Ocean Drive—Newport’s storied “Ten-Mile Drive”—is a ribbon of asphalt that threads together the city’s gilded past and its untamed Atlantic coastline. Improved through the 1850s–1890s, the coastal road quickly became a favorite carriage drive for Gilded-Age visitors. In 1976 it was designated the Ocean Drive Historic District, a National Historic Landmark celebrated for its windswept landscape and eclectic seaside architecture. Today it is still just under ten miles end-to-end, but the vistas feel limitless: rocky headlands, sail-speckled bays, and weather-polished mansions unfurl in quick succession.
The classic route begins where Bellevue Avenue meets the southern mansion district, then pivots onto Coggeshall before merging with Ocean Avenue, the sinuous, surf-sprayed heart of the drive. From there the pavement arcs west past Gooseberry and Hazard’s beaches, slips by the clubhouse of Newport Country Club, and skirts windswept Brenton Point before curling north along Castle Hill and Harrison Avenue toward Fort Adams State Park. Depending on where you re-enter downtown, your odometer will read roughly seven to ten miles.
Along those few miles you pass postcards of American history. The Green Bridge over Gooseneck Cove frames Seafair—the oceanfront estate comedian Jay Leno now calls home. A mile farther, Hammersmith Farm, backdrop to Jacqueline Bouvier and John F. Kennedy’s 1953 wedding reception, peeks above rolling lawn. Fort Adams’ star-shaped walls recall America’s Cup regattas and Civil War cannons in a single turn of the head.
Longing for a trip to Newport? Check out hotel availability here!
The roadway then unfurls onto Brenton Point State Park, where constant sea breeze turns the open meadow into Newport’s unofficial kite field. Steps away, a granite globe and stone pillars form the Portuguese Navigators Monument, honoring the 15th-century explorers who first charted the Atlantic horizons you now admire. Rounding the corner, you’ll see some of the private beach cottage rentals that are part of Castle Hill Inn.
The drive is a favorite of tourists and locals alike. We’ve lined up nine photos that capture those shifting moods, saving a sunset for the finale. Go chase the horizons yourself!
