35 Sights in Cincinnati, United States (with Map and Images)
Legend
Welcome to your journey through the most beautiful sights in Cincinnati, United States! Whether you want to discover the city's historical treasures or experience its modern highlights, you'll find everything your heart desires here. Be inspired by our selection and plan your unforgettable adventure in Cincinnati. Dive into the diversity of this fascinating city and discover everything it has to offer.
Sightseeing Tours in Cincinnati1. Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is the second oldest zoo in the United States, founded in 1873 and officially opening in 1875. It is located in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. It originally began with 64.5 acres (26.1 ha) in the middle of the city, but has spread into the neighboring blocks and several reserves in Cincinnati's outer suburbs. It was appointed as a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
2. John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge
The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge that spans the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky. When opened on December 1, 1866, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at 1,057 feet (322 m) main span, which was later overtaken by John A. Roebling's most famous design of the 1883 Brooklyn Bridge at 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m). Pedestrians use the bridge to get between the hotels, bars, restaurants, and parking lots in Northern Kentucky. The bar and restaurant district at the foot of the bridge on the Kentucky side is known as Roebling Point.
3. Music Hall
Music Hall, commonly known as Cincinnati Music Hall, is a classical music performance hall in Cincinnati, Ohio, completed in 1878. It serves as the home for the Cincinnati Ballet, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera, May Festival Chorus, and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. In January 1975, it was recognized as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior for its distinctive Venetian Gothic architecture. The building was designed with a dual purpose – to house musical activities in its central auditorium and industrial exhibitions in its side wings. It is located at 1241 Elm Street, across from the historic Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine, minutes from the center of the downtown area.
4. The Genius of Water
The Tyler Davidson Fountain or The Genius of Water is a statue and fountain located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is regarded as the city's symbol and one of the area's most-visited attractions. It was dedicated in 1871 and is the centerpiece of Fountain Square, a hardscape plaza at the corner of 5th and Vine Streets in the downtown area. It is surrounded by stores, hotels, restaurants and offices. Originally, and for more than 130 years, it was located in the center of 5th Street, immediately west of Walnut Street. In 2006, renovations were undertaken to Fountain Square and the Tyler Davidson Fountain was temporarily removed. When reinstalled it was relocated to a much wider space near the north end of the reconfigured square, closer to the Fifth Third Bank Building and away from street traffic. The fountain is turned off for the winter months and turned on again in time for the first home game of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds.
5. National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a museum in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, based on the history of the Underground Railroad. Opened in 2004, the center also pays tribute to all efforts to "abolish human enslavement and secure freedom for all people".
Wikipedia: National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (EN), Website
6. Isaac M. Wise Temple
The Isaac M. Wise Temple, commonly called the Wise Temple, is an historic Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States. The congregation's historic Plum Street temple was erected in honour of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, who was among the founders of Reform Judaism in the United States. The temple building was designed by prominent Cincinnati architect James Keys Wilson and its design was inspired by the Alhambra at Granada.
7. Allen Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church
The Allen Temple AME Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, US, is the mother church of the Third Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest operating black church in Cincinnati and the largest church of the Third Episcopal District of the AME Church.
8. Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains
The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains is a Catholic cathedral of the Latin Church in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The basilica is a Greek revival structure located at 8th and Plum streets in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States. It is dedicated to Saint Peter's imprisonment and liberation.
Wikipedia: Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains (EN), Website
9. Mt. Lookout Observatory
The Cincinnati Observatory, known locally as Mt. Lookout Observatory, is located in Cincinnati, Ohio on top of Mount Lookout. It consists of two observatory buildings housing an 11-inch (28 cm) and 16 inch (41 cm) aperture refracting telescope. It is the oldest professional observatory in the United States. It was a key facility for astronomical research and education at the University of Cincinnati and currently operates as a 19th-century observatory. There are regular viewings through both historical telescopes as well as tours and additional programs. The observatory also has an extensive outreach program, providing astronomical education for the Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana region.
10. Taft Museum of Art
The Taft Museum of Art is a fine art collection in Cincinnati, Ohio. It occupies the 200-year-old historic house at 316 Pike Street. The house – the oldest domestic wooden structure in downtown Cincinnati – was built about 1820 and housed several prominent Cincinnatians, including Martin Baum, Nicholas Longworth, David Sinton, Anna Sinton Taft and Charles Phelps Taft. It is on the National Register of Historic Places listings, and is a contributing property to the Lytle Park Historic District.
