The Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island, is a scenic 3.5-mile public trail along the southeastern shore of Aquidneck Island, famous for its dramatic ocean views and historic mansions from the Gilded Age. Jeanine, Mayela, and I ventured there after stops in Providence and Jamestown on an all-day car trip. Pictured above is the Anglesea, a private residence that may be my favorite on the Cliff Walk.

The Breakers is a renowned mansion built as the summer residence for Cornelius Vanderbilt II, chairman of the New York Central Railroad, between 1893 and 1895. The estate remained a Vanderbilt family property for decades. After Cornelius’s death, his wife, Alice, and then his daughter, Gladys Széchenyi, inherited it. Gladys leased the mansion to the Preservation Society of Newport County in 1948, who bought it outright in 1972.

The Forty Steps is a historic stone staircase originally constructed in the early 1800s and later rebuilt with granite in the 1990s. It became a lively gathering spot for mansion staff and locals during the Gilded Age, where people socialized, danced, and enjoyed ocean views after work.

The Chinese Tea House sits atop the Marble House estate, built between 1912 and 1914 by architect brothers Richard and Joseph Howland Hunt as a tribute to Song Dynasty architecture. Commissioned by Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, it served as a site for suffragist rallies, with “Votes for Women” china and calligraphy inscribed to celebrate women’s rights.