Bowen's Wharf and the harbor, on foot

Walk down for coffee on the wharf before the day-trippers arrive. The brick and cobblestone lanes are quiet early, and you can watch the working boats head out.

Springline Coffee is a Rhode Island roaster at 33 Bannister's Wharf, one wharf over from Bowen's. It opens at 7am every day and is the earliest cup you can reach on foot from the house.

The Coffee Grinder has poured Italian espresso downtown for more than 25 years and now sits in the 1835 Perry Mill at 337 Thames Street, a short walk along the harbor. It opens at 7:30 and has patio seating facing the water.

Bowen's Wharf has more than 30 locally owned shops and restaurants. For an afternoon on the water, several tour operators leave straight from this dock.

• Sightsailing of Newport has run public sails from Bowen's Wharf since 1990; the afternoon Day Sail aboard the classic schooner Aquidneck is the best way to use the sea breeze.
• Newport Classic Cruises works from a booth at 23 Bowen's Wharf and sails the schooner Madeleine and the sloop Eleanor daily from May through October.
• Coastal Queen Cruises leaves from Bowen's Landing on a larger vessel with covered seating, running narrated bay and lighthouse cruises — the easy option with kids or on a gray day.

The Block Island ferry leaves from Perrotti Park, about nine minutes' walk away. See the activity map.

Watch the sunset over the water and have dinner on the wharf, then walk back up the hill to Historic Hill. No car and no parking hunt.

Four wharf restaurants worth a sunset dinner:

• The Landing sits dockside at 30 Bowen's Wharf with a patio raw bar, live music and one of the widest harbor views on the wharf. It runs mid-April through mid-October.
• 22 Bowen's is the prime steak-and-seafood house at 22 Bowen's Wharf; ask for the second-floor wrap-around deck for panoramic harbor light.
• The Lobster Bar is at the end of the wharf at 31 Bowen's Wharf — lobster rolls, oysters and 180 degrees of harbor, open daily until 9.
• Wharf Fish House & Tiki Bar at 41 Bowen's Wharf is the casual one: clam cakes, rum punches and outdoor tables facing the water, from 4pm Wednesday through Sunday.

Every year there's an Oyster & Chowder Festival in May, a Seafood Festival in October and the Christmas tree lighting in early December. See the Bowen's Wharf events page for this year's dates.