11. Contemporary Arts Center
The Contemporary Arts Center is a contemporary art museum in Cincinnati, Ohio and one of the first contemporary art institutions in the United States. The CAC is a non-collecting museum that focuses on new developments in painting, sculpture, photography, architecture, performance art and new media. Focusing on programming that reflects "the art of the last five minutes", the CAC has displayed the works of many now-famous artists early in their careers, including Andy Warhol. In 2003, the CAC moved to a new building designed by Zaha Hadid.
12. John Church Company Building
The John Church Company Building is a historic commercial building in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Designed by one of Cincinnati's most prominent architects, it was home to one of the country's leading vendors of sheet music and musical instruments, and it has been named a historic site.
13. Saint Francis Seraph Church
St. Francis Seraph Church is a Roman Catholic parish in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1859 by Franciscan Friars of the Province Of St. John the Baptist on the site of the first Catholic parish in Cincinnati, Christ Church, which was built in 1819. Bishop Fenwick, in 1822, decided to move Christ Church to a location on Sycamore Street where St. Francis Xavier now stands. The parish attempted to move the original frame church building, but it collapsed and fell apart.
14. Piatt Park
Piatt Park is the oldest park in Cincinnati, Ohio. The urban park stretches two blocks between Elm Street and Vine Street on Garfield Place/8th Street. The park is owned and maintained by the Cincinnati Park Board.
15. The Betts House
The Betts House, built in 1804, is the oldest surviving building in Cincinnati, and the oldest brick home in Ohio. This survivor of Cincinnati's period of settlement offers exhibits and programs that focus on Cincinnati history, historic preservation, and the built environment. In addition to being a house museum, the Betts House is also the headquarters of The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Ohio.
16. Nast-Trinity United Methodist Church
The former Nast Trinity United Methodist Church, now known as The Warehouse Church, is a historic congregation of the United Methodist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Designed by leading Cincinnati architect Samuel Hannaford and completed in 1880, it was the home of the first German Methodist church to be established anywhere in the world, and it was declared a historic site in the late twentieth century.
17. Mecklenburg Gardens
Mecklenburg Gardens is a historic restaurant in the Corryville neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Its Italianate building, perhaps constructed as a house, was built circa 1865, but it was converted into a restaurant by 1870. In its earliest years as a restaurant, it was run by John Neeb, who sold it to one of his employees in 1886. The new owner, Louis Mecklenburg, changed the name from "Mount Auburn Garden Restaurant" to "Mecklenburg Gardens," and converted it from a saloon to a heavily German beer garden. During this time, Cincinnati was receiving massive numbers of German immigrants; with as much as 25% of the city's population being German-born, cultural institutions such as beer gardens were extremely popular.
18. Aronoff Center for the Arts
The Aronoff Center is a large performing arts center in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. Events that can typically be found at the Aronoff Center include: plays, ballet, popular music concerts, stand-up comedy shows, and musicals. The center was designed by renowned architect César Pelli and named in honor of Cincinnati native and Ohio senator Stanley Aronoff.
19. Daniel Carter Beard Boyhood Home
The Daniel Carter Beard Boyhood Home is a National Historic Landmark located in the Riverside Drive Historic District of Covington, Kentucky, overlooking the Licking River, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio. The two-and-one-half story brick domicile, built in 1821 and one of the two oldest buildings in Kenton County, Kentucky, is the boyhood home of Daniel Carter Beard, a founder of the Boy Scouts of America. He was their National Scout Commissioner from its 1910 founding to his death in 1941.
20. Eden Park Water Tower
Eden Park Standpipe is an ornate historic standpipe standing on the high ground of Eden Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. The standpipe is a form of water tower common in the late 19th century. It was listed in the National Register on March 3, 1980.
21. William Henry Harrison
An equestrian statue of William Henry Harrison stands in Cincinnati's Piatt Park, in the United States. The monumental statue was designed by sculptor Louis Rebisso and was unveiled on Decoration Day, 1896.
22. George Hunt Pendleton House
The George H. Pendleton House is a historic house in the Prospect Hill Historic District of Cincinnati, Ohio. It was built in 1870 in the French Second Empire style. From 1879 until his death in 1889, this was the residence of Senator George Hunt Pendleton (1825–1889). As a U.S. senator (1879–1885), Pendleton spearheaded civil service reform, meeting here in 1882 to draft the Pendleton Act, which created the Civil Service merit system. The building, now in mixed commercial and residential use, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964.
23. Philippus United Church of Christ
Philippus United Church of Christ is located on the northwest corner of West McMicken and Ohio Avenues, in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The church is a landmark because of a gilded hand, with its index finger pointing to the heavens, on its tall steeple. The church is an outgrowth of the now-defunct St. Matthews German Evangelical Church at Elm and Liberty Streets, which was a stronghold of "Free" Protestantism. Free Protestantism was very strong in Cincinnati at that particular time. Philippus Church is a red brick church completed in 1891. The church features Gothic Revival-style details. Recessed pointed-arch windows flank the gabled pointed-arch entrance and projecting tower with its rose window. Membership was large from the beginning.
