, and the other 6 people in our group. It was a group of 10 people total. After introducing ourselves, Sue informed us of the itinerary of the day and took our order for Wally's Wieners. We had the option of a Smash Burger or Wiener. Our first stop was the Sailing Museum & National Sailing Hall of Fame. Sue talked about the exterior of the building and what we could find inside. This was an opportunity for two people at a time to use the restroom. Then, we walked on Thames Street to Inpopnito for a sample of their Newport by the Sea popcorn, which is a mix of Newport Cheddar and Sea-sprayed Caramel popcorn. This was so good that I went back to the store after the tour to purchase a bag. After, we went to Virgin & Aged Gourmet Oils & Vinegars to try their Fig Balsamic Vinegar and Garlic Olive Oil. The Garlic Olive Oil is their most popular one. I really liked it and could imagine dipping bread into it. We came back to Virgin & Aged Gourmet Oils & Vinegars after the tour to purchase some oils and honey. Because of the tour, we get 10% off our purchases. Next, we walked to Wally's Wieners and we walked right upstairs and were seated right away. The restaurant was very busy with customers. Wally's Wieners is named after the owners golden doodle Wally and have been operating a successful hot dog cart since 2019. When demand for their hot dogs went up, they opened the storefront on Thames Street. I got to try the wiener with ketchup, mustard, relish, diced onions served on a butter grilled martin's potato roll. It was really good. After that, we walked to The Reef for Newport Clam Chowder with clams, potatoes, onions, cream, and dill. This is a mix of Rhode Island Clam Chowder ("clear") and New England Clam Chowder (includes milk or cream). Personally, I prefer a more creamy clam chowder but the Newport Clam Chowder had good taste. Sue shared the restaurant is all about celebrating international flavor as it is inspired by sailors who travel around the world. The owner is a lifelong sailor. Next restaurant stop was Vieste ... Simply Italian, an Italian restaurant that opened in 2019. Tim who works at the restaurant enlightened us about Tony Lorusso's family and Master Chef Pietro Scotti. The restaurant wasn't open for the day yet to the public, but our group were seated at the outside patio and the other Newport Foodies Stroll tour that started at 12:00pm with Tom joined us. Here we were served a mixed green salad, homemade ravioli stuffed w/ ricotta, and we had the option of Rosé Prosecco, house red, or pinot grigio to drink. I chose the Rosé Prosecco and it was a little dry for my taste. The mixed green salad and homemade ravioli stuffed w/ ricotta with focaccia was very good. You can definitely taste the freshness of the homemade pasta and ricotta. Last restaurant stop was Beaucoup cafe where we had the option for coffee, decaf coffee, or Hibiscus Iced Tea and a twisted knot pastry. I really enjoyed the Hibiscus Iced Tea and a twisted knot pastry. This was a really cute cafe and home decor store. The tour ended at O'Brien's Pub. Sue gave us a voucher for a drink which can be redeemed the same day or at a later time. We saved ours since we were stuffed. She also gave us a Newport Foodies Stroll business card and a list of the restaurants we visited today in the event we wanted to go back. You can tip her on Venmo or do cash. In between the restaurant stops, we would walk and Sue would talk about Newport's history, International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS), Fort Adams, Folk Vintage (a store owned by Sydney Gordon, a 'Bachelor' contestant), The Elms, and so much more. This really helped space out the food and I definitely got my steps in for the day. Each of the local restaurants we went to filled our glasses with water and Sue talked about their history and owners. Sue was friendly, sociable, and very knowledgeable. This tour was definitely worth $95 and I highly recommend taking the Newport Foodies Stroll with either one of the owners, Tom and Sue. They curated a tour of great restaurants and the restaurants will always be ready for the tour. Bring your appetite and comfortable shoes!

Tom was amazing! The tour includes history and a LOT of amazing food. I will do it again next time…read moreI'm in town.

We grabbed the last two seats on the Viking Newport Trolley tour and lucked out with Ray as our…read moreguide -- what a gem! Ray's storytelling made the city come alive, weaving in personal memories, local legends, and insider tidbits you'd never get from a guidebook. He clearly loves Newport and knows every corner of it, from Gilded Age mansions to hidden seaside gems. It felt like a friend showing us around his hometown rather than a scripted tour. Highly recommend -- just hope you're lucky enough to get Ray too!

It was a great tour however we started off late and by the time I left the parking spot I was…read moredrenched and hot. Jim was great however, the sound system from the microphone was so muffled. We couldn't hear anything he was saying, and that comes from all of us in the back of the trolley. It was unfortunate because he was great. Nothing bad about Jim but just bad sound system. Now I have to make a comment, I watched everyone get off the trolley after a wonderful day and I only saw two people give him a tip. Of course I gave him a tip. I can't believe people actually don't tip for a wonderful afternoon.

I highly recommend a trolley tour through Newport. There is so much history here that you might…read moremiss if you don't take a formal tour to get the details. Our tour guide and driver was quite funny and very informative. Getting tickets online was easy and meeting at the pick up spot was also very easy. Our ticket included The Breakers-also recommend.

The tour guide, Tom was almost non-intelligible. If I heard every fifth word he said that was being…read moregenerous. On more than one occassion he rudely told everyone on the trolly/bus to be silent so he could do his work. Was the tour interesting, sure if you want to see the lives of the robber barons of the 19th and 20th century. More than a bit of a tourist trap.

We enjoyed our little cruise with Amazing Grace. It was easy and no fuss. A great way to hear the…read morehistory of all the beautiful home and stunning boats. The tour guide was informational without being obnoxious. We enjoyed sitting on the top deck. The view is good from either side of the boat. We didn't order any beverages, but they are available.

