Breakers Visit

Hi. Will be visiting October and cruise tour is sold out. Is it easy to visit the Breakers on our own? Is there a private company you could suggest?

thanks

You can buy your tickets at the visitor center (not sure if they still sell them at a booth at the mansion) and take the bus or a taxi. It's not far. I believe all the mansions now have an audio tour of the interior, with earphones and a numbered tape recording available in several languages, and no longer groups led by a docent. This also seems to reduce the wait to enter (lines sometimes used to be long), since you can be issued a device at the exact time you arrive.

Hi. Will be visiting October and cruise tour is sold out. Is it easy to visit the Breakers on our own? Is there a private company you could suggest?

thanks

All of the Newport mansions are run by The Newport Historical Society. Because you are a little off season I would check their website for the hours of operation as some properties may vary.(I've been several times but usually during peak season) If The Breakers is open to the public you will need transportation because it is a bit off the beatin path from town. You can purchase tickets there for however many houses you would like to see. You should be fine and transportation I think will be your largest issue. That being said if you have the time and can work it out The Breakers and other houses in Newport are well worth seeing. Have Fun:)

Absolutely correct info so far. Once you get to the visitors center, you should be able to buy tickets right there, for the Breakers or any of the other mansions you might want to visit.

Right outside the visitors center you can catch a bus or the trolley that will drop you off basically at the front door step. Just ask in the visitors center which bus or trolley and they will give you the exact info. You will save yourself a bundle doing it on your own and enjoy it much more. If you have time after visiting the Breakers, walk down the block and turn left and walk all the way to the end and you will see the entrance to the Cliff Walk. Take a walk along this 'trail' for as long as you wish. Either turn back to where you came in and catch the trolley back to the visitors center or walk until you get the next exit point (I'm not exactly sure where that is after the Breakers.

Cheers

Len

I am debating about when to buy our tickets: on-line now or when we arrive in Newport? My concern is that since Newport is a tender port it could be missed due to weather. Does anyone know if that happens very often? Thanks.

I am debating about when to buy our tickets: on-line now or when we arrive in Newport? My concern is that since Newport is a tender port it could be missed due to weather. Does anyone know if that happens very often? Thanks.

I don't know how often that happens but either way I would by tickets in Newport. The larger houses Breakers, Elms, Rosecliff, Marble house etc... tickets can be bought at the visitors center or at the property itself. If the line happens to be too long in town take a cab, bus, trolley whatever to one of the larger houses I've listed and buy there. Might even save time in some cases. You can buy any of the multi house packages there as well. I have been to Newport many times and always loved it. Now we take the kids there every other year. I am always there in prime season July-August and I have never bought on line tickets or been turned away from anything we wanted to do because of crowds. I don't think the larger houses sell out. Once in a while they will close a house or two for upkeep, construction etc. Real quick, there are also smaller mansions that are not roaming tours but with a guide. These houses you should look earlier in the day at the schedules as they are at certain times. If you did have tendering problems and had purchased tickets on line I couldn't even begin to tell you how to get your money back. Sorry this got a bit long. Let me know if you have any other questions, keeping in mind I always drive instead of cruise there so I cant give much help on that angle. But if you make it to shore have fun!:D

I don't know how often that happens but either way I would by tickets in Newport. The larger houses Breakers, Elms, Rosecliff, Marble house etc... tickets can be bought at the visitors center or at the property itself. If the line happens to be too long in town take a cab, bus, trolley whatever to one of the larger houses I've listed and buy there. Might even save time in some cases. You can buy any of the multi house packages there as well. I have been to Newport many times and always loved it. Now we take the kids there every other year. I am always there in prime season July-August and I have never bought on line tickets or been turned away from anything we wanted to do because of crowds. I don't think the larger houses sell out. Once in a while they will close a house or two for upkeep, construction etc. Real quick, there are also smaller mansions that are not roaming tours but with a guide. These houses you should look earlier in the day at the schedules as they are at certain times. If you did have tendering problems and had purchased tickets on line I couldn't even begin to tell you how to get your money back. Sorry this got a bit long. Let me know if you have any other questions, keeping in mind I always drive instead of cruise there so I cant give much help on that angle. But if you make it to shore have fun!:D

Thank you for your input. We'll be doing just the Breakers on this trip. It will be my first return to Newport in almost 50 years. When I was a preteen my family spent two glorious summers there when my Dad was lecturing at the Naval War College. I remember my Mom thunderstruck at the size of the 'playhouse' at the Breakers (I think) - she kept muttering that it was almost as big as our (small) house!

