34 Best Sights in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland's crown jewel is at the center of its cultural hub, University Circle. In its 70 galleries, the museum presents art chronologically, from the Mediterranean antiquity to the present. The museum is known for its medieval Asian, European, and pre-Columbian collections. Its holdings include works by Picasso, Michelangelo, Monet, and Van Gogh. Other popular exhibits are mummies, African masks, and medieval armor and weapons. The museum has undertaken a $258-million renovation and expansion project that will see its 1916 beaux-arts and 1971 Marcel Breuer buildings completely restored and the addition of new east and west wings and central, glass-enclosed piazza. The museum will remain open during the construction, which is scheduled for completion in 2011; galleries will be returned in phases beginning in 2008.

The I. M. Pei–designed building has everything from the ridiculous (Jim Morrison's Cub Scout uniform) to the sublime (John Lennon's hand-written lyrics for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"). Stage costumes that once belonged to Chuck Berry and Iggy Pop, handwritten lyrics by Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin's Porsche, and a re-creation of Memphis's Sun Studios—where Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison made their first records—are among the museum's holdings. Interactive kiosks provide video and sound explorations of performers' contributions to the rock genre. The museum continually rotates in temporary exhibits to highlight essential performers and recognize more recent contributions to rock 'n' roll. Past temporary exhibits have showcased U2, the Clash, and the Vans Warped Tour.

Cleveland's first neighborhood and downtown's oldest commercial district is a National Historic Landmark. Originally a residential area, the district became the hub of Cleveland commercial life in the post-Civil War years. Between downtown's Public Square and the east bank of the Flats, the Warehouse District encompasses 43 acres and contains more than 70 historic buildings. Some of the finest examples of Victorian commercial architecture (circa 1850–1920) in the United States, the structures were built to house wholesale groceries, dry goods merchants, hardware distributors, garment manufacturers, and chandleries. The areas is within walking distance of the Gateway District (the area around Jacobs Field and Quicken Loans Arena), Tower City (a shopping complex), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but it's by no means just a path to somewhere else. One of Cleveland's premier destinations, it hosts trendy restaurants; dance, jazz, and blues clubs; coffee shops; specialty shops; and galleries.

Geared for kids ages one to eight, the museum's hands-on exhibits introduce children to science, technology, and cultural diversity.

The tranquility, vibrancy, and soothing power of six permanent outdoor beds, including a Japanese "dry rock" garden and rose garden, are the mainstays of this sprawling urban horticultural oasis. Two rare ecosystems—a Madagascarian spiny desert and a Costa Rican cloud forest—await you within the confines of the Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse. The staff also reinvents several "living gardens" in odd years as part of the largest outdoor flower show in America, held in May.

Cleveland's NFL team plays from September through December at Cleveland Browns Stadium, a modern facility in every sense of the word. Football is an unwavering passion here, and tickets are scarce; any individual tickets are sold starting in July. Seats in the Dawg Pound, a lively area behind the northeast end zone, are highly desirable.

Fans mob Quicken Loans Arena, near Jacobs Field in the Gateway District, to see local phenom LeBron James and Cleveland's NBA team.

The Indians, Cleveland's boys of summer, play the pasttime at downtown Jacobs Field between April through September. If they're available, consider grabbing tickets on the lower levels down the right- or left-field lines, where the seats are angled toward home plate. The bleachers offer decent views of the action, too.

This zoo cares for more than 3,000 animals living in naturalistic habitats—giraffes and zebras roam in the African Savanna, kangaroos hop around in the Australian children's area, and gray wolves and beavers dwell in Wolf Wilderness. Rain drenches two indoor acres of tropical Asia, Africa, and South America every 12 minutes in the RainForest. More than 300 reptiles and 10,000 plants live and are on display in the simulated environments, which are spread among three levels. An impressive waterfall spills from 25 feet above the "jungle's" floor.

