Columbus, Ohio
Guide to Columbus: how to get there and where to stay, what to see and where to go in the evening. Highlights of Columbus: latest reviews and photos, places to see, branded entertainment and shopping.
According to toppharmacyschools, Columbus is the capital of Ohio and its largest city. The population of Columbus exceeds 800 thousand people. In 2012, the city was named one of the 50 Best Cities in America by BusinessWeek and was named one of the Best Cities for Business by Forbes magazine. Columbus may not be called a particularly bright city from a historical or cultural point of view: there are no such outstanding buildings and sights that make travelers reflexively uncover their cameras. It’s nice to just walk around its old districts with no other purpose than to drink a cup of coffee or lazily look at the river from the embankment.
How to get to Columbus
Port Columbus International Airport receives flights from all major airlines in the country from most major cities. In addition, Greyhound and Megabus buses go here (the latter from Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Chicago).
Entertainment and attractions in Columbus
The center of the city’s business life is, of course, downtown, and significant sights are also located here: the government building, built in the 1840s-1860s. Greek Revival Museum of Art, Franklin University, Columbus Commons. Prominent among them is the LeVec Tower, a 47-story Art Deco building on West Broad Street. From 1927 to 1974 the tower of almost 170 m remained the tallest building in the city: at that time there was a competition between Chicago and New York for the maximum height of skyscrapers, and LeVek ambitiously fit into it, becoming the fifth largest building in the world. It’s hard to see it from below, but the top floors of the tower are decorated with stylish reliefs. There were even more of them, but the terracotta crumbled onto the street, and some of the sculptures were removed – including five-meter eagles at the corners of the building.
4 things to do in Columbus:
- See a copy of Columbus’ Santa Maria ship on the downtown river.
- Photograph the James Barney Children’s Fountain near Battelle Park with bronze sculptures of miraculous mythical animals.
- Walk south along High Street, admiring the old buildings – in particular, the famous Great Southern Hotel and Theater (1897) on the