Providence
In a creative city, there is a lively culture and hot restaurants.
If you think this town looks like any other in New England, you’re wrong about Providence. Providence has eight schools and universities. It has the culture of a much bigger city but is easier to get to and walk around in than a smaller city. This friendly but sophisticated city was named one of the “52 Places (in the World) to Go in 2016” by The New York Times. It has a great food scene (Johnson & Wales University is the world’s largest cooking school) and a lot of different shops, museums, theaters, and historic neighborhoods.
Chef Mario Batali said that Federal Hill was “One of the Five Best Little Italys in the U.S.” More than 100 shops, bars, galleries, and food markets show off the city’s creative, modern spirit while still keeping the city’s Italian roots. The Colonial era can be seen on the East Side, where you’ll find homes from the 18th and 19th centuries, gravel streets, and flickering streetlamps. You can walk around the grounds of Brown University or go to the RISD Museum at the Rhode Island School of Design, which has more than 91,000 works of art. You can find unique clothes and old things on Thayer, Wickenden, and Hope streets, or you can go downtown to The Arcade, which is the oldest indoor shopping mall in the United States. Most clothes in Rhode Island are tax-free.
You can walk around the city on a historic walking tour or a behind-the-scenes Savoring Rhode Island walking (and eating) trip. After that, go to one of Providence’s famous restaurants, such as Seven Stars, North Bakery, Ellie’s, or Scialo Bros.
Providence Performing Arts Center used to be a Loew’s Movie Palace, which was built in the 1920s. You can see a Broadway show there. One of the most well-known resident acting groups in the U.S. puts on shows at the Tony Award-winning Trinity Repertory Company. The Rhode Island Children’s Museum and the 16-hectare Roger Williams Park Zoo are both fun places for kids to visit. The zoo has African elephants, snow leopards, and moon bears. A romantic night out would be to ride a Venetian gondola on one of downtown’s three rivers. This is also where WaterFire, one of Providence’s newest sights, takes place. This multisensory art project lights up the night with bonfires on the rivers, music, and fun from May to November.