A 70-foot-long dinosaur skeleton and a model of the world's oldest human fossil—"Lucy"—are among the treasures housed here. The collection contains artifacts and environmental samples from nearly 1,700 sites and documents more than 10,000 years of prehistoric life in Ohio. The largest specimen is the 3,600-year-old Ringler Dugout, one of the oldest watercraft found in North America. The museum is also known for its 1,500-piece collection of rare gems, and the Shafran Planetarium & Astronomy Exhibit Hall. Planetarium shows cost an additional $4 with your museum admission. HealthSpace Cleveland merged with the museum and will begin incorporating health-oriented exhibits here in Fall 2007.

The oldest regional theater in America, founded in 1915, is an architectural landmark. A 1983 addition, designed by architect Phillip Johnson, incorporates four performance spaces under one roof. Throughout the year, the theater stages musicals, comedies, and classic and contemporary dramas.

So Cleveland's terrain isn't exactly alpine, but the guides here take all comers to rocky outcrops in the Cleveland Metroparks. Outdoor dates are limited to the summer, but the indoor facility, with its indoor top rope climbing wall, bouldering area, and weight-lifting equipment, is open year-round. Rental equipment and classes are available. The gym is a 10-minute drive from downtown Cleveland.

The 33,000-acre recreation area, and the only national park in Ohio, sprawls along 22 miles of the Cuyahoga River between Cleveland and Akron. You can take part in fishing, biking, camping, winter sports, horseback riding, and more. The 19.5-mile-long Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail follows the canal's historic route and takes about 10 hours to hike. The trail is open 24 hours, allowing visitors the chance to explore after dark. There are five visitor facilities within the park that offer information, exhibits, and knowledgeable park rangers.

Now a curious structure among the modern buildings and warehouses in Cleveland's Midtown District, the museum is filled with artifacts from the Dunham family, the original residents. Walk the Cleveland Botanical Garden–manicured grounds for vignettes of early-19th-century life.

Catch the best west-side, land-based view of Cleveland's skyline from upper Edgewater on the bluffs above Lake Erie's shore. Lower Edgewater is where you will find the park's swimming beach and summer sun–bathed playgrounds. A tree-lined path that buzzes with walkers, runners, and rollerbladers in summer connects the upper and lower parks. The lower park has a fishing pier, bait shop, and fitness course. The stiff wind off Lake Erie attracts kite flyers, boomerang enthusiasts, windsurfers, and the occasional hang glider. Picnic facilities are also available.

Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga River are two of Cleveland's greatest assets, and the Goodtime III shows them off in style. One of the largest leisure cruise ships on the Great Lakes winds its way along the Cuyahoga, a Mohawk word meaning "crooked river," and the Lake Erie shore for two-hour cruises, providing the best skyline views of the city. Regularly scheduled tours run from Memorial Day to Labor Day, on weekends only (but including Memorial Day) until mid-June. Luncheon, dinner, and dancing cruises are also available.

Three of the six buildings that make up the brewing complex were stables and a warehouse for the Schlather Brewing Company at the turn of the 20th century; they've been restored to expose the grandeur of their gabled roofs and cork walls. The two-story brewhouse has full glass walls so you can see the brewmasters at work, while the tap room houses artifacts excavated from the old Schlather Brewing Company site—including the building's hallmark keystones, beer bottles, and brass serving plates. The restaurant and bar attached to the brewery is smoke-free, a testament to the owners' renowned environmentally friendly practices. Tours leave on the hour.

More than 400 interactive exhibits and daily demonstrations and an OMNIMAX theater await you at this indoor-outdoor educational center. Science and technology displays include a bridge of fire, a touchable indoor tornado, and an especially good area that focuses on the environment of the Great Lakes region. A working wind turbine on the front lawn provides the museum with supplemental, renewable power.

The exhibits in Burke Lakefront Airport's lobby and concourse chronicle centuries of female flight, from Napoleonic balloon captains to space-age pilots. The museum is particularly rich in the recent history of female astronauts.

