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Rhode Island
8 Cutest Small Towns In Rhode Island To Visit In 2024
Rhode Island is a small state that punches above its size when it comes to tourism. This charming state in the New England region is famous for its extremely long coastline, art scene, and sailing culture. Historically, it is famous for being the first colony to renounce allegiance to the British Crown, and it was also one of the first Union states to send in troops during the American Civil War. Today, Rhode Island is home to a long list of charming small towns that preserve its rich history and serve as launch pads for its numerous offerings. From Jamestown to East Greenwich, here are the cutest towns in the Ocean State to visit this year.
Foster
Foster is a cute little town that charms every visitor with its natural scenery and attractions like the iconic Swamp Meadow Covered Bridge, surrounded by greenery. The Covered Bridge is the most authentic in the state and the only kind situated on a public road. Savor its views with the eyes and a camera, and proceed to Jerimoth Hill – the state’s highest point. Enjoy the views while ascending. Afterward, chill at the Nickle Creek Vineyard, where the views are as satisfying as the wine. Before leaving, be sure to shop till you drop at Foster Plaza Shopping Center.
East Greenwich
East Greenwich is a beautiful town on the west end of Narragansett Bay where visitors can relax, promenade, fish, boat, and kayak. The town also features Scalloptown Park, another great place to fish, bike, and hike trails, and enjoy picnics. Additionally, Goddard State Memorial Park is near the town, featuring large lawns, beautiful trees, hiking trails, a swimming beach, and a lot of picnic tables. While here, be sure to stroll through the town’s charming main street and shop for jewelry at Harbour Galleries, get inspired at YJ Contemporary Fine Art, and enjoy lunch at Dante’s Kitchen. For history lovers, East Greenwich features the Varnum Memorial Armory, featuring a military museum with exhibits and relics of past wars.
Middletown
Middletown is a laid-back town on Aquidneck Island featuring gorgeous beaches and open recreational spaces. Here, tourists can relish the town’s beauty by exploring its main beaches, like the Third Beach and Sachuest Beach, both featuring picnic benches, grills, and sugar-white sands. Kayak and boat rentals are also available to immerse in the waters while hiking around for sightseeing, which is relaxing. Otherwise, spend time unwinding in the town’s numerous parks like – Dunlap-Wheeler Park (featuring gorgeous ocean views) and Paradise Valley Park (featuring a historical windmill and trails). For nature lovers, Middletown is home to Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge, featuring a rocky coastline, salt marshes, and three miles of trails. The refuge is also famous for being an important stopover for migratory birds and hosting one of the largest winter populations of harlequin ducks in America. History buffs in this town will also have a field day exploring attractions like Boyd’s Windmill (built in 1810) and Lyman C. Joseph’s House (built in 1882).
Jamestown
Jamestown is a pretty small town in Conanicut Island where island vacation dreams come alive. Once here, visitors can relish the town’s charming scenery at the Beavertail State Park, featuring adorable ocean views, well-paved trails, and opportunities to spot migrating whales, seals, and birds. Move to the town’s top beaches, like East Ferry and Mackerel Beaches, to enjoy picnics, build sand castles, and engage in water sports. History buffs are invited to explore the 18th-century Jamestown Windmill or enjoy impressive views of Narragansett Bay at the historic Conanicut Battery. For more adventures, head to Fort Wetherill State Park to enjoy scuba diving, boating, fishing, and hiking. Before leaving, be sure to check out some of the top lighthouses in and around Jamestown, such as the Rose Island Lighthouse (built in 1869) and the Conanicut Island Lighthouse (built in 1886).
Bristol
Bristol is a cute town on the eastern part of Narragansett Bay steeped in history and natural beauty. Here, visitors will be greeted with an engulfing maritime aura, and the Bristol Harbor features several boat moorings and docks, offering endless opportunities for sailing and boating. For beach lovers, the town features Bristol Town Beach and Poppasquash Point Beach. Bristol is also home to Colt State Park, featuring unobstructed views of Narragansett Bay, picnic tables, a boat ramp, a fishing pier, and hiking trails. For history buffs, the town hosts Bristol Ferry Lighthouse (built in 1855) and Bristol County Courthouse (built in 1816). Nature lovers can head to Mount Hope Farm to enjoy walking trails and picturesque views of Mount Hope Bay.
Westerly
Westerly is a charming town in Washington County famous for its miles of beautiful shoreline offering endless adventures. An unforgettable vacation in this town can start from the downtown area where visitors can explore the beautiful wall artworks at Eagle’s Nest Gallery and enjoy some delicious meals at Cooked Goose or Bridge Restaurant. Next, head to Wilcox Park to marvel at the gorgeous scenery characterized by gardens, a fountain, a large pond, monuments, and trees. Take the adventures a step up and visit the town’s beaches for some water adventures and ocean scenery. The top beaches in town include – East Beach, Watch Hill Beach, and Misquamicut State Beach. For a blend of history and scenery, visitors are invited to the Watch Hill Lighthouse Museum, which features photographs and documents about the area’s maritime history.
Narragansett
Narragansett is a lovely town on the bay of the same name with so much to offer. Typical of a quintessential Rhodes Island town, this town’s beaches are undeniably alluring, and Narragansett Town Beach is the most beautiful. Scarborough North State Beach is another fine option, featuring an observation tower, picnic areas, pavilions, and a boardwalk. While in this town, stroll around The Towers to marvel at their stunning architectural splendor and the waterfront scenery, and then proceed to Point Judith Lighthouse to marvel at stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean. Before leaving, immerse in some local history at the South County Museum and embark on a shopping spree at the Salt Pond Shopping Center.
