Providence Is Closer to the World Cup Than Boston, and Worth Extending Your Stay For

Get moving

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From biking and kayaking along the Providence River to boating at Roger Williams Park, the city has plenty of outdoor-recreation options. When I visit, I love to hoof it around the walkable downtown, pausing for photos of historic Federal architecture or the waterfront, reclaimed in the 1980s and ’90s by uncovering the rivers that decades of rail yards and parking lots had paved over — now lined with 1.5 miles of riverwalk and the Waterplace Park basin.

For a combination of outdoor activity and culture, try one of a slew of self-guided walking tours, including the powerful Early Black History Tour, the Jewelry District Historic Walking Tour, the Downtown Public Art Tour, or the open-air Museo de Barrio Tour (along Broad Street, the city’s Latino Cultural Corridor). For the spookier side of city history, hop on a ghost tour.

Combine walking and eating, my other favorite Providence pastime, on the Crime and Cuisine Tour, where you’ll sample Italian fare along with a side of history about the Patriarca “family,” rulers of the New England Mafia, whose brutal, decades-long rule over the city struck fear into business owners, politicians, and residents. (Get up to speed before you go with the 2016 Crimetown podcast.)

Get cultured

Providence has a long history of cultivating artists and artisans. Among the Rhode Island School of Design Museum’s collection are Greek and Roman artifacts, furniture and porcelain from the 18th and 19th centuries, modern fashion, pop art, and more.

In addition to watching WaterFire, a theatrical lighting of braziers around the city’s three rivers, and set to an original soundtrack, you can visit the WaterFire Arts Center, a 15,000-square-foot exhibition space for contemporary art and live performance. A few doors down, the Steel Yard offers classes in industrial arts like welding, foundry, blacksmithing, jewelry, and ceramics.

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The Baroque-meets-Rococo Providence Performing Arts Center, located in a circa-1920 Loew’s movie palace, presents an array of movies, Broadway touring shows, concerts, comedy shows, and more. Trinity Repertory Company is known for its mix of classic and edgy theater, while Teatro ECAS is New England’s only Latino repertory theater, with all-Spanish-language productions.

My top culture pick: the Providence Athenaeum, a nearly 200-year-old independent library in a gorgeous granite Greek Revival building. It served as the stomping groups for 19th- and early-20th-century literati like Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, and poet Sarah Helen Whitman.

Get the goods

I’m continually surprised by the wealth of new shopping options in Providence, most of which you’ll find along Wickenden, Westminster, Angell, Hope, and Weybosset streets. The Arcade, smack in the middle of downtown in another stunning Greek Revival building, is home to a handful of local artists and artisans, and services like hair styling.

For unexpected Little Rhody–themed gifts, stop at Frog & Toad on the East Side. In the downtown, shop for women’s clothing at Queen of Hearts and Modern Love, and bespoke men’s apparel at Marc Allen Clothiers. If you can’t find a fun gift at color-happy Craftland, among the boutique’s hundreds of handmade T-shirts, accessories, jewelry, housewares, toys, paper goods, and original art, you can’t find it anywhere.

The grandaddy of all shopping experiences in the city is Providence Flea, a weekly outdoor maker’s market for food, artisanal products, and vintage items.

Get fed and watered

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Providence’s food scene has come a long way from its roots in Irish pubs and Italian restaurants, thanks in large part to the influence of Johnson & Wales University, consistently ranked among the country’s top culinary programs. In the past decade alone, the city’s culinary scene has exploded with multicultural gastronomy, ambitious modern takes on New England fare, and craft beer and spirits.

Forty-six-year-old Al Forno is still serving the grilled pizza that helped put Providence on the national culinary map. Today it’s joined by Pizza Marvin, which serves exceptional Sicilian-style pie with a sourdough crust.

Cult-favorite Dune Brothers, a sustainable-foods seafood shack with several locations around the city, is the best spot for trying Rhode Island’s famous clam cakes, plus lobster rolls, fish and chips, and more. Love from-scratch biscuits, but wish they could be more decadent? Head to Irregardless Biscuit for a quick bread stacked with everything from ham and cheese to hash browns, arugula, and tomato.

On the finer side, Jahunger is a superb Uyghur restaurant featuring hand-pulled noodles and bold, spice-forward dishes. Multi-award-winning Gift Horse is an elevated raw bar highlighting local shellfish and all–Ocean State oysters, plus thoughtful cocktails (classic and low-ABV) and an extensive wine list. At new kid on the block Claudine, sit down to an eight-course French-influenced chef’s tasting menu from a husband-wife team who honed their skills at Thomas Keller’s Per Se in New York City.

Can’t decide on a single culinary style? Sample from a wide variety at Track 15, a two-year-old food hall inside a spectacularly restored 1898 train station.

Wash it down with craft cocktails from Marcelino’s, a moody speakeasy; modern Clementine; Latin American-inspired Loma Bar; and small-batch distillery and cocktail bar Industrious Spirits Company. Moniker Brewery is known for its wide-ranging styles, from German pilsners to Mexican lagers, and hops-forward ales. At Long Live Beerworks, sip playful stouts, including a fun pastry stout, and crisp classic styles. Buttonwoods Brewery pours the gamut from hoppy ales to coffee stouts and earthy barrel-aged beers, all in a homey, laid-back taproom.