Fort Adams State Park
Fort Adams State Park
4.5
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Monday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
About
Managed by the Fort Adams Trust, a 501(c)3 Non Profit Organization, in partnership with the RI Department of Environmental Management, this National Historic Landmark is now open to the public. The Fort Adams Trust provides public and private guided tours and youth group overnights. Additionally the Trust hosts weddings, lobster bakes, private site rentals and a variety of special events throughout the year. Most notably Historic Fort Adams is the home of the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals each summer.
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingTours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Top ways to experience Fort Adams State Park
The area
Address
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
228 within 3 miles
Attractions
170 within 6 miles
See what travellers are saying
- AKDutTasmania, Australia193 contributionsThe most interesting tour in NewportFort Adams is one of the most amazing forts in the world. While it was never the site of any battles, it is a marvel of military engineering and a place of great strategic significance in US history. It is also located on one if the most scenic sites in New England - the fort has commanding views of Newport, Jamestown, harbour and bridge. Our visit was highlighted by a really informative tour organised through the Fort Adams Trust - a wonderful organisation dedicated to preserving and interpreting this site. We have had the privilege over many visits during the past 20 years of seeing how their efforts keep revealing the many layers of the forts extraordinary history and architecture. Tony, our guide was both a font of knowledge and adept at keeping the tour interesting for our diverse group (6 to 60+y.o.). I can't recommend this tour highly enough... one of the best ways to spend a couple of hours in New England in any season.Visited October 2023Travelled as a coupleWritten 24 October 2023
- 196LindaCMukwonago, Wisconsin822 contributionsWorth a visitVisited the fortress at Fort Adams. It was disappointing that the fort has fallen into such disrepair and vandalization. I am glad to see that restoration is in full swing. There is a museum on site that is thoughtfully laid out and informative. The views from the top of the fort are nice.Visited October 2023Travelled with familyWritten 29 October 2023
- RYC88Centreville, Virginia1,318 contributionsWe had no idea how interesting this fort would beThe tours are great of this amazing fort that we had never even heard of! The guide was so informative and we got to go in all the different barracks and up on the ramparts and down in the listening tunnels. We were fascinated to learn the history and to see all the architecture and hear about the changes throughout history. What a neat place!Visited April 2024Travelled with familyWritten 20 April 2024
- Pepper LGrandview, Texas52 contributionsGreat historical place!We purchased the tour and it was well worth it. The fort is very interesting however having a knowledgeable guide really brought it to life. The construction and attention to detail was fascinating. The listening tunnels were incredible. If you love history you will enjoy this place!Visited May 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 22 May 2024
- edge8400Valrico, Florida535 contributionsGreat Park!A great place to catch some nice harbor views and learn some military history. We were treated to a surprise as the National Drum & Bugle Corps competition was being held. A nice 3 mast ship was moored as well. Beware though, Newport traffic is a nightmare. Try to navigate around the downtown area for your own sanity.Visited August 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 18 August 2024
- Weezi67Worcester, Massachusetts194 contributionsGreat tour and tour guideWe were early so started off on the self-guided tour which took about a half hour. Then we took the guided tour and Harry was very knowledgeable and friendly. This tour lets you into places the self-guided tour does not, so would recommend it. It took about an hour and a half and he was very patient answering questions and we thoroughly enjoyed the tour and our time spent at the fort. Views of the waterfront from the fort can’t be beat.Visited September 2024Travelled with familyWritten 11 September 2024
- EdwelshNorth Canton, Ohio7,262 contributionsQuick stopWe did the Grand Mansions tour and luckily we made a quick stop here. I can tell you that they have a nice gift shop with large restrooms. The grounds around are nice with a new dock and benches facing the waters. We had a nice view of our cruise ship and a nice view of it from the ship.Visited September 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 16 September 2024
- Colleen HKingston, Pennsylvania21 contributionsInformative tourOur tour guide, Tony, covered it all with a great sense of humor. The fort is huge, with a lot of areas to explore inside & out. It was so interesting to learn about the extensive planning & engineering involved in any potential defense against enemies. The tour is highly recommended to get all of the information and see a lot of sections, including the underground tunnels, that aren't available on a self guided tour.Visited September 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 21 September 2024
- Denny SFrankfort, Illinois372 contributionsWell worth the visit.Situated at the mouth of the Newport Harbor, Fort Adams offers an exceptional panoramic view of both Newport Harbor and the East Passage of Narragansett Bay. Built in 1798 it remained an active military base until the 1960's. The largest of the intercoastal forts it was active during the War of 1812, Civil War, WWI and WWII. It offers either guided tours of around 75 min. or self guided tours at your leisure (with maps and readings tied to numbered locators). We took the self guided tour and found it relaxing, allowing us to explore some things more thoroughly. Going up to the parapets gives amazing views. Only about a 20 min. drive from downtown Newport this a great way to spend a couple of hours.Visited September 2024Travelled as a coupleWritten 22 September 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
1,179 reviews
Excellent
684
Very good
378
Average
93
Poor
14
Terrible
10
DFS60
Norwich, CT321 contributions
Jun 2020
Due to COVID, only self guided tours are allowed midweek. With that, perhaps the guided tours are more worthy but the self guided is uneventful. For admission price, you get a zerox copy of notes to follow while you walk around, outside only, of the compound. Basically, all you see is a deteriorated building with a lot of garbage, bricks and mortar, rotted wood piles sitting inside the gated off windows and doors. There is literally is nothing to see. The history notes were interesting but you could look it up online to read it and save yourself some money. I would not recommend the self guided tours to anyone, especially if you have kids as they will be bored.
