Many new attractions have or are being added to the City of Cleveland. If you were trying to sell your city to someone looking to take a vacation this summer to Cleveland...What would you say? Why should they go on vacation to Cleveland? Just looking for ideas

Some quick general places off the top of my head...

 

-East 4th St

-West Side Market, followed by Great Lakes and some shops in Ohio City

-Edgewater park and possibly Whiskey Island

-One of the museums based on their interests

-Little Italy

 

I know that's not very specific but that's how my list would start.

This should probably be in the city life or Restaurants, Local Events, & Entertainment discussion threads.

 

This is a good start:  Cleveland: Festivals and Events Calendar

 

 

I'm sure this will be moved to City Life, but I'll post a response since it is here now......

 

Selling someone on a "vacation" to Cleveland is not such an easy task.  We are not really a vacation destination.  Nor are countless other big cities.  But we do have our unique assets, which are only amplilfied in the summer.....

 

CMA and RRHOF are two that are nearly certain to satisfy any traveler who has not been.

 

A night out in Little Italy or Tremont or 4th Street would have their own unique characteristics the visitor is not likely to find at home.

 

A ride on the Goodtime or Nautica Queen

 

The casino will be open this summer (fingers crossed)

 

A game at Jacobs Field (or whatever the F they call it now)

 

The Cuyahoga Scenic Railway and the Towpath Trail are adventures which can be combined with some bikes

 

Our Emerald Necklace (metroparks) and places like Holden Arboretum are fun for nature lovers

 

Chagrin Falls has the small town essence you won't find on trips to many bigger cities

 

You can always fit in a day at the beach, whether that be at Edgewater, Huntington or Mentor Headlands (the latter is probably what I would recommend for out of towners)

 

Also, if the visit is long enough, you could fit in a trip to Cedar Point, Put-in-Bay, or Amish Country

I just had a friend visit and I gave her the grand tour. This is what we did:

 

First Day:  I gave her the east side tour!

 

We went to University Circle, walked around the pond, then on to Coventry and walked around, then drove through Shaker Heights and walked around Shaker Square. We stopped for a snack at Phoenix cafe in Coventry.  Then we went to Little Italy and walked some more then ate at Mama Santos. We finished the evening listening to some great music at Barking Spider.

 

Second Day:  I gave her the west side tour:

 

We started out at Clifton Diner then on to Edgwater Park to see the magnificant view of the downtown and beautiful Lake

Erie, then on to Tremont where we walked all over and went into art galleries, a brief stop at West Side Market to see the architecture, then to Carnegie library to use the internet and read the magazines. Then on to Luchitas for great Mexican food and finally finishing the evening hearing a great band at the Screaming Rooster in Lakewood.

 

Third day:

 

Rock and Roll museum.

 

This tour was tailored to the interests of my friend and might be different for someone else. Her impression of Cleveland was extremely positive.

 

Guess I'll chime in here

 

Public Square/East 4th/Tower City/ Top of Terminal Tower/Casino

 

RR HOF and North Coast Harbor

 

Playhouse Square if they're into theater

 

West side Market

 

Shaker Square

 

University circle Attractions (this area reminds me of the National Mall area in DC)

 

Maybe add in a brief walking tour of the Medical Campuses in UC

 

West 6th street

 

As mentioned above Cedar Point

 

 

What Cleveland needs is a trendy shopping district like Soho where you can get goods from national chains as well as NYC warehouse style places where you can get goods for cheap. have the district interlaced with restaurants, and souvenir shops. The area along Payne and Superior Avenue between 17th and I-90 could be a good place for that. That could be a huge regional draw.

Mentor beach for the day, followed by fishing along that Perry harbor in the early evening. It's as relaxing a day as you get.

 

 

I think everyone is limiting themselves to day to day Cleveland sites.  The actual uniqueness to Cleveland is all the events that are happening throughout the year.  I'm talking sports, concerts, festivals, what have you.  Ignoring those particular interests and just coming to the Cleveland area randomly without concern for any particular event to see or be a part of seems a bit of miss in maximizing a trip to Cleveland.  So its obviously very hard to predict one's interests in this regard.  But I'd say there are unique concerts at Blossom that one would want to build a vacation around, perhaps a Radiohead concert, the Cleveland Orchestra, or one of the country music concerts.  Perhaps some free music series at the Rock Hall during the Summer. 

 

I'm not sure anyone suggested popping over to the islands yet or all the crazy water parks over by Sandusky.  Also, there are award-winning wineries and breweries that can be visited throughout Northeast Ohio.  For foodies, obviously a lot of great places throughout Cleveland.  Don't forget the Football Hall of Fame and the craziness that happens there the first part of August.  If people are interested in golfing, there are a ton golf courses in the Cleveland area.  If they want to watch the pros, they can come to Firestone CC in August.  Chances are there is going to be a highly interesting event happening someplace in Northeast Ohio during the year that someone can build a trip to Cleveland around. 

 

An event then gives a fixed point in time and more important a reason in which to then build a visit, instead of the blank slate of possibilities and creating a long checklist of sites to see in Cleveland. Certainly one can do that, but that is a very hard list to limit. 

 

In 2005 the missus and I visited Cleveland for a long weekend (I was home on leave from Iraq). It's been a few years so I don't remember everything we did, but we hiked around CVNP, briefly looked at the Art Museum (it was under construction so we couldn't see much), enjoyed the animals at the zoo, drank too much somewhere in the warehouse district, sat on the beach in edgewater, walked the whole length of Rockefeller park to see the cultural gardens, then drove around a handful of neighborhoods and dreamed of the day we could buy a home in one of them. (Apparently I like walking)

In 2005 the missus and I visited Cleveland for a long weekend (I was home on leave from Iraq).

 

Thank you for your service to our country.

if you want to be nearby, yet still completely out of the city i would highly recommenda stay at the historic stanford house, located in the heart of the cuyahoga valley national park. great base all year round from which to explore the valley, but especially magical during any snowy winter stretch:

 

http://www.ohio.com/news/stanford-house-ready-for-guests-1.196146

 

http://www.nps.gov/cuva/historyculture/stanford-house.htm