Thrifty Travel Fun: Newport, RI

Newport may be thought of as a summer playground for the wealthy, but it offers the same amount of summer fun to families vacationing on a budget. Read on for family fun tips!

Take a ride on the carousel at Easton's Beach. 

1. Make Easton's Beach your destination for a day of fun and relaxing by the Atlantic. This sandy, 3/4 mile-long beach is spacious and dotted with vendors and gulls alike. Wish you could have packed some beach umbrellas and sand castle building supplies? Not to worry: they're available to rent at Rosie's Rentals. The cherry on top, of course, is the cheery carousel: at $1 per ride, it's the shortest route to ear-to-ear grins!

2. Tennis, anyone? The International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum is housed in the historic Newport Casino, meaning your admission fee ($12/adult and kids free) gets you two for the price of one: a fascinating history of the sport right up to today's stars, as well as access to some of the word's most breathtaking Victorian shingle-style architecture. Be sure to take a stroll around the beautifully manicured grounds, too.

3. If you have doll lover in your family, or a connoisseur of all things miniature and magical, bring them in for a wander through Miniature Occasions and Dolls. You can marvel over handmade porcelain dolls, marionettes, and miniatures, take a peek at the dolls healing in the Doll Hospital, and maybe even see an elaborate, miniature doll house under construction. 

Accommodation Tip: Grab a cozy room at The Best Western Mainstay Inn. Affordable rates and easy access to downtown Newport and the beaches!