Challenge Your Children To Discover The Secrets Of The Breakers

The Breakers Family Tour allows parents and children to explore the historic Vanderbilt summer "cottage," imagining themselves personally witnessing the history made in this great Gilded Age chateau.

As the house shares its secrets during this audio tour, you hear from family members and staff, as well as fanciful creatures like the friendly dolphin hiding under the grand staircase, the lions of the Music Room and the dragons in the Dining Room. You experience a summer day in the life of one of the Vanderbilt children, learn about the masters of the kitchen - Monsieur Le Chef and his colleague, The Butler. You take an imaginary slide down the grand stairs on a silver serving tray, listen as imaginary acrobats pile 50 feet high to measure the Great Hall, and learn all the “rules” the children had to live by at The Breakers.

Using imagination, the tour introduces themes of architecture, design, décor and the importance of historic preservation from a uniquely personal point of view.

This 45-minute experience can be enjoyed by youngsters while parents take “The Breakers Revealed” audio tour, which follows the same route and timing. Visitors can stop as often as they like while traveling through the house, and can explore more information at subject stops along the route.

The tour has been created by The Preservation Society of Newport County based on a decade of research, oral history from family members and staff who lived there as children, and the popular main audio tour “The Breakers Revealed” which premiered in 2009. It uses extensively-documented historic facts to launch young people’s imagination on a flight of fancy through one of the 19th century’s grandest private residences, and introduces them to a time and place far removed from the present day.

The Breakers Family Tour is included as an option with admission to The Breakers. It is only available in English.

Tours of The Breakers including The Breakers Family Tour  are self-guided audio tours using the FREE Newport Mansions app.

For the best tour experience DOWNLOAD the app before your visit. And bring your earbuds!

Guests without a smart device will be provided with a paper tour script.