OK, two weeks by car starting in NYC, I want to tour the Rust Belt cities, what's a good driving tour to get a flavor of the region?

My current tour is something like NYC- Pittsburgh - Cleveland - Detroit - Hamilton, ON - Buffalo - NYC.

But I'd like to hear your recommendations. I've been located on one coast or the other, everything in between is still a bit mysterious.

Two weeks is lot of time. You should consider stretching it out to include Chicago, if you've never been.

While you're in Pittsburgh, definitely head up Mt. Washington for a spectacular view of the city and try to catch a baseball game at PNC.

The stretch from Cleveland to Detroit includes Sandusky (Cedar Point Amusement Park) and Toledo (Tony Packo's, very good zoo, decent art museum). From Toledo, consider a slight detour through Ann Arbor on the way to Detroit.

The drive through Ontario to Buffalo brings you near Niagara Falls. The Canadian side is spectacular.

Buffalo to NYC potentially takes you through the beautiful Finger Lakes region of NY State, the Catskills (Cooperstown, Kaaterskill Falls, etc.), and the Hudson Valley.

Pittsburgh is a great city. I went there for a couple of days last year (for a Springsteen concert) and fell in love with the place.

Take the inclined railway up Mount Washington, walk along Grandview Avenue and get the other railway back down (the two are the Duquense and Monogahela).

The Duck tour is quite good fun - the only overtly touristy thing in the city really, but it's actually very informative.

The walk along the river to the Carnegie Science Center is quite nice. There's an old submarine there which you can visit. We got tickets for just that and not the rest of the museum.

If you like trains, there are plenty of opportunities to see them on the tracks at the bottom of Mt Washington.

Pittsburgh indeed sounds nice, I'll also detour to Fallingwater for my fix of Wright.

What cities boast a 'faded glory' kind of atmosphere? Any smaller towns worth stopping by on the way? I'm interested in the 'cities gone bust', urban prairie kind of streetscapes.

Make sure you stop in Youngstown and Toledo..and if you are going to Chicago Gary Indiana.

PM me for where/what to see in Cleveland.

This would be a must see/eat at joint when visiting Cleveland for the rust belt feel.

http://www.sokolowskis.com/

it is in the neighborhood where they filmed the deer hunter scenes...and if anything screams rust belt it is the deer hunter.

You will be on the bluff overlooking the old industrial valley. Downtown is on the Other side. It is just off of I-90 as well.

Detroit is the prototype for this sort of thing.

They have so much empty space within the city limits that they're seriously considering turning it into farmland.

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One. Of the most fascinating museums anywhere is the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn. Definitelyntry to catch it. Do they still do the River Rouge plant tours?

Actually, I love Detroit - catch a Tigers ballgame and hit Greektown Casino

I checked and they are doing the River Rouge factory tours. These are a bit of a local legend in Detroit. They did them up until 1980 and then stopped. They started again in 2004. When I did them a few times, in the 60s they were fascinating. They are a tour of what was at the time, Fords biggest factory. They were making Mustangs and Fairlanes there when I took the tours. But you could see the whole factory complex, steel fabrication, power generation, assembly of cars and the works back then. Not sure exactly what is included now, but if you want to see the Rust belt, this is where it starts.

Me too. Comerica is a nice park.

Rather than Hamilton, I'd do some time in Toronto and then a day at Niagara falls (across the water from Buffalo).

I think you can find a lot to do in Detroit. Tigers Game, Casino, Henry Ford Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, Cranbrook Museum. There is actually a lot there.

I second other's recommendation to try and hit Chicago, but its a bit of a "big loop" out of the way.

I would add the Incline at Johnstown, PA to the list....

Bob H

The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland is truly excellent. And if you are an airplane geek the US Air Force museum in Dayton OH is well worth the diversion south. Cedar Point is a blast too

You will see plenty of "city gone bust" in Toledo and Detroit. It's really sad.

+1
The museum re: the flood there is pretty interesting.

Cleveland:
Cleveland Hts, Coventry Rd.. "Tommys" a great place to eat, the area is like 60-ish.

You gotta go to "Big Fun". My friend owns the place, will bring back the child in you!
The Cleveland Art Museum, which is free, just completed a major restoration.

Beaches:
Fairport Harbor and Mentor

The tall ships are coming to Cleveland July 8 for four days

Pittsburgh:
Squirrel Hill...Little Israel, the aviary is really nice. Mt Washington...do the Incline. Andy Warhol museum.