A drive along Tiverton's roads meanders pleasantly past farms and fields protected by stone walls rising high to a flat surface even without mortar. Beth Dolan Whitehead, 54, has done her share of travel, but her favorite stretch of country road is here at home. The ride to Fogland Beach "starting from the Provender on Neck Road is the prettiest ride around," she says. "The beach is rocky, but beautiful for sunsets, swimming, windsurfing, picnicking, walking, and stone-skipping." Not far from better-known Newport, Tiverton was named for the town in Devon, England, and incorporated into the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1694, and into Rhode Island in 1747. Looking onto the Sakonnet River and Mount Hope Bay, Tiverton offers some of the prettiest coastal vistas in the region. It's no surprise the town has lured second-home owners and visitors with its pastoral setting, historic Tiverton Four Corners, and quaint shops and galleries. Summer and fall are ideal times to visit.
Coast country
Vistiors lured by pastoral setting, beaches, quaint shops, and galleries
There are no hotels in Tiverton, so if you must bed down, your choices are two bed-and-breakfasts. Ferolbink Farms Bed and Breakfast (993 Neck Road, 401-624-4107; $75-$140 a night, two-night minimum, open April-October) is a 20-room Victorian house with a porch overlooking Narragansett Bay, and a working 550-acre farm. Six rooms in a separate area of the house are reserved for guests, with singles and doubles, as well as one two-room suite that accommodates up to six. Breakfasts are a treat, especially when fresh berries and vegetables from the farm are used. Owner Jason Peckham, who grew up in the house, says, "When the weather is favorable, you can sit on the porch and eat."
Lundgren's Bed and Breakfast (531 Neck Road, 401-624-6364) is a 1740 Federal-style home with a private cottage, set amid gardens, available for two-night stays. The cottage has a living room, dining room, kitchen area (which you may need since breakfast is not included), and bath on the first floor, and a bedroom upstairs. Nancy and Raymond Lundgren allow guests to use their tennis court.
The emphasis is on nature here. Get up for sunrise and walk along Fogland Road toward the beach. A landscape of wildflowers bursting out of stone walls leads to the rocky shore. Next stop is Fogland Beach, named for the fog that envelopes the shore. The black stone beach (on Fogland Beach Road) is popular with surfers and families because it has a lifeguard, bathrooms, and showers. (Nonresident parking $5 weekdays, $10 weekends.)
For a bike tour of the area, cycle with a group from across the border at Village Bicycle (678 Main Road, Westport, 508-636-0525, villagebicycle.com).