Top Things to Do in Cincinnati

Cincinnati, "The Queen City," is located along the Ohio River in southwest Ohio, about 3 1/2 hours from Cleveland. The riverfront city offers a number of things to do, from sporting events to museums to the annual Tall Stacks Festival. Cincinnati makes a nice, affordable weekend getaway from Cleveland.

The Cincinnati Art Museum, founded in 1881, is located in the city's Eden Park cultural district. The neo-classical building houses a collection of more than 67,000 objects. Highlights include an extensive collection of locally-made Rookwood Pottery, an array of American and European portraits, and the largest collection of ancient Nabataen art outside of Jordan.

The Cincinnati Art Museum is open Tuesday - Sunday from 11am to 5pm and on Thursdays until 8pm.

Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati, the sister casino to Cleveland's Horseshoe Casino, opened March 4, 2013. The casino, located in the heart of downtown, features 100,000-square feet of 24/7 gaming space with 2,000 slot machines, 85 table games and a 31-table poker room

Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati isn't all about gaming. The urban casino will eventually house four restaurants. The first of these, Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville opened with the casino.

Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati
1000 Broadway Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513 252-0777

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Ohio's National League baseball team, the Cincinnati Reds, play at Great American Ball Park, located at the edge of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati. The park, completed in 2003, has a capacity of slightly more than 42,000 and a wonderful view of the river. The Reds frequently meet the Cleveland Indians during inter-league play.

Kings Island, opened in 1972, is located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio. The 364-acre family amusement park is open from May through October each year. The park boasts 41 rides, including 13 coasters and three water rides. The centerpiece of Kings Island is the centrally-located 1/3 scale replica of the Eiffel Tower.

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Kings Island Discounts

Findlay Market, Ohio's oldest continuously operating market, is located just north of downtown in the city's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, also known for its many 19th century Italianate homes. The Market, built in 1852, is open Wednesdays through Sundays and offers a variety of produce, dairy products, and meats. It's a fun place to visit, even if you aren't shopping for food...or, pick up the makings for a picnic and enjoy one of the parks by the Ohio River.

The Cincinnati Zoo, located in the city's urban Avondale neighborhood, is the second oldest zoo in the country (after Philadelphia). Founded in 1875, the 75-acre park houses more than 500 animal species and more than 3,000 varieties of plant life.

This unique museum, opened in 2004, traces the story of thousands of slaves that began the road to freedom by crossing the Ohio River at or near Cincinnati. (Many of them found their way to NE Ohio before crossing Lake Erie into Canada.) The centerpiece of the 158,000-square foot museum is an authentic slave pen, used to house slaves prior to an auction. It was moved from a farm in Kentucky, just across the Ohio/Kentucky state line.

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is located in downtown Cincinnati, between Paul Brown Stadium and Great American Ball Park. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday.

Read more about the Underground Railroad in Ohio

•  Ohio's Underground Railroad Connection

This colorful neighborhood is located atop one of the seven hills that make up Cincinnati and looks across downtown to the Ohio River beyond. Originally settled by German and Irish immigrants, today Mt. Adams is one of Cincinnati's most sought after addresses. Visitors will find an eclectic mixture of restaurants and boutiques.

This garden center is located in Eden Park, near the Cincinnati Art Museum. The Conservatory, opened in 1933, features more than 3,500 plant species. Particularly interesting are the Bonsai collection and the ethereal orchids.

The Krohn Conservatory is open daily from 10am to 5pm. Admission is free.

The Taft Museum, in downtown Cincinnati, is housed in a Greek Revival mansion that once belonged to President William Taft's half-brother and his wife. The Tafts donated the structure as well as their extensive art collection to the city in 1929 and the museum opened in 1932.

Today the museum houses thousands of works, including those by Ingres, Gainsborough, Rembrandt, and Whistler. The museum is also noted for its collection of Limoges enamels, 19th century American paintings, and European decorative arts.

The Taft Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Admission is free on Wednesdays.

Sawyer Point is downtown Cincinnati's riverfront park. Located near the two stadiums, the park offers a plethora of facilities and activities, including several concert stages, a playground, volleyball and tennis courts, a fishing pier, and the 1923-circa Showboat Majestic, which still hosts stage productions in the summer.

In the warmer months, there is a seemingly endless string of festivals, art fairs, and food shows at Sawyer Point. In the winter, a skating rink is set up; in the summer you can rent bicycles.

Cincinnati's Tall Stacks Festival is the largest gathering of river boats in the United States. The event, held at Cincinnati's downtown riverfront, take place every three to four years in the late summer or fall. The next festival is tentatively scheduled for 2015.

In addition to the river boats, the festival features a range of live entertainers and music concerts. More than 700,000 visitors attended the last festival, in 2012.

Located in a restored firehouse in downtown Cincinnati, the Fire Museum of Greater Cincinnati is an interactive museum with displays that span more than 150 years of southwest Ohio firefighting history. Cincinnati, whose fire department was founded in 1853, was the home of the first, paid, professional fire-fighting unit. Exhibits include fire trucks, equipment, photographs and information on how to prevent house fire.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday. Discounts are offered for seniors (65 and older) and children.

Read more about visiting Cincinnati

• Free Things to Do in Cincinnati
• A walking tour of Mount Adams