Newport mansions at christmas the breakers and marble house

This holiday season, gilded mansions, million-dollar yachts, evergreen trees and beautiful coastal views await you on this day trip from Boston to Newport, Rhode Island. Tour the area with your knowledgeable guide, see grand homes of the famous Vanderbilt family and enjoy free time to shop and soak up the festive atmosphere. This is a delightful way to experience New England in the winter!

After meeting at Park Plaza or being picked up from your select downtown Boston hotel, your guide will take you by air-conditioned coach to Newport. Located 1.5 hours away, this New England city is a vacation resort for the rich and famous, and is a dazzling sight during the holidays.

Enter The Breakers, a 70-room mansion on 11 acres (4.5 hectares) of oceanfront land. As you admire the mansion’s elaborate holiday decorations, learn how this was the vacation home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II of the famous Vanderbilts, a 19th-century American family who rose to social nobility due to their enormous success in the railroad and shipping industry.

You’ll have 2 hours of free time to grab lunch, browse local shops for last-minute holiday gifts and sip a cup of cocoa on a stroll along the waterfront. Afterward, continue your tour to William K Vanderbilt’s vacation home, the Marble House, a 19th-century house made of white marble. You'll be amazed by the house's elaborate Christmas decorations as you tour inside.

Learn how William carried on his family’s fortune to become the richest man in the world by the time of his death in 1877. His gilded mansion is said to have been inspired by the 18th-century Petit Trianon at Versailles.

Sit back and relax as you drive along Ocean Drive and admire the spectacular views of mansions and coves dusted with snow before returning to Boston.