24. Capitoline Wolf Replica
The Capitoline Wolf Statue is a sculpture of a she-wolf nursing Romulus and Remus in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The bronze sculpture on a granite and marble base is located in Eden Park at the Twin Lakes area overlooking the Ohio River. It is a replica of the original Capitoline Wolf in the Musei Capitolini of Rome, Italy.
25. First Unitarian Church
First Unitarian Church is a historic congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Association in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Founded in the early nineteenth century, it survived a series of division and reunifications in the nineteenth century. Among the people who have worshipped in its historic church building on the city's northern side are many members of the Taft family, including William Howard Taft, the President of the United States.
Wikipedia: First Unitarian Church (Cincinnati, Ohio) (EN), Website
26. Pinecroft Mansion
Pinecroft, also known as the Powel Crosley Jr. Estate is located at 2366 Kipling Avenue in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. It is significant both as a Tudor Revival estate designed by Dwight James Baum, and for its association with the life of Powel Crosley Jr. (1886–1961), builder of the Crosley car and owner of the Cincinnati Reds. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 17, 2008.
27. Theodore Krumberg Building
The Theodore Krumberg Building is a historic commercial building and former bank in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Built in the Italianate style in 1871, the Krumberg Building is one of the most significant structures in Over-the-Rhine when considered from an architectural point of view, due to its size and its location at the intersection of Main and Twelfth Streets.
28. Riverside Drive Historic District
The Riverside Drive Historic District is a historic district located at the west bank of the confluence of the Licking River and the Ohio River in Covington, Kentucky, directly across from Cincinnati, Ohio.
29. Hamilton County Fairgrounds
The Hamilton County Fair, formerly known as the Carthage Fair, is the county fair of Hamilton County, Ohio. It was held annually by the Hamilton County Agricultural Society at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Cincinnati's Carthage neighborhood. It is the oldest county fair in Ohio, first held in 1820 on the Ezekiel Hutchinson farm and beginning in 1855 at the Fairgrounds location. It was the first fair west of the Allegheny Mountains to offer cash awards in livestock competitions. The fair was canceled in 1861 and 1862 due to the American Civil War, in 1917-18 and 1942-44 due to World Wars; in 2018 due to rain and flash flooding, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, besides 2021-22 until Fall 2023 for multiple reasons, " ... limited availability of vendors, volunteers, and public sanitation and safety equipment, coupled with vendors’ ongoing concerns for public health ...", but was then cancelled due to Hurricane Ian. In the 1970s, the racetrack had to be relocated to make room for Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway's West Side extension. The 2023 fair was held at a new location on McDonald Farm in Sale Creek.
30. Bernard Ratterman House
The Bernard Ratterman House is a historic house in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the middle of the nineteenth century to a design by an unknown architect, it has been named one of the neighborhood's best examples of Italianate architecture. Built of brick with sandstone and iron elements, it includes features such as an ornate cornice, stone window trim, lug sills with brackets, and rare details such as crafted acorns.
31. Nathaniel Ropes Building
The Nathaniel Ropes Building is a historic commercial building in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Located on Main Street near the Hamilton County Courthouse, this 1882 building has been named a historic site.
32. Wilson-Gibson House
The Wilson-Gibson House is a historic residence in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the middle of the 19th century, it features a mix of two prominent architectural styles, and it has been named a historic site.
33. Old College Hill Post Office
The Old College Hill Post Office is a historic former commercial building in the College Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Built in the 1840s to serve a tiny college town community, it has experienced extensive alterations, but enough of its original qualities remain that it was named a historic site in the 1970s.
34. Saint Aloysius on the Ohio Church
Saint Aloysius on the Ohio is a Roman Catholic parish in the Sayler Park neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The parish is part of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It is named after St. Aloysius Gonzaga and located near the Ohio River.
35. Hauck Botanic Gardens
The Hauck Botanic Gardens are horticultural gardens located at 2715 Reading Road, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, on the former estate of Cornelius J. Hauck (1893-1967). They are open daily without charge. Hauck planted some 900 varieties of trees and shrubs on the grounds, most of which are now owned and maintained by the Cincinnati Park Board, with the remainder maintained by the Civic Garden Center. The grounds also include the Gibson-Hauck House, now headquarters of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, and an English tea house replicating a building from the 1939 New York World's Fair.
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