Things to do in Cincinnati
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Cincinnati
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Winter is cold, cheap and cosy, with Festival of Lights and emptier museums, and February the worst month.
Spring is a best season, with Opening Day, Zoo Blooms, Flying Pig Marathon and Taste of Cincinnati.
Summer is hot, humid and maximal, with Cincinnati Music Festival, fireworks and peak river float season.
Fall is the other best season, with Oktoberfest, BLINK in its years and colour peaking in late October.
Best months overall are May, September and October, with BLINK years making October first outright.
What's on
- Festival of Lights late Nov to early Jan
The Zoo's huge lights event and the winter season's top ticket.
- WinterFest at Kings Island winter season
Seasonal winter edition at Kings Island.
- Reds Opening Day late March / early April
Findlay Market parade and a citywide party, running for more than 100 years.
- Zoo Blooms April
One of the largest tulip displays in the Midwest at the Zoo.
- Flying Pig Marathon first Sunday in May
Top 10 US marathon with costumed crowds, and hotels fill across the riverfront.
- Taste of Cincinnati Memorial Day weekend
One of the nation's largest free street food festivals.
- Cincinnati Music Festival late July
Largest urban music festival in the US at Paycor Stadium, a huge hotel weekend.
- Oktoberfest Zinzinnati Usually mid September
Largest Oktoberfest in the United States, with dachshund races and the largest chicken dance.
- Ohio Renaissance Festival weekends Sep-Oct
Weekend festival in Waynesville, about 45 minutes away.
- BLINK Biennial, in October; next in 2028
Biennial light and projection festival across downtown, OTR and Covington, free and huge.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in Cincinnati
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
Top rated zoo on planted hills with Fiona the hippo, cheetah runs and a serious botanical garden.
Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal
Great Art Deco terminal holding history, natural history and childrens museums under one domed rotunda.
Findlay Market
Ohio's oldest public market, with butchers, bakers, goetta and some of the city's best cheap eating.
Over-the-Rhine
The essential city walk past Italianate blocks, Washington Park, murals, shops, bars and Findlay Market.
Cincinnati Music Hall
Gothic 1878 hall opposite Washington Park, home to the symphony, opera and ballet.
Rhinegeist Brewery
Local flagship brewery taproom and rooftop in a former 1895 bottling plant in the Brewery District.
Cincinnati Art Museum
Permanently free museum with 65,000 works, old masters, American art and Rookwood pottery.
Eden Park
Hilltop park with Mirror Lake, picnic lawns and the city's best Ohio River overlooks.
Where to stay in Cincinnati
Over-the-Rhine
first trip, food and nightlife
Walk to Findlay Market, Music Hall and the Vine Street restaurant row, with the free streetcar downtown.
Downtown / The Banks / Fountain Square
sightseeing, games and business
The stadiums, Freedom Center and most full service hotels are here, with OTR a short walk north.
Covington & Newport, Kentucky
character, value and a skyline view
Brick streets, cheaper rooms and easier parking, five minutes and one bridge from downtown.
Hyde Park
local, residential stay
Leafy square and boutiques where Cincinnatians actually live well, skewing to apartments and B and Bs.
Oakley
local, residential stay
Residential base near MadTree Brewing and Oakley Station, handy for east side eating.
Mt. Adams
romantic local stay
Hilltop village of steep lanes and river views above Eden Park, with the Art Museum walkable.
Think twice about
- Avondale around the Zoo
Visit the Zoo by day and park on site, but do not rent the cheap apartment two streets away.
- West End west and north of TQL Stadium
Beyond the stadium's immediate event footprint it is not a visitor base.
- Price Hill
Named in local highest crime listings, with no visitor infrastructure.
- Westwood
Named in local highest crime listings, with no visitor infrastructure.
Best restaurants in Cincinnati
Sotto
Consensus special occasion Italian cellar for handmade pastas, branzino and ricotta doughnuts.
Boca
Grandest dining room in the city, polished European fine dining with old school theatrical service.
Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse
Glam Art Deco steakhouse for prime and wagyu cuts, live piano and game weekend scenes.
Wildweed
New wave pasta atelier on Ohio farms and foraged ingredients, with a 12 seat chef's counter.
Nolia Kitchen
Award-nominated Southern rooted cooking from Jeffery Harris in OTR.
Sudova
Beard recognised Eastern European cooking on Court Street downtown.
Mita's
Jose Salazar's corner room for Spanish and Latin American tapas, paella and sherry.
