For your next weekend getaway, Cincinnati’s nod to its local history, craft beer tradition and walkable downtown make it a perfect escape.
The Ohio city, on the banks of the Ohio River, has also found new use for the historic buildings that dot its downtown and surrounding neighborhoods, rehabbing them into trendy restaurants and boutiques.
Here’s how to spend a long weekend in the Queen City.
American history and sweeping views
Start your day off at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (closed Sunday-Monday, admission $15/adults, $13 seniors, $10.50/ages 3-12; 50 E. Freedom Way, 513-333-7500, freedomcenter.org), on the riverfront where enslaved Americans escaped bondage in Kentucky for freedom in Ohio. Using artifacts, storytelling and art, the center highlights both the well-known and hidden figures in the state’s anti-slavery movement, as well as human rights abuses that are still occurring around the world.
Walk over to the nearby Carew Tower (441 Vine St., 513-579-9735), the city’s Art Deco skyscraper that was the prototype for the Empire State Building. For $4, visitors can go to the top of the 49-story building for sweeping views of Cincinnati and the Ohio River.
Stroll downtown’s historic Vine Street, lined with boutiques, restaurants, coffee shops and bars.
Beer and goetta in Over-the-Rhine
Vine eventually leads to Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, a historic German area that was once a brewery hub.
Speaking of beer, explore Cincinnati’s beer history with a tour of newly-discovered cavernous brewery tunnels, where the city’s beermakers fermented their brews before Prohibition ($35; American Legacy Tours’ Ultimate Under the Market Tour begins at 1818 Race St., americanlegacytours.com).
Over-the-Rhine is also home to the long-running Findlay Market (1801 Race St., 513-665-4839, findlaymarket.org). Find prepared foods like goetta, a local specialty that consists of oats and sausage.
Essential Cincy eats
For a romantic vibe, head to Italian spot Sotto (118 E. Sixth St., 513-977-6886, sottocincinnati.com).
Have a pint in the tap room or rooftop beer garden at Rhinegeist Brewery (1910 Elm St., 513-381-1367, rhinegeist.com).
And don’t leave without a trip to one of its chili parlors; local fave Skyline Chili (643 Vine St., 513-241-2020, skylinechili.com) has been serving the dish, made with spaghetti and cheddar cheese, since 1949.
GOOD TO KNOW
Getting there: Cincinnati is about a two-hour flight from NYC to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) in Hebron, Kentucky. Downtown Cincinnati is about a 20-minute drive from the airport. Lyft and Uber operate at CVG.
Getting around: Downtown Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine are walkable, so you can easily make due without a car. Uber and Lyft would be good in a pinch to save some time.
Where to stay: You’re likely to find a room at the budget-friendly Westin Cincinnati (21 E. Fifth St. 513-621-7700, starwoodhotels.com), with more than 450. It’s also centrally located downtown. For a boutique offering, there’s 21c Museum Hotel (609 Walnut St., 513-578-6600, 21cmuseumhotels.com/cincinnati). Peruse the contemporary art gallery in the lobby.
