Rhode Island

VIVA ITALIA – Get a sense of what the old Italian neighborhood was like as you stroll through historic Federal Hill, with its welcoming arch and open-air piazza. Drop in on one of the very few live poultry vendors you’re likely to see anywhere, visit the wonderful deli, Venda Ravioli, or toss a coin into the fountain.

GET BACK – Tree-lined and narrow, very few streets in the U.S. can summon up the Colonial and Federal eras as readily as Benefi t Street in Providence. Pioneers in industrial, literary and religious history lived in these buildings or visited them. One was featured in an H.P. Lovecraft story and is still reputed to be haunted. Amble down Benefit, then jump back into this century on nearby Thayer Street, a classic college district.

OVER THE CLIFF – Meander along the 3.5- mile Cliff Walk in Newport, RI, and imagine yourself a robber baron of the Gilded Age, out for a stroll behind your oceanfront mansion. Enjoy spectacular views of Narragansett Bay from the 30- to 50-foot cliffs, or, on the other side, the man-made beauty of the Breakers, Beechwood, Rosecliff, and other “cottages” of the Astors and Vanderbilts.