Providence

One of America's most famous walks in Providence is Benefit Street, lined with an impressive concentration of original colonial-style 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 Providence Preservation Society cares for the area, providing information about the buildings and escorted tours from their office at 21 Meeting Street.

Telephone : Providence Preservation Society: (401) 831 7440

Designed by Joseph Brown for his brother John in 1786, sixth president John Quincy Adams once described the three-storey mansion on Power Street as being the most incredible and elegant private mansion ever seen on the continent of North America.The Georgian architecture features elaborate woodwork, French wallpaper, and 18th-century locally-made furnishings. John Brown House also contains silver and decorative oriental objet d'art, gathered by John Brown who made his fortuning trading with China.

Address : 52 Power Street, Providence

Website : www.rihs.org/museums/john-brown-house/

Telephone : (401) 273 7507

Opening times : Tour schedules vary, check the website for specific dates.

Admission : $10 adults, $6 children 7-17. Other concessions are available.

The small but comprehensive museum attached to the Rhode Island School of Design 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. Please note that there are two entrances to the museum, the Museum's Benefit Street entrance and the Chace Center entrance at 20 North Main Street.

Address : 224 Benefit Street

Website : www.risdmuseum.org

Telephone : (401) 454 6500

Opening times : Tuesday to Sunday 10am-5pm, closes 9pm on the third Thursday of the month.

Admission : $15 adults, free for youths 5-18. Free admission on Sundays from 10am to 5pm, and the third Thursday of every month between 5pm and 9pm.

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 Zoo focuses on conservation and 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. Animals on exhibit include cheetahs, elephants, snow leopards, red wolves, bison, and many more.Special features include an exhibit focusing on survival and adaption, as well as separate environments illustrating the natural worlds of both Africa and North America. There is also a wetlands trail, a mini trek reproducing the journey of Marco Polo, and an upcoming rainforest exhibition.

Address : 1000 Elmwood Avenue

Website : www.rwpzoo.org

Telephone : (401) 785 3510

Opening times : Daily 10am-5pm (closes 4pm October to March).

Admission : $17.95 adults, $12.95 children 3-12, $15.95 seniors.

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.

Address : 82 Smith Street

Website : sos.ri.gov/publicinfo/tours/

Telephone : (401) 222 3983

Opening times : Guided tours of the capitol are by appointment only, and operate from Monday to Friday, on the hour every hour from 9am (last tour at 2pm). It's open to the public Monday to Friday between 8.30am and 4.30pm, except holidays. Consult the website to schedule a tour.

Admission : Tours are free of charge.

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. Free concerts and plays are also frequently held in the Waterplace Amphitheatre.

Website : Waterfire Events: www.waterfire.org

Telephone : (401) 273 1155