Rhode Island's magnificent white marble Georgian state house was inspired by London's St Paul's Cathedral and the US Capitol. It has the distinction of sporting one of only four self-supporting domes in the world, the others being St Peter's Basilica, the Taj Mahal, and the Minnesota State Capitol. The beautiful building in Smith Street houses the original Rhode Island Charter of 1663 and an historic portrait of George Washington painted by Gilbert Stuart, a Rhode Island native. The Washington portrait is renowned for being the one used on the American dollar bill.

The three-storey mansion on Power Street, designed by Joseph Brown for his brother John, in 1786, was once described by John Quincy Adams as 'the most magnificent and elegant private mansion that I have ever seen on this continent'. Indeed the formal Georgian style mansion is breathtaking, with its elaborate woodwork, French wallpaper and 18th-century locally made furnishings. The house also features silver and decorative oriental objects d'art, gathered by John Brown who made his fortune trading with China, as well as the slave trade.

Providence's renovated downtown waterfront is known as Waterplace Park, a haven of romantic Venetian footbridges and cobblestone walkways that has won national and international design awards. The river walk was the centre of the shipping trade in the city's early years, sited at the junction of three rivers. Today it draws enthusiastic crowds to the popular Waterfire events, held several times a year. This multimedia festival involves nearly 100 blazing braziers that rise from the river, seemingly to dance atop the water to the tune of rhythmic music. Waterfire events are not held to schedule and visitors can find out from the visitor information centre in the clock tower (open daily from 10am to 4pm) when the next is to be held, or consult the Waterfire website www.waterfire.orgFree concerts and plays are also frequently held in the Waterplace Amphitheatre.

The small but comprehensive museum attached to the Rhode Island design college features many changing exhibitions, particularly relating to textiles. The museum's permanent collection includes the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller collection of Japanese prints, Chinese terracotta, Greek statuary and some French Impressionist paintings. Highlights are works by masters such as Monet, Cézanne, Rodin and Picasso. There is also an American section containing paintings by Gilbert Stuart, John Singleton Copley and John Singer Sargent.

Providence's zoo is situated in a beautiful 174-hectare (430-acre) Victorian park accessed from Elmwood Avenue on the south edge of the city. The Roger Williams Park also contains two other popular attractions, a museum of natural history and a planetarium, as well as offering a relaxing spot to picnic, feed the ducks, ride a pony or rent a paddleboat. The zoo is home to more than 900 animals from 156 different species, with display areas divided into different habitats, including Tropical America, the Plains of Africa and Australasia. Special features are a walk-through aviary and underwater viewing areas for polar bears and seals.

One of America's most famous walks is down Providence's Benefit Street, lined with an impressive concentration of original Colonial homes. The 'mile of history' takes in all the well-restored buildings that were home to merchants and sea captains. The street, overlooking the city's waterfront, also features churches and museums. The area is cared for by the Providence Preservation Society, which provides information about the buildings and escorted tours from their office at 21 Meeting Street.

Just one of about a dozen summer mansions of the rich, built in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and that is open to the public in Newport's 'Cottage District', is Beechwood, former holiday home of the Astor family. Mrs Caroline Astor, doyenne of the homestead, was recognised as having the definitive word on who was and was not socially acceptable in Newport high society, and she was credited as being the architect of the famed '400 List' of acceptable folk that is still given credence in some quarters today. Being invited to Beechwood was a sure stamp of approval; today it is open to the public staffed by a troupe of actors who recreate scenes from the gilded age. Roarin' Twenties Tours celebrate Newport during the Jazz Age, while Victorian Tours take guests back to life in 1891.

Tennis fans are inspired by Newport's Tennis Hall of Fame Museum, but even those who do not follow the game will enjoy visiting this historic sporting venue, which was a premier gathering place of Newport society at the turn of the 20th century. The building, built around a large interior piazza for lawn games, is festooned with turrets and verandas and was commissioned by wealthy publisher James Gordon Bennett as a private social and sports club that became known as the Newport Casino. Professional tennis tournaments are now hosted at the venue, and the courts are open to the public for play by reservation. The Hall of Fame museum presents an exciting chronology of the sport's history, from its origins to today's superstars. The collection contains more than 7,000 objects, including historic tennis equipment, period clothing and a tennis library.

The oldest Synagogue still standing in the United States, the Touro Street building, was designed by Peter Harrison and dedicated in 1763. The synagogue has, in its time, been used as a venue for town meetings and for sessions of the state supreme court. George Washington, who visited Newport in 1781, attended a meeting in the synagogue and afterwards sent a letter to the congregation, which has become regarded as a classical expression of religious liberty in America - a copy of the letter is displayed on the wall of the synagogue, which has been designated as a National Historical Site.

Visitors interested in history will find the Museum of Newport History an excellent place to begin a sojourn in the city. The museum offers a comprehensive overview utilising the decorative arts, artefacts of everyday life, graphics, old photographs and audio-visual programmes to bring the past to life. The museum is maintained by the Newport Historical Society and is housed in a restored 1772 building in Thames Street (off Touro Street). Highlights are an interactive computer tour of Newport's historic district and a video tour of historic Bellevue Avenue presented on board a reproduction 1890s omnibus.

Proud of its heritage as a sailing Mecca, Newport is equally proud of its museum dedicated to the sport, which has been acclaimed as one of the top sailor's museums in the nation. The Museum boasts a variety of artefacts and exhibits such as a vast collection of classic power and sail yachts, a gallery devoted to chronicling the America's Cup competition held in Newport between 1851 and 2000; a single-handed sailor's hall of fame; and a glimpse into the sailing lifestyle of the Bellevue Avenue Mansions 'gilded age' brigade.

Barely 12 miles (19km) from the shore of modern east coast America lies a tiny 'treasure island' virtually unspoiled by progress, where the main past time offered to visitors is peaceful pleasure and kicked-back relaxation. Time seems to have stopped on Block Island in the Victorian era, particularly in its main, and only, urban concentration, known as Old Harbor, where ferries from Rhode Island arrive several times a day. The island abounds with quaint architecture, spectacular views and delicious native seafood. Charming inns, beautiful beaches and bike trails is the entire tourist infrastructure required to lure holidaymakers here in droves every summer to spend long indolent days splashing and sunning themselves. Winter brings some savage storms and life is fairly tough for the 800-odd permanent residents who depend not only on each other, but also annually warmly welcome the summer visitors, for their survival. Block island, named for a Dutch navigator who found it in 1614, is only seven miles (11km) long and three miles (5km) wide, but boasts a unique array of flora and fauna, a varied terrain of hills and freshwater ponds, and the spectacular southern Mohegan Bluffs that rise 200ft (61m) above the sea.