Cultural Delights

Find yourself in Federal Hill, named among the 5 Best Little Italy Neighborhoods in the U.S. by Travel + Leisure magazine. More than 100 restaurants, boutiques, galleries and food markets preserve the city’s Italian influence while also showing off its inventive modern spirit. Head to the East Side to encounter the Colonial past; you’ll be greeted by 18th and 19th century homes, cobblestone streets and flickering streetlamps. Tour Brown University’s campus or visit the Rhode Island School of Design’s RISD Museum, home to more than 100,000 works of art. Shop Thayer, Wickenden and Hope streets for indie fashions and antiques, or go downtown to The Arcade, the oldest indoor shopping mall in the USA. InRhode Island, most clothing is tax free. Explore the city on foot on a historic walking tour or, for the foodies, a Downcity Providence Rhode Island Red Food Tour. Follow up with a trip to one of Providence’s renowned bakeries, including Seven Stars, Sin, Ellie’s and Scialo Bros. Bakery.

Captivating Attractions and Events

Catch a Broadway act atProvidence Performing Arts Center, originally a Loew’s Movie Palace built in the 1920s. At Tony Award-winning Trinity Rep, one of the USA’s most established resident acting companies performs. Kids will enjoy a trip to the Providence Children’s Museum or Roger Williams Park Zoo, where they can spot African elephants, giraffes, snow leopards and moon bears in naturalistic settings and learn more about the zoo’s conservation efforts. For a romantic night out, take a Venetian gondola ride on one of downtown’s three rivers, where WaterFire, one of Providence’s signature attractions, also takes place. Running April through November, this multisensory art installation lights up the night with bonfires on the rivers, music and festivities.

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Downtown Providence’s ice skating rink is twice the size of the one at New York City’s Rockefeller Center.

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The Rhode Island State House’s dome is the fourth-largest self-supported marble dome in the world, behind only St. Peter’s Basilica, the Minnesota state capital and the Taj Mahal.

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Providence was once known as the “Jewelry Capital of the United States.”

Experience Providence

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