Cleveland travel guide

Cleveland, United States

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

Cleveland

Introduction

Cleveland sits in the U.S. state of Ohio, on the southern shore of Lake Erie, and serves as the seat of Cuyahoga County. Across the water lies the Canadian province of Ontario, and the Ohio–Pennsylvania state line is roughly 60 miles to the east.

It is the most populous city on Lake Erie and the second-most populous in Ohio, with a metropolitan area that ranks among the larger ones in the country. Use this guide to get your bearings in the city and the wider Greater Cleveland region.

Before you go

Cleveland sits on the southern shore of Lake Erie at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and its history as an industrial powerhouse has left it with a dense stock of cultural institutions alongside an ongoing urban revival. The city experiences four distinct seasons, so pack accordingly: summers are hot and humid, winters are frigid with occasional heavy snowfalls and windchill, and autumn often brings some of the most enjoyable weather of the year. Lake effect snow affects the East Side in particular from mid-November until the lake surface freezes.

Before you arrive, it helps to understand the city's geography. Many of the neighbourhoods considered rough are on the east side, though University Circle, home to the main cultural institutions, is safe, as are eastern inner-ring suburbs such as Cleveland Heights, University Heights, Beachwood and Shaker Heights. If you're driving at night, stick to major corridors like Euclid, Chester and Carnegie Avenues heading east and Detroit and Lorain Avenues heading west, and it's wise to avoid the City of East Cleveland entirely. When walking after dark, stay in lit areas, be aware of your surroundings, and travel in groups where possible.

Getting there

Most visitors arrive by air at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, southwest of Downtown. The RTA Red Line provides frequent, fast rail service from the airport straight into downtown, making it an easy car-free option. Burke Lakefront Airport is a small downtown field on the shore of Lake Erie that handles private jet, business, and general aviation traffic, with Ultimate Air Shuttle offering twice-daily flights to Cincinnati. Akron-Canton Airport, south of the city in Akron, is served by most major U.S. airlines, while Cuyahoga County Airport in the northeastern part of the county handles private planes.

By car, four two-digit interstate highways serve the city. I-71 connects downtown to the airport and the west and southwest suburbs and continues toward Columbus; I-77, the city's oldest freeway, runs south along the east side of the Cuyahoga Valley toward the south suburbs and Akron; I-90 links the East Side and West Side and is the northern terminus for both I-71 and I-77; and the I-80 Ohio Turnpike is a toll road reaching Toledo to the west and Youngstown and Pittsburgh to the east. Several other freeways help: I-271 forms the Outerbelt East, I-480 the Outerbelt South, and I-490 bypasses much downtown traffic. Amtrak's Lakefront Station sits at the north end of downtown, though most trains arrive and depart in the early morning hours; the Capitol Limited runs between Chicago and Washington, D.C., and the Lake Shore Limited between Chicago and Boston or New York City. Intercity buses arrive at Greyhound's Art Deco station downtown, with Megabus stopping at the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Transit Center and Barons Bus and Go Bus also serving the city. Boaters can reach Cleveland via the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway, with marinas and public boat ramps available, and some Great Lakes cruises include the city on their itineraries.

Getting around

Cleveland is unusually easy to navigate by car. The city was laid out with broad "European avenues," and there are almost no one-way streets. North-south streets are numbered and labeled "West" or "East" depending on whether they sit west or east of Ontario Street, the north-south street that bisects Public Square; major east-west routes are generally called avenues. Numbers on north-south streets climb as you head south from Lake Erie, and numbers on east-west streets increase as you move away from downtown, matching the numbered cross streets. Purple signs downtown tell you which district you're in, and signage throughout the area points the way to the nearest freeway. Rush hours are light compared to other major U.S. metro areas, though a few stretches slow down in the morning and afternoon, and road construction from March to November can affect travel times.

Greater Cleveland is served by the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, known as "RTA." Its rail system, called the Cleveland Rapid Transit or "The Rapid," includes the Green and Blue light rail lines to the east-side suburbs and the Red Line heavy rail, which connects Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the west-side suburbs with Tower City Center downtown and continues past University Circle. The Waterfront Line links Tower City Center to the Flats Entertainment District, Cleveland Browns Stadium, Great Lakes Science Center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Burke Lakefront Airport. The Health Line bus rapid transit runs along Euclid Avenue between downtown and University Circle, and an All-Day Pass covers unlimited rides on trains and buses. Bicycle trails and paths are expanding across the city, and bicycle shops cluster on the near west side.

Where to stay

Most of Cleveland's hotels cluster Downtown, which puts you within easy reach of the central sights. If you'd rather base yourself near the museums and institutions, a few additional options sit on the East Side around University Circle. Travellers arriving by air can also find properties near the airport on the far West Side.