Charlestown
Charlestown is a small, gorgeous town in Washington County peppered with impressive natural and historic attractions. While here, visitors would be stunned by its array of mind-blowing beaches, often regarded as Rhode Island’s best-kept secrets. Some of the finest to explore include East Beach, Charlestown Town Beach, and Blue Shutters Town Beach, all brimming with swimming, fishing, sunbathing, picnicking, and water sports activities. Ninigret Park is another scenic area in this town for leisure and recreational pursuits, featuring a small beachfront and sports facilities. For nature lovers, visit the 858-acre Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge, consisting of wetlands, freshwater ponds, and diverse bird species. Proceed to Burlingame State Park to enjoy fishing, picnicking, boating, camping, hunting, and hiking. Elsewhere, history buffs can visit the District Schoolhouse No. 2 (built around 1838) or the Joseph Stanton House (built around 1739).
Rhode Island may be small compared to other states in the country, but what it lacks in size is that it makes up for touristy allure. From expansive coastline to historic and natural attractions and picturesque lighthouses, this state is blessed with so much. Fortunately, its small towns are great places from which to experience its best. In these towns, visitors will be greeted on all sides by charming coastal scenery while attractions line up to offer endless adventures. Whichever season you choose to visit, these towns in Rhode Island will make you lose track of time.
New East Bay Bike Path bridges are open and ready for bikes
What’s it like to ride over the new East Bay Bike Path bridges? We sent a reporter to try them out.
I’ve long thought bike paths are among Rhode Island’s premier attractions, up there with the beaches, the mansions and the bay.
We like to knock government, but credit where it’s due, the state has done an amazing job building out an incredible pedaling network.
It’s clearly a priority.
At least I thought it was.
But they’ve just dropped the ball on what should have been a beautiful new stretch.
The plan was to finish a mile-long connector from the East Providence end of the Henderson Bridge all the way to the East Bay Bike Path.
There was even $25 million set aside to get it done.
Except WPRI recently reported that it’s now been canceled.
The main fault lies with the Trump administration, which is no friend of bike paths, and moved to kill that $25 million.
But it gets complicated, as government funding always does.
To try to rescue that money, the state DOT reportedly worked with the administration to refunnel it into a road project. Specifically, the $25 million will now be spent helping upgrade the mile-long highway between the Henderson Bridge and North Broadway in East Providence, turning it into a more pleasant boulevard.
That totally sounds worthy.
But it’s insane to throw away the bike path plan.
Especially for a particular reason in this case.
They’d already put a ton of money into starting it.
When state planners designed the new Henderson Bridge between the East Side and East Providence, they included a bike path.
It’s a beauty – well protected from traffic by a barrier, a great asset for safely riding over the Seekonk River.
The plan was to continue it another mile or so along East Providence’s Waterfront Drive, ultimately connecting with the East Bay Bike Path, which runs all the way to Bristol. Which, by the way, is one of the nicest bike paths you’ll find anywhere.
But alas, that connector plan has been canceled.
So the expensive stretch over the Henderson Bridge to East Providence is now a bike path to nowhere. Once the bridge ends, the path on it continues a few hundred yards or so and then, just … ends.
Too bad.
We were so close.
Most of the stories on the issue have been about the complex negotiation to rescue the $25 million by rerouting it to that nearby highway-to-boulevard project. But I don’t want to get lost in the weeds of that bureaucratic process here because it loses sight of the heart of this story.
Which is that an amazing new addition to one of the nation’s best state bike path systems has just been scrapped.
You can knock the Rhode Island government for blowing a lot of things.
The PawSox.
The Washington Bridge.
But they’ve done great with bike paths.
And especially, linking many of them together.
Example: not too many years ago, Providence bikers had to risk dicey traffic on the East Side to get to the more pleasant paths in India Point Park and on the 195 bridge to the East Bay Path.
But the state fixed that by adding an amazing connector that starts behind the Salvation Army building and beautifully winds along the water of the Seekonk River for a mile or so.
That makes a huge difference – and no doubt has avoided some bike-car accidents.
We were close to a comparable stretch on the other side of the river – that’s what the $25 million would have done.
But it’s now apparently dead.
Online commenters aren’t happy about it.
On a Reddit string, “Toadscoper” accused the state of being “complicit” with the feds in rerouting the money from bikes to cars.
And there was this fascinating post from FineLobster 5322, who apparently is a disappointed planner who worked on the project: “Mind you money has already been spent on phase one so rejecting it at this point is wasting money and also against the public interest … but what do I know? I only worked on the project as an engineer … I didn’t get into this to build more highways. I do it … to give back to communities and give them more access to their environment.”
Wow. One can imagine the state planning team is devastated. That’s not a small consideration. Good people go into government to make life better in Rhode Island, and it’s a bad play to take the spirit out of the job by first assigning a great human-scale project and then, after a ton of work, trashing it.
A poster named Homosapiens simply said, “We just accept this?”
Hopefully not.
The first stretch of the path over the Henderson Bridge is done, money already sunk.
What a shame to leave that as a path to nowhere.
It doesn’t have to happen.
Between Governor McKee and our Washington delegation, there’s got to be a way to get this done.
There’s got to be.
mpatinki@providencejournal.com
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app.
A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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