The Aperture
Open fire Mediterranean cooking in the Art Deco Paramount Building at mid range prices.
Outdoor things to do in Cincinnati
Avon Fields Golf Course
Cincinnati's oldest public course, a short, hilly and historic par 66 minutes from downtown.
Reeves Golf Course
Best all round public golf in the city, with a par 3 course, FootGolf and a Toptracer range.
The Vineyard Golf Course
Hilly, well kept Great Parks 18 through woods and water, the local pick for a proper round.
Sharon Woods Golf Course
1930s Great Parks course in a beautiful county park, a step up in conditioning for public golf.
Blue Ash Golf Course
Municipal course on national best muni lists that plays harder than its Great Parks rivals.
TPC River's Bend
Palmer design and the closest premium round, offered only when public play is available.
Little Miami River
Gentle National Scenic River for canoe, kayak, raft and tube floats from Loveland and Milford liveries.
BB Riverboats
Sternwheeler sightseeing, lunch and dinner cruises past both skylines from Newport.
Best hotels in Cincinnati
Symphony Hotel & Restaurant
Nine room boutique in an 1871 building across from Music Hall, each room themed for a composer.
The Guild
Serviced apartment style stay in OTR's Italianate buildings, often cheaper than a downtown chain.
The Lytle Park Hotel, Autograph Collection
Cincinnati's luxury benchmark, with the Vista rooftop facing the river and Subito restaurant.
21c Museum Hotel Cincinnati
Boutique hotel and free contemporary art museum in the restored 1912 Metropole building.
Kinley Cincinnati Downtown, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel
Design led mid tier hotel opposite the Public Library, often the downtown sweet spot.
Residence Inn by Marriott Cincinnati Downtown/The Phelps
All suite 1909 landmark with kitchens and the Top of the Park rooftop, built for longer stays.
Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Cincinnati - Downtown
Reliable cheap end chain hotel in the core, the smart money on an ordinary weekend.
TownePlace Suites by Marriott Cincinnati Downtown
Highly rated, boring in a good way downtown suites a full tier below the boutiques.
Is Cincinnati expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | $125 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | $205 a person |
| Splurge | $400 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden: a few days ahead
- Cincinnati Music Hall: weeks ahead
- Great American Ball Park: a few days ahead
- Paycor Stadium: weeks ahead
- TQL Stadium: weeks ahead
- American Legacy Tours: a few days ahead
- BB Riverboats: a few days ahead
- Tiki Pub Cincinnati: a few days ahead
- Sotto, Boca and the Wildweed chef's counter need 2 to 4 weeks for prime weekend slots.
- Book timed Zoo tickets online for summer weekends and the exact Festival of Lights night early.
- Hotel prices double or triple for Opening Day, Flying Pig, Music Festival, Bengals Sundays, BLINK and Oktoberfest.
- American Legacy underground tours and FC Cincinnati tickets sell out on festival weekends.
- Buy Kings Island tickets online, as gate prices are the trap.
Is Cincinnati safe?
- Expect visible homelessness and panhandling around the library, Court Street, Fountain Square edges and Washington Park.
- In OTR stay on the lit Vine, Main and Walnut corridors south of Liberty and rideshare after midnight.
- Do not cut through alleys or vacant lots late at night in OTR.
- Violent crime is concentrated in neighbourhoods visitors have no reason to enter, per local sources.
Cincinnati travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Carew Tower observation deck has been closed in recent years, so use Eden Park and Mt. Adams overlooks instead.
- Fountain Square is a pleasant place to pass through with a coffee, not a half day destination.
- Newport on the Levee empties early at night, so cross back to OTR or Mainstrasse to drink.
- Skyline alone gives only the chain version of chili parlour culture, so add Camp Washington.
- Jungle Jim's costs 40 minutes' drive and 2 hours' browsing, so skip it on a 2 day trip.
- BB Riverboats food is banquet grade, so spend anniversary money at Boca and cruise separately.
Getting around Cincinnati: public transport and more
- CVG airport is in Kentucky, about 13 miles from downtown, so use rideshare or taxi as there is no rail link.
- The free Cincinnati Connector streetcar loops The Banks, Downtown, OTR and Findlay Market.
- Metro buses fill gaps at under $2 and Red Bike covers the core.
- You need a car or rideshares for the Zoo, Kings Island, golf, paddling and every day trip.
- Garages cost more on event days and car break-ins are the main visitor crime, so leave no valuables visible.
Who Cincinnati suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Cincinnati your trip
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