America's Most Beautiful Coastal Views

Newport Beach, RI

America’s wealthiest families started building their “summer cottages” (read: stately mansions) here in the mid 19th century, attracted by Newport Beach’s gorgeous views. Not much has changed since then, except that many of the historic homes—which overlook sweeps of ocean so immense it’s easy to forget that Rhode Island is our smallest state—are now open to the public, thanks largely to the efforts of Doris Duke in the 1950s. Her sprawling, 1887 English manor–style estate, Rough Point, is among the island’s most spectacular buildings—and it has the vistas to match.

Insider Tip: Don’t skip the mostly gentle 3.5-mile cliff walk, atop the beaches’ craggy rocks.