Newport’s Christmas hums through the entire month of December. Every week has its own special events, such as a Holly Tea in the Eighteenth Century Manner; Christmas on Historic Hill, an ecumenical service at Trinity Church; a candlelight house tour; and late in the month, a reenactment of a banquet held in Newport in 1752 and known as a Turtle Frolic. For more information contact Christmas in Newport, P.O. Box 716, Newport, RI 02840 (Tel: 401-849-6454). The city’s Visitor’s Bureau (23 America’s Cup Avenue, Newport, RI 02840/Tel: 401-849-8098) and the State Tourism Division (7 Jackson Walkway, Providence, RI 02903/Tel: 401-277-2601) both have material on sightseeing and accommodations.

At its height Newport was served by twenty-four passenger trains daily. Now there are none. But the delightful Old Colony Railroad takes two ancient cars (dating from 1895 and 1912) on a nine-mile trip over the old tracks for a couple of hours on Sundays. (They close for the season halfway through December.) The train follows a beautiful route past a spare winter landscape, providing views of the sea and of the Navy Yard, where warships are docked—and where photography is forbidden. (P.O. Box 343, Newport, RI 02840/Tel: 401-624-6951.)

Much of Newport’s literature is centered on the days of Astors and Vanderbilts. Richard O’Connor’s The Golden Summers , published in 1974, tells the story in all its color and malice. Terrence Gavan’s The Complete Guide to Newport is available in local bookstores.