Visiting Ohio
 

My family would like to do a road trip to Ohio this summer. We have time (5 days) for two cities. Which two should we visit? Love to hear your thoughts.

I recommend Cleveland as one of them. Downtown is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Flats entertainment district. Just to the south is the Cuyahoga Valley National Park with all kinds of outdoor things to do.

Who's in your family - how many kids + ages as well as yours, your spouse's and the kids interests. That would help narrow things down.

David

Yes, really hard to answer without knowing more about what you are looking for...

Museums?
Nature Hikes?
Amusement parks?
Night Life?
Sports?
More....

If you like tennis, the Western & Southern Open is a "US Open warmup" tournament in Cincinnati in August that attracts most of the top tier players who go to the US Open a few weeks later. It's generally pretty easy to get tickets and you can see all the tennis stars play and practice.

Cincinnati is pleasant enough for a day or two, but I wouldn't go there just to be in Cincinnati. If I were in Cincinnati I'd probably duck down into Kentucky to check out the bourbon trail and Mammoth Cave instead. Louisville is a fun, funky city to explore too.

In Ohio, Columbus is probably the place I'd check out - Ohio State is there and I remember a cute older neighborhood with nice restaurants. There's also a couple of giant malls and such. Haven't been to Cleveland in 20 years so I'm not really sure what's there these days. Eastern Ohio will have more hills/mountains/hiking I think. I've never been.

My in laws live in northwest Ohio, south of Toledo. Nothing much going on there unless you like watching corn grow. But if you do find yourself there, a stop at Dietsch Bros in Findlay is a must - it's the best chocolate/candy shop around. Mr Gfunk loves their milkshakes but I think their ice cream is just OK. I can give other recommendations in Findlay if you're going to be there.

I would suggest you include the National Air Force Museum in Dayton. I think it would be enjoyable for all in the family.

Thanks for the responses so far and sorry I wasn't clear. We're four adults (40s and 20s) looking for good food and museum-like sights. So I'll be sure to check out the National Air Force Museum and R&R Hall of Fame.
Thanks again

If you are limiting yourself to two cities, I would suggest Columbus and Cleveland. The AF museum is in Dayton and may make a good day trip from Columbus. Dayton should be on nobody's list of road trip extended stops.

We had a nice two night stay in Dayton during a cross country trip last year. I have an aviation obsessed 12 year old and a 5 year old, so between the Air Force Museum and the Wright Brothers’ sites it was a must stop for us. But there was a bunch of other stuff to do like the Carillon Historical Park (world’s largest collection of cash registers anyone?) that could make Dayton worth a stop!

We then drove through Columbus and spent a few hours there on our way to Cleveland. Columbus would have been a fine stop too - but I had been there before and the Aviation stuff trumped Columbus’ sites for us. But you could easily do one or the other and day trip the other one - maybe even a day trip to Cincinnati as well depending on number of days.

Anyone traveling with you into roller coasters? Cedar Point is not too far from Cleveland.

Correct. Day trip from Cincinnati or Columbus would be the plan.

No, we're not into rollercoasters but the Wright Brother's idea is a great idea too.

Can't go wrong with that idea.

David

Cleveland Museum of Art is well worth the trip. It's right across from the Natural History Museum, which is also excellent.