We are dropping off my son next week to begin freshman year. We have a couple of days to explore the area around UC and are looking for recommendations on what to see and do, where to eat, etc. What are your favorite things to do?. The zoo and art museum are high on our list so far. What about crossing over to KY for things to do?
There are some restaurants and bars in Clifton right near UC, and if you are soccer fans, FC Cincinnati games are fun. They play right on UCs campus, and you could check their schedule to see if they are playing while you are in town.
Smale Park is nice to visit. You can walk along the riverfront and across the Suspension Bridge into Covington Kentucky or across the Purple People Bridge into Newport Kentucky. Or you can take a Segue tour which I believe starts in Smale Park. In that same area of Smale Park is an entertainment district called The Banks. There is a nice assortment of restaurants (Pies and Pints, Taste of Belgium, Yard House, Christian Moerlein House, to name a few) in that area, as well as the baseball stadium and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, which is interesting if you are a baseball fan. And the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is in that area too.
If you cross the Purple People Bridge into Newport Kentucky, there is an entertainment venue called Newport on the Levee. The big draw for families there is the Newport Aquarium. The Levee also has a movie theatre and some more restaurants (Mitchell’s Fish Market; Tom + Chee, which is popular for its grilled cheese sandwiches; Brios; Bar Louie’s; Deweys Pizza; and Brothers). If I remember correctly, the fancy bowling alley is still there too. Across the main drag from the front of the Levee are some other options, including the Hofbrauhaus (German food and beer) and Strong’s Brick Oven Pizza.
Another fun area of downtown Cincinnati is Over The Rhine, which is a gentrified historical area that has a microbrewery / restaurant (Taft Ale House) and some restaurants (some are Eagle OTR, Bakersfield, Holtman’s Donuts and Graeters Ice Cream), bars and shops.
If you wanted to do both The Banks and OTR, you could take the streetcar from one area to the other.
Abother popular microbrewery is Mad Tree, which is in the Oakley area.
Some restaurants that are Cincinnati things include Skyline (inexpensive three ways and coneys made with Cincinnati style chili, most out of towners either love it or hate it), Montgomery Inn (moderately priced barbecue ribs and chicken, etc.), and the Jeff Ruby restaurants (expensive steaks). The local favorite ice cream here is Graeters or Aglamesis.
Hope some of this helps and that you enjoy your time in Cincinnati!
The Taft Museum of Art is a small but wonderful collection. Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park for theatre if you happen to be there during the run of a production. If you can swing it, a night at the 21c Museum Hotel (or go for a drink and wander around the public areas).
And definitely get a couple of spoons and a pint of Graeters
cincinnati zoo, take in a Reds game, cactus pear is a good mexican restaurant, taste of belgium for chicken and waffles (which has been showcased numerous times on diners drive ins and dives). there is an amusement park about 20 minutes away in mason and a water park.
I don’t think that the Reds are playing in town this week. But if they were, definitely add it to the list.
Thanks for the many suggestions. The zoo was excellent! We have lots of choices for dinner tonight!
This is probably too late for the OP, but I thought I’d post it anyway, from yesterday’s NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/17/travel/what-to-do-36-hours-in-cincinnati-ohio.html