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Travel guide
Cleveland
5 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to October
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Welcome
Cleveland, in a few days
A former steel capital on Lake Erie, which has housed the temple of rock in a glass pyramid by I. M. Pei and keeps one of the country's great art museums free to enter. Half an hour to the south, the Cuyahoga valley unfolds a national park of forests, waterfalls and canal towpath.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- D5 Day 5 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Rock & Roll Hall of Fame · 3 to 4 hThe museum of rock in I. M. Pei's glass pyramid on Lake Erie, tracing popular music from blues and gospel to hip-hop through guitars, stage costumes and handwritten lyrics.
- Evening · Playhouse Square · an eveningFive restored 1920s theatres with gilded ceilings and marble staircases, the largest performing arts centre in the country after Lincoln Center, beneath a giant outdoor chandelier lit every evening.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Drury Plaza Hotel Cleveland Downtown ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€150 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · West Side Market free · about 1 h 30Ohio City's yellow-brick market hall of 1912, under a tiled vault and clock tower, where some sixty traders sell Polish and Hungarian sausages, pierogi, cheeses and pastries.
- Afternoon · Edgewater Park free · about 2 hThe big lakefront park west of downtown, with a sandy beach, a fishing pier and the giant script Cleveland sign framing the skyline, the place for sunset over Lake Erie.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Drury Plaza Hotel Cleveland Downtown ↗€150 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Cleveland Museum of Art free · half a dayOne of the richest art museums in the country, free to enter, with more than 60,000 works from ancient Egypt to Caravaggio, Monet and Picasso, plus armour and a major medieval treasure.
- Late afternoon · Lake View Cemetery free · about 2 hA 115-hectare garden cemetery where John D. Rockefeller rests, with the mosaic-lined Garfield Memorial overlooking Lake Erie and the Wade Chapel, its interior designed entirely by Louis Comfort Tiffany.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Drury Plaza Hotel Cleveland Downtown ↗€150 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- All day · Cuyahoga Valley National Park free · a full dayOhio's only national park, between Cleveland and Akron, with the Towpath Trail along the old canal, the 20-metre Brandywine Falls, the mossy Ledges and a scenic railway, all free to enter.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Drury Plaza Hotel Cleveland Downtown ↗€150 a night
D5
Day 5
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · A Christmas Story House · about 1 h 30The Victorian house in Tremont where the 1983 film A Christmas Story was shot, restored to match the film with the leg lamp in the window, plus a small museum of props opposite.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €150 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to October
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/cleveland
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.