Visit Newport, Rhode Island, New England

Once the summer playground of America's wealthiest families, Newport remains a popular year-round destination and yachting center.

You can tour the town's famous mansions, each more opulent than the last, for a fascinating glimpse into Gilded Age extravagance. The largest of these is the 70-room Breakers, whilst Marble House is the most lavish and reputedly cost the original owners, the Vanderbilts, 11 million dollars to build in 1892.

The town also has a good collection of surviving 18th-century houses. The Long Wharf, the Old Colony House, the Synagogue, Trinity Church and Fort Adams, the largest coastal fortification in the US, are all worth visiting.

While the town rightly emphasizes its history with a variety of museums and tours, Newport also has a vibrant, contemporary side, plenty of quirky shops and great restaurants.