We're trying to do the "50 states" with our kids thing. Doing ok so far. (knocked out Utah, Nevada and Colorado so far for 2025).

This October we have Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut planned. I think we'll be ok getting plenty of stuff around Boston and Salem planned.

Any ideas/suggestions about RI and Connecticut?

Unique can't miss things if you're only going to be there most likely just once.

Family of 4 with kids of 9 and 11.

Thanks in advance.

Lighthouse tour in Newport Rhode Island

Newport is one of my favorite places in the world.

We go every Summer and just love it. You can't skip a mansions tour. The Gilded Age history behind them is really fascinating. If you're only going to do one, I'd prioritize The Breakers as it's the most grand and I believe has the most square footage available to view, having just recently opened up the servants' quarters. But Marble House is my favorite and The Elms is a close second. There are various afternoon tea experiences you can do, depending on the time of year, but I'll warn you that the food is not amazing at any of them, you're really there for the experience.

https://www.newportmansions.org

Cliff Walk and Ocean Drive are also great ways to see the area.

We did this sailboat charter last Summer and our whole family agreed it was one of the most fun things we've done in vacation. The views from the water are spectacular. The captain was incredibly friendly and really made it fun for our youngest.

https://www.onwatchsailing.com

Thames Street is packed with shopping and dining options. We usually stay in one of the inns right off Thames so we can walk pretty much everywhere.

Definitely the Mystic Seaport Museum.

Mystic is a cute town and the bakery downtown is top notch.

But the demos and hands on activities at the museum along with the history has been one of our favorite stops in our 49 state journey.

https://mysticseaport.org/

In Rhode Island we did the railbiking tour.

https://www.railexplorers.net/

Cool, thanks!

My husband and I did those 3 states (over 5 days) 2 years ago. We had been to Connecticut before back in 1999 for a long weekend too (for a wedding).

Connecticut- campus tour of Yale was so much fun back in '99. This most recent time we just walked around on our own as it was late on arrival afternoon. We loved the library! They will let you walk around inside parts of the library until about 5pm each day even without a tour. Beautiful!

We also love Mystic. Cute little town with great restaurants, some fun shopping, the Seaport Museum, a working drawbridge that operates often on the Main Street, an aquarium, and more.

In 99, we also went up the center of the state along the River up to Hartford and the Litchfield Hills. Gillette Castle is along the River route and in Hartford you can tour Mark Twain and Harriet Beacher Stowe's houses if that interests you.(We did Twain and enjoyed it.) Lots of covered bridges and picturesque towns in the Litchfield Hills too.

Rhode Island- We spent about 2/3 day in Newport, RI in 2023. Our main thing we did was the Cliff Walk and really enjoyed that. If you do the whole route, make sure to allow a couple of hours for the hike and to enjoy the sites/ view. It was a really fun way to see the mansions from a different perspective too. I think kids your age would be fine and enjoy the hike. Make sure to wear proper shoes as there are several different terrains to navigate. We didn't tour any of the mansions as we had recently been to the Biltmore in Asheville, but they looked amazing. It was getting close to sunset when we finished and that view was beautiful from the end of the trail/ beach. We then took the public bus/ trolley back to where we started. We enjoyed exploring the town by car too.

Massachusetts- we did 2.5 days in Boston and loved it! I'm sure you can find plenty of info, but I will say our favorites were Freedom Trail (did all of it over 2 days including the USS Constitution/ Bunker Hill), Fenway Park tour (Red Sox were out of town), North End, and Regina Pizzeria in the North End for a yummy, casual meal with a lot of history on the walls. Great waking city- so much history!

Great suggestions, thanks!