I have a few questions about Newport I hope someone can answer. From where the tender comes in is the visitor center close by and easy to find? Is that also where you could find a bus/trolley to the cliff walk area?

Can you walk to where the cliff walk starts or do you have to take a bus or taxi?

I don't mind a nice couple of mile walk if that is possible. I would like to walk the cliff walk and do the Breakers tour. It looks like it is possible to exit off the Cliff walk to the Breakers house?

thanks for any info

I have a few questions about Newport I hope someone can answer. From where the tender comes in is the visitor center close by and easy to find? Is that also where you could find a bus/trolley to the cliff walk area?

Can you walk to where the cliff walk starts or do you have to take a bus or taxi?

I don't mind a nice couple of mile walk if that is possible. I would like to walk the cliff walk and do the Breakers tour. It looks like it is possible to exit off the Cliff walk to the Breakers house?

 

thanks for any info

It's not too far to the a Visitor Center where you can get the bus over to the mansions and Cliff Walk. I wouldn't consider the walk over there a particularly efficient use of the short time in port. Use it to explore the town and maybe Fort Adams, and have a nice lunch.

Newport Harbor is well protected, and not subject to tenders being unable to transport visitors ashore. It is a long tender ride from where ships anchor, to the pier. Once you get to the tender pier, walk to your left to find the Visitors info Center. There are lots of free booklets about sites in Newport on a rack by the door. Once inside, the ticket counter will be toward your left. They take cash or credit cards. They will direct you to the bus loading area across the parking lot. It's a short ride to the Breakers where you will pick up the audio equipment as you approach the grand foyer. Don't forget to walk around the grounds and see the "play house."

I love the Breakers at Christmas with its seasonal decorations.

You can catch a bus back to town across the street from the mansion. On our way back you will pass numerous grand "cottages."

If you have time, wander through a few of the shops along the waterfront or stop for seafood.

Darcy

Thanks Vida and Watch for the info. So if I take a bus from the visitor center area to the Breakers I can then exit Breakers house and go walk along the cliff walk for a bit and then come back? Are there buses/transportation readily available back to the tender area or do I need to know time schedules before going to walk the cliff walk?

thanks

From the Breakers, turn left, go to the next corner and another left and walk till you can't walk anymore, (one long block, the Breakers will always be on your left) and you will be at the entrance to the Cliff Walk. I would suggest you go to the right once entering the Cliff Walk. I believe from the Breakers till the end of the Cliff Walk is about 3 miles. If this is wrong, some one can correct me. If you want to walk to the end, you can catch a trolley back to the visitors center. They are pretty efficient and run on a decent schedule. Again, many seasons can change the schedule, but check at the visitors center and they can give you all the info you need. They are very helpful there and will help you in any way possible.

I really wouldn't want to walk from the visitors center to the beginning of the Cliff Walk. Your time would be much better spent taking the trolley and enjoying that ride.

If you have extra time, from the Visitors Center, Tuoro Synagogue is a few blocks away. it is the old synagogue in the US.

Cheers

Len

Thanks Vida and Watch for the info. So if I take a bus from the visitor center area to the Breakers I can then exit Breakers house and go walk along the cliff walk for a bit and then come back? Are there buses/transportation readily available back to the tender area or do I need to know time schedules before going to walk the cliff walk?

 

thanks

Check out www.tomsportguides.com. There is a port guide for Newport which includes detailed information about visiting the mansions and doing a portion of the Cliff Walk.

It looks to me like one can take the bus to the Breakers and walk all around the property, including on the Cliff Walk, and then take the bus back to the Visitor Centre. It says the buses run every 20 minutes but I would want to confirm that with the driver, if I were you.

I'm also interested in this because we are going to Newport next May. Can anyone confirm that some of the mansions will be open in early May? The 2015 operating schedule is not yet posted on the website for the society that handles the Breakers and other major mansions.

Google the Visitors center and, I'm sure, they will have an email address. Ask them that question. The visitors center is open year round.

Cheers

Len

The Newport Preservation Society, which administers the mansions, has info on their site. This is for the breakers:

https://tix.newportmansions.org/ecommerce/ItemShow.aspx?Grp=7IFaI3PDX94%3d&Name=tBVxfCDp1wFu0tf5mO2yaQ%3d%3d

Open daily year round. Probably the most lavish of them all.

Even on a holiday weekend this weekend, it wasn't too crowded to see it well and completely. (But arriving when a full tour bus arrives is probably not the best timing.)

It's bus 57 Btw. Tom's port guide tells everything. I wrote some also so look my posts up if u r interested

This is the schedule for the "trolley" that runs from the Visitors Center to the mansions and Cliff Walk access:

http://m.ripta.com/67