Top Places to Visit in Ohio

Ohio's top visitor destinations span world-class art museums and Rock and Roll history in Cleveland, Appalachian sandstone canyons in Hocking Hills, and the engineering marvel of the Lake Erie island region.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland)
Designed by I.M. Pei — the Rock Hall opened in 1986 on the Lake Erie waterfront. The museum houses the definitive collection of rock music history — original instruments, costumes, handwritten lyrics, and recording artifacts from Elvis, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and hundreds of inductees. The annual induction ceremony (held in Cleveland or New York) is broadcast nationally. The Hall is the most visited museum in Cleveland and one of the most visited music museums in the world.

Hocking Hills State Park (Logan)
The finest natural scenery in Ohio — Old Man's Cave (a large recess cave carved into Black Hand sandstone), Cedar Falls, Ash Cave (the largest recess cave in Ohio — 700 feet wide, 100 feet deep, and 25 feet high), and the Upper Falls together form a 6-mile gorge trail system through some of the most atmospheric woodland terrain in the eastern US. The ancient hemlocks, waterfalls, and sandstone formations give Hocking Hills a feel unlike anything else in the Midwest.

Cedar Point (Sandusky)
The "Roller Coaster Capital of the World" — Cedar Point has 17 roller coasters (more than any other park in the world), including the Top Thrill 2 (420 feet, the tallest in the world), Millennium Force, and the Magnum XL-200 (the first hypercoaster in the world, 1989). The park has operated since 1870 — the oldest continuously operating amusement park in the US. Its Lake Erie location gives it a spectacular setting.

Columbus: Short North and the Arts District
Columbus has emerged as one of the most vibrant mid-sized cities in the US — the Short North Arts District (galleries, restaurants, boutiques on High Street), the Columbus Museum of Art (with Wonder, the most visited gallery in Ohio), and the Ohio State University campus draw visitors.

National Museum of the US Air Force (Dayton)
The world's largest and oldest military aviation museum — 350+ aircraft in four hangars at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The museum includes the original Wright Brothers experimental aircraft, WWII bombers and fighters, Korean War jets, Vietnam-era aircraft, and an entire hangar of presidential aircraft (including Air Force One planes used by FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Nixon).