Neighbouring suburbs round out the choice with numerous further lodging options if you don't need to stay within the city limits.

Food & drink

Cleveland's food scene is far more diverse than outsiders expect, shaped by long-established ethnic neighbourhoods such as Ohio City, Slavic Village, Parma, Hough, Little Italy and Chinatown. Eastern European cooking and Soul food run deep, rooted in the Hungarians, Slavs, Poles, Czechs, Bohemians and Southern African Americans drawn to the steel and automotive industries, while newer arrivals have added Indian, Chinese, Southeast Asian, Puerto Rican, Central American, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences to the mix. You'll find many of the city's strongest restaurants in the Historic Warehouse District, the Flats, Ohio City, Tremont, the Gateway Neighborhood and along the Restaurant Row in the East Side suburbs.

Note that most restaurants close on Sunday, and many have reduced hours or shut entirely on Monday. Two local spicy mustards, Stadium and Bertmans, turn up at sports games and sports pubs, and fans argue over which is better. For drinking, head Downtown, where most of the bars are, though the same Sunday and Monday caveats apply. In Ohio City, Great Lakes Brewing Company serves microbrews that also appear in bars, restaurants, grocery stores and even gas stations across the city; its walls still hold gunshots from Eliot Ness, the former Cleveland Chief of Police.

What to see and do

Most of Cleveland's headline attractions cluster Downtown and in University Circle, where you'll find the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. On the lakefront stand the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & Museum, the Great Lakes Science Center and the Steamship William G. Mather Maritime Museum. For churches, head to the Tremont district on the West Side, or to the Church Square district along Euclid Avenue between Downtown and University Circle, where you can see a broad sampling of houses of prayer. More monumental churches line Cedar Road and Fairmount and Shaker Boulevards in the near east side suburbs of Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights.

Sport is a civic passion here, and you can take in a game with a weathered but dedicated fan base. Outdoors, Lake Erie defines the city's northern border and offers boating, fishing, swimming and walks, with marinas, piers and boat launches along the shore; anglers pursue Walleye and Perch for more than three seasons of the year, and steelhead trout in the rivers feeding the lake in late fall and early winter. The Cleveland Metroparks form an Emerald Necklace around the metropolitan area, with miles of paved and unpaved trails for biking, horseback riding, jogging and rollerblading, cross country skiing in winter, and downhill slopes on the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains. The Cuyahoga, meaning "Crooked River," winds past the nightspots of the Flats, downtown's towers and industrial remnants, while the Ohio & Erie Canal is preserved within Cuyahoga Valley National Park, where you can walk or bike the Canal Towpath. To see the city by water, cruises run on Lake Erie and the Cuyahoga, and the African American Heritage Trail offers a perspective on the experience and impact of Cleveland's African American community.

When to go

Cleveland has four distinct seasons, so what you pack depends heavily on when you visit. Spring brings vibrant blossoms as the city emerges from winter, with mild but changeable conditions and fewer crowds than you'll find in summer. Summer is hot and humid, and July is the warmest month — highs often reach the high 80s to low 90s, humidity makes it feel even hotter, and nights stay muggy. Autumn offers some of the most enjoyable weather of the year, with colorful foliage and low humidity; some years bring warm weather through Halloween, though lake effect snow can begin in mid-November.

Winters are frigid, with January the coldest month. The city usually sees just a handful of heavy snowfalls, but lake effect snow affects the East Side from mid-November until Lake Erie freezes, typically by early February, and windchills can occasionally drop below zero. If you want the mildest conditions and the best foliage, aim for autumn; if you want the warmest temperatures and don't mind humidity, summer is your season.

Three days in Cleveland

Day one: Start in Downtown Cleveland, where Euclid, Chester and Carnegie Avenues meet, and follow the Cuyahoga River as it winds toward Lake Erie. The RTA Red Line makes it easy to move between Downtown and the outlying neighbourhoods, and Burke Lakefront Airport sits right on the lakefront. If you arrive by air, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport connects you to the city, while Ultimate Air Shuttle links to Cincinnati and Akron.

Day two: Head east to University Circle, the cultural heart of the city, then continue into Cleveland Heights, University Heights, Shaker Heights and Beachwood. These Greater Cleveland neighbourhoods sit close to East Cleveland and Euclid, and the East Side rewards a slow wander. In November the weather turns cold and grey, so plan indoor stops along the way.

Day three: Follow Detroit and Lorain Avenues across the city, taking in the character of each district before looping back toward the lake. Cuyahoga County spreads out around you, and on a clear day you can look north across Lake Erie toward Ontario, Canada. Before you leave, ride the RTA Red Line once more and watch the Cuyahoga River meet the lake.

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