Written 25 June 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heather M
Bridgeton, NJ92 contributions
Aug 2020 • Family
The fort is interesting but lacked upkeep and the historical charm. The inside of the fort was filled with broken items, and seemed to be storage area with everything from a wooden cow to a tiki hut. It would be nice if it were kept with replicas of how things were at that time.
Written 19 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Stephanie T
9 contributions
Aug 2020 • Couples
A really beautiful site to see from both land and sea. The guided tour was amazing - Steve was phenomenal! So knowledgeable and enthusiastic, you could tell he lives and breathes what he was talking about. The underground portion of the tour was amazing and worth the wait. The views from the top of Fort Adams were some of the best views of Newport. Great all around.
Written 3 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SuzyQu15
Brooklyn, NY1,606 contributions
Apr 2022
Fort Adams is located at the tip between Newport Harbor and Narragansett Bay, with spectacular views! Built to protect Newport sometime after the Revolution, you can take either a guided or self guided tour. There are public restrooms and a nice little gift shop on the premises. Various events take place here, including the famous Newport Jazz Festival.
Written 25 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rich&Jen
Brockton, MA6 contributions
Jan 2021
It's nice but just ok. I also visited other forts in various parts of the country. It seems silly to let people walk all around except in the fort without paying a fee. Some of the forts I have visited are free. Not to be cheap but Newport is expensive and while this is only $6 per person, I find it a little annoying to pay for this when everything else so expensive. If you want something cheap to do, $6 isn't bad but the cliff walk is free....
Written 3 January 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mark I
Boise, ID176 contributions
Aug 2022 • Solo
Outstanding early example American fortress building. Well conserved and still in the process of conservation. The staff was very knowledgeable, and the information signs are or spot on. This was one of America’s earliest forts And the primary reason new port was never attacked during the Civil War. Easily worth an hour or two of time Plus if you have some kids that need to wear off some energy this would be a great place as there’s lots of open spaces and stairs for them to use up some of that
Written 19 September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Lou P
Kansas City, KS357 contributions
Jun 2023 • Friends
Aside from the cold, forceful wind, it was a wonderful tour! Steve did such a great job of sharing his enthusiasm for this fort with those of us touring. He made it fun and also put things in perspective in regards to the importance of this huge and unique fort. Proud to call ourselves Tunnel Rats!
Written 7 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Zephyr_Travel
Fredericksburg, VA2,976 contributions
Jul 2022
If you like history, hiking an area with harbor views, or have adventurous kids, it's worth a stop. The tour is around 90 minutes, due mostly to the huge size of the fort area. A couple of highlights:
Only tour access: underground tunnel exploration with provided flashlight
Top level: view of harbor, boat dock
Gift store: with sandwiches, snacks, and military themed gifts
Our tour guide had good stories and mixed in a great amount of humor to keep engagement.
Stroller: had to carry it to upper level, it fit in most ground level fort areas
Only tour access: underground tunnel exploration with provided flashlight
Top level: view of harbor, boat dock
Gift store: with sandwiches, snacks, and military themed gifts
Our tour guide had good stories and mixed in a great amount of humor to keep engagement.
Stroller: had to carry it to upper level, it fit in most ground level fort areas
Written 13 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LauBauMtAiry
Mt Airy, MD274 contributions
Jul 2020 • Family
Took our two tween boys here during a trip to Newport. Beautiful views and breezes outside the fort but we coughed up the $18 for our family to visit inside the walls. No tours going on at this time so we were given a guide sheet and set off. Took less than an hour and there wasn’t much to look at, very small museum before you exit. I’m thinking a guided tour (which seems to allow access to additional areas) may have given our visit some “oomph”. Happy to contribute a few bucks to help keep it preserved.
Written 22 July 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BeeNh
NH42 contributions
Oct 2020 • Couples
I’m glad we visited while in Newport for the history and views from the top deck of the fort. Most of it you can only poke in to look at, so not too much to see. The historic brochure was interesting to read while moving from point to point.
Written 22 October 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Parking for Newport Folk Fest. I bought a parking pass for one day for $15 plus fees through the Newport Folk site… I do not plan to arrive until much later in the day, maybe about 1 PM, I am concerned there will be no parking available even though I pre-purchased a pass because stage Ford state park does not appear to have much parking to begin with. parking opens at 8 AM, my concern is the lot will fill up… Again I will not arrive until close to 1 PM… Does anyone have any experience parking for the Newport Folk festival… And more specifically arriving later in the day? Thank you
Written 25 July 2019
Sorry we have no info -- perhaps there is a contact number with your Festival Parking Pass paperwork.
Written 25 July 2019
We are experienced jazz festival folks but may be 1st time at Newport...
Questions - it it worth it to bring chairs or does everyone bring blankets?
Hotels - best lodging seems 20 min away.Are there nighttime activities (where?) and does 20 min seem too far?
Where do you fly into?
Thanks in advance!
Written 7 April 2019
I actually stayed in Newport (My son lives there) and I never was there with the festival. I've seen some of the preparations, but I am sorry I cannot answer your questions
Written 8 April 2019
We are staying at the Admiral Fitzroy from 7/27 to 7/29. Is this in walking distance to the location of the Bridge fest?
What tours do you recommend?
What restaurants moderate price seafood do you recommend
Written 25 July 2016
I think I'm too late ...but we really liked Benjamin's...I'm not sure if admiral Fitzroy is near the park...sorry
Written 31 July 2016
Showing results 1-10 of 13
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing