Newark

Newark was settled in 1666 by Puritans from New Haven Colony and has grown into New Jersey's largest city, a principal city of the New York metropolitan area with a population over 311,000. It's a genuine transit hub — Newark Penn Station and Newark Liberty International Airport both sit inside city limits — but the neighborhoods themselves are the reason to actually get off the highway.

Branch Brook Park, at 360 acres the largest public park in the city, holds the largest collection of cherry blossom trees in the country: more than 5,000 trees, spanning at least eighteen varieties, collectively known as Cherryblossomland. The park hosts an annual Cherry Blossom Festival each April to mark the bloom.

East of downtown, the Ironbound neighborhood grew as an industrial district in the 19th century — a name that comes either from its metalworking factories or the railroad tracks that once ringed it. Portuguese immigration into the neighborhood took off in the 1910s, strong enough that a Portuguese social club had formed there by 1921; more recent decades have added a large Brazilian community, marked every September by the neighborhood's own Brazilian Day festival on Ferry Street.

The Newark Museum of Art, founded in 1909 by librarian and reformer John Cotton Dana, is New Jersey's largest museum. Its collections range from American art and decorative arts to a notably large collection of Tibetan art, and the museum garden holds an 18th-century stone schoolhouse and the small Newark Fire Museum.

*Fees subject to change, please check newarkmuseumart.org for updated information.

Fornos of Spain, on Ferry Street in the Ironbound since 1980, serves Spanish dishes in a neighborhood that's built its identity around exactly this kind of restaurant.

Ferry Street more broadly is lined with Portuguese and Brazilian restaurants and bakeries, reflecting the neighborhood's decades of immigration from both countries.

10 breweries within 10 miles of Newark, 2 of them brewpubs with a kitchen.

Brewpub locations from Open Brewery DB (MIT)

The New York Red Bulls play in nearby Harrison, not Newark itself, so this guide doesn't count them as a Newark home team even though they're close by.

23 more Highway Heads places lie within about 180 miles of Newark in a straight line — far enough that most are a night away rather than an afternoon.

• TrentonNew Jerseyabout 45 mi
• Independence HallPennsylvaniaabout 75 mi
• New HavenConnecticutabout 75 mi
• PhiladelphiaPennsylvaniaabout 75 mi
• Atlantic CityNew Jerseyabout 95 mi
• HartfordConnecticutabout 100 mi
• WilmingtonDelawareabout 100 mi
• Basketball Hall of FameMassachusettsabout 120 mi
• Cape MayNew Jerseyabout 120 mi
• MysticConnecticutabout 120 mi
• Albany/CooperstownNew Yorkabout 130 mi
• DoverDelawareabout 130 mi
• SpringfieldMassachusettsabout 130 mi
• LewesDelawareabout 140 mi
• National Baseball Hall of FameNew Yorkabout 140 mi
• HarrisburgPennsylvaniaabout 150 mi
• Rehoboth BeachDelawareabout 150 mi
• BaltimoreMarylandabout 160 mi
• BristolRhode Islandabout 160 mi
• NewportRhode Islandabout 160 mi
• ProvidenceRhode Islandabout 160 mi
• AnnapolisMarylandabout 170 mi
• Ocean CityMarylandabout 170 mi

Half a day covers the Newark Museum of Art and a walk through the Ironbound; add a dedicated trip in April if the cherry blossoms are the goal.

The cherry blossom bloom window is short and shifts from year to year, with the park listing its full-bloom window as April 3 to April 12 in 2026 and April 6 to April 18 in 2025, and saying peak bloom is typically in the 2nd and 3rd week of April; the park posts regular updates on its Facebook page (@branchbrookpark) most days in April.

Newark Penn Station and Newark Liberty Airport make this an easy stop to combine with a New York City trip, whether by car or train.

The Ironbound is a walkable neighborhood centered on Ferry Street, which the Ironbound Business Improvement District's neighborhood history calls the commercial heart of the Ironbound.

3 public campgrounds within 25 miles of Newark, all bookable ahead. Public campgrounds run by federal agencies. State-park and private campgrounds are not included.

Newark Museum of Art

Address

49 Washington St, Newark, NJ 07102

Hours

Check the official site for current hours

Price

Adults $10^*

Link

newarkmuseumart.org

*Fees subject to change, please check newarkmuseumart.org for updated information.

We checked operating status, fees, opening hours and seasonal opening on 2026-09-22. These change without notice — confirm with fornosofspain.com, newarkmuseumart.org and branchbrookpark.org the week you travel.

Straight-line distance from Newark, not drive time.

• Newark Liberty International (EWR) — 3 miles
• West 30th Street Heliport (JRA), heliport — 9 miles
• Teterboro (TEB) — 10 miles