7-Nights Cape Cod & The Islands

Newport, RI

Newport became important as a resort for wealthy industrialists who built their “summer cottages”, modeled after European palaces, here and elevated Newport to position of “Queen of Summer Resorts.” A tour of the mansions is a must. Newport is also famous as a yachting capital and site of international tennis championships. Colonial Newport boasts a collection of 18th- and 19th-century and pre-Revolutionary buildings. Colonial Downtown is best explored on foot, and much of the town was burned down during British occupation, but enough buildings survived to rival Boston in number of original 18th-century homes. George Washington’s assurances to Newport’s Jewish community of religious liberty encouraged them to build Touro Synagogue in 1763, making it the oldest in the nation. St. Mary’s Church is the oldest Catholic parish in Rhode Island. The Grand Newport Casino and International Tennis Hall of Fame held the first national tennis championship in 1881 and is now Tennis Hall of Fame with a museum on tennis fashions and trophies.

Boston

The history and bricklaid beauty of Boston is easy to enjoy. Follow the Freedom Trail past Old North Church, Paul Revere Park, Fanieul Hall, the Commons, Old Ironsides and more landmarks of America's birth. Across the Charles River is Cambridge and Harvard. Venture to Marblehead and Salem to the south, or Lexington and Concord to the north. Back in town, have clam chowder at the warf or great Italian food in North End.

Hyannis

Regular fishing and scenic excursions leave from Hyannis, Massachusetts, which serves as a port for ferries from Cape Cod to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket islands. (You also can catch ferries to the two islands from other towns.) The Old Jail built in the early 1700s is supposedly Cape Cod's most haunted building. Given the region's historical prominence, that's saying a lot. Don't miss the early American graffiti on the jailhouse walls.

Also in Hyannis, stop at the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum to browse its collection of photographs from JFK's days on Cape Cod. A video (narrated by Walter Cronkite) focuses on the Camelot era of Kennedy's presidency. You can try to see the famous Kennedy compound from the street (the best view may be from the beach), but the homes are not open to the public, and the Kennedy family carefully guards what it can of its privacy.