Get an insider's view of a magnificent retro ball park, a model for many of the baseball stadiums built since its 1994 opening. Tour stops include the visitor's clubhouse, batting cages, bullpen, press box, and the Indians' dugout. Tours last 90 minutes and are available May–September, excluding days when there are day games and Saturday home games.

Serving Cleveland since the 1910s, Karamu House is the nation's oldest African-American cultural institution. Its theater program includes performances of plays by Amiri Baraka, Ossie Davis, and Langston Hughes.

A monument to Ohio native and former President James A. Garfield stands at his tomb in Lake View Cemetery. Some of Cleveland's most renowned citizens, including oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller and John Hay, President William McKinley's Secretary of State, are buried in the 285-acre cemetery. The Wade Chapel's interior was designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Self-guided tours of the grounds, cemetery, and architecture are available; the office provides maps and a tour cassette or CD ($10 deposit).

The Library of the Western Reserve Historical Society has more than 6 million items, including prints and photographs, manuscripts and newspapers focusing primarily on Ohio's history. The library's vast collection of genealogical materials has made it one of the best and largest family-history research centers in the country.

Cleveland stretches some 400 blocks east to west, and Lolly the Trolley makes it easy to take in the best the city has to offer. Take a narrated one- or two-hour jaunt through Cleveland's streets, catching highlights in many neighborhoods—North Coast Harbor, the Flats, Ohio City, Downtown, and University Circle—along the way. A wheelchair-accessible trolley is available.

Space suits worn by astronauts who orbited the Earth and a moon rock are displayed at this out-of-this-world attraction, which also has a microgravity science laboratory and spacecraft replicas. Named after Ohio astronaut John Glenn, the center is west of Cleveland Hopkins Airport.

You can eat—and then eat some more—while cruising Lake Erie on this boat with two buffet dining decks and an open-air observation deck. The boat is docked at the west bank of the Flats. Tours are two hours at lunch, three hours during dinner.

Once the hub for Cleveland's passenger railroad traffic, the city's oldest skyscraper is the second tallest in Ohio, after the Key Bank Tower, which also stands on Public Square. The 708-foot-tall building, completed in 1930 (and the second tallest building in the world until 1967), is an architectural masterpiece from old Cleveland, home to dozens of retail shops, restaurants, and daily conveniences. The 42nd-floor observatory has been closed indefinitely due to terrorism concerns, but the seven murals in the entrance hall, painted by Jules Guerin, are worth a look.

Hidden from busy Euclid Avenue and East Boulevard, and insulated within Case Western Reserve University's campus, this Frank Gehry–designed structure is as much an iconic work of art as it is a functional headquarters for the Weatherhead School of Management. A twisted and flowing stainless-steel roof caps the undulating brick and glass edifice, creating architectural movement and a centerpiece for Case Western's campus. The building is named for the chairman of the insurance giant Progressive Corporation, Peter Lewis, a renowned philanthropist and supporter of arts and cultural institutions. There are no formal tours.

The second-largest theater district in the United States (after New York), Playhouse Square houses seven landmark theaters: the Palace Theatre,State Theatre,Ohio Theatre,Allen Theatre, and Kennedy's Cabaret form the main complex on the north side of Euclid, while the 14th Street Theatre and Hanna Theatre stand across the street on East 14th Street. Beautifully restored and one of Cleveland's brightest success stories in urban renewal, the center hosts Opera Cleveland, dance companies, pop performers, first-run and touring Broadway shows, and the Great Lakes Theater Festival.

Free tours of the theaters are available the first Saturday and Sunday of every month, departing every 15 minutes 10–11:30. Tours cover backstage as well as lobbies and auditoriums.

A great orchestra deserves a great concert hall, and that's what Severance is to the Cleveland Orchestra. A $36 million renovation completed in 2000 melded the hall's interior with the art deco style of its exterior, making the performance center as pleasing to look at as it is to listen in. Beginning in mid-September, the Orchestra performs works by contemporary and classical composers.