We arrived in Newport mid afternoon for an overnight stay. Our teen sun wanted to go out on a…read moreharbor cruise and we did not know if that would be possible at the last minute. The staff at the Jailhouse Inn (definitely recommend) suggested we go down Thames to see if we could catch a last minute harbor cruise. We found the Amazing Grace booth and fortunately they had one more cruise going out that had space available. It was the most affordable harbor cruise we have had! The staff was great with a lot of knowledge of the area and the 1-hr cruise was perfect. And the picturesque view kept our teen engaged the whole cruise! Thank you to everyone who made this such a pleasant and memorable experience!

They never showed at meeting point on the map provided to pick us up. I called that day prior to…read morethe tour and there was no answer. I had to purchase new tour tickets and Mansion entrances. After numerous phone calls spanning a week I've finally made contact with the business operator. The confusion is associated with the fact they have a "Visitor Center" at a different location but when asking around town where THE Visitor Center is, everyone local expects that to be the Newport Visitor Center on America's Cup. HNT Visitor Center is not in Newport but in Middleton.

I had never visited Newport RI and it was on my list of things to do. When I found a deal for a…read moretour with Historic Tours of Newport, I decided that was my sign. I bought the deal and planned the trip with the BF. I called ahead and made my reservation without a hitch. We arrived at the bus terminal and had to ask around for Historic Tours of Newport. We were advised that the driver was out on a tour but if we waited outside, we would see him when he got back. When he got back, it turns out it was just us and one other couple waiting for the next tour. Our driver was a very nice older gentleman who knew the area well. We were booked for the 1.5 hour tour. It was mostly conducted from the bus with one stop at about midpoint. The other tour is about 3 hours and you could visit one mansion (your choice). Since the bus just kept driving it wasn't like we could just stop in traffic to discuss certain highlights. The mini-bus was very well kept and clean but unfortunately not made for tall people. Since my BF is 6'4", it wasn't the most comfortable ride. I'm no jolly giant but legroom was tight for me too. The other issue with the bus was that it was really difficult to see everything the driver/guide was pointing out on the window opposite of the side you were on. Having never been on a bus tour before, I think I've now decided that walking tours are my preferred type. As stated, our driver was a nice older gentleman. We did manage to hear quite a few stories about him and his wife during the tour interspersed with talk about the homes we were driving by. All in all it wasn't the worst 1 1/2 hours I've ever spent but I was really glad I got discounted tickets. If you were staying in Newport, it would be a nice introduction to give you an idea of they lay of the land and some ideas of what else you might want to focus on. PS One bonus is that the tour drove right past a cheese shop that we ended up stopping at after the tour ended. Best cheese plate I've ever had at le petit gourmet.

What a fun and off the beaten path experience for a random Sunday night! I always love being a…read moretourist in my area, so I thought I would book a ticket for myself on the Ghost Tours of Newport evening jaunt around the city. Having never been on one of these tours but always seeing them when out walking, I figured at best, it would be a new activity to recommend to friends and clients, and at worst, it's 90 minutes long and the cost of a cold brew and cookie. I'm so glad I went on the tour, because it was very engaging and enjoyable. The start point at the Marriott is easy to find and has very clean bathrooms (use before you go- no bathroom stops on the tour), and from there, the walk was a simple half mile with no sharp inclines or strenuous walking, making this ideal for guests of any mobility. I will say that comfy shoes are a must, as you are standing for the whole time, and there are cobblestones. Our Ghost Hostess with the Mostess, Kathy, was fantastic! It turns out she is very active in the Rhode Island theatre community, and we had a lot of mutual friends. I hope to share the stage with her one day. She kept the group interested in the stories, and you can tell she's definitely got lots of performance experience, which added to the overall fun of the night. The stories told were mostly from Newport's Golden Age of Piracy in the 1700s and 1800s. I did find the content very historical and interesting, however, due to the nature of some of the stories (real pirates, after all), I would recommend the tour for children ages 8-10 and up. I would absolutely add this to any Newport adventure, especially as we get into Spooky Season!

I purchased two tickets online on the day off our evening ghost tour provided by Ghost Tours of…read moreNewport. The meeting location was outside of the MainSail (a restaurant inside of the Newport Marriott on Americas Cup Ave). There was lots of seating around, so my husband and I found a cushy spot to wait for the group to gather. We saw your tour guide right away. She checked everyone in by asking to see confirmation emails and then gave us all small, reflective 'Ghost Tours of Newport' stickers to wear (she told us they also offered us ectoplasmic protection). Our tour guide was so prepared and offered us many entertaining stories about the history of the area, the city, and the notorious paranormal figures of Newport. She even had photos that she passed around for the group to look at before certain stops. She kept the group together and safe (crossing streets in Newport has some potential dangers - cobble stone streets and fast driving tourists behind the wheel). Our tour ended outside of Trinity Church (which offers some cool nighttime pictures btw) and that's where the group disbanded. Our tour guide offered to walk people back to the Marriott if any needed, which was really thoughtful and nice. While people were saying thank you and goodbye, I overheard a repeat customer tell her that she did a great job (as they'd taken the tour in the past with her). Note: If you decide to do walking tours like this one, please remember to tip your guides!

Very nice tour! We had a nice walk through Federal Hill with lots of history. Thank you Kelly!read more

Well worth the time!…read more I would definitely recommend to do this tour, even as a local. Informative and fun.

One of the best values in Newport. Tickets were very reasonable and drinks on board are only $3!…read more The crew was fun and informative. The tour covers much of the bay and the sunset on that particular night was outstanding.

Very comfortable and gave me exactly what I was looking for in terms of history and information of…read morethe Newport, port historic and interesting sites. The crew was super friendly and very down-to-earth. I recommend this trip for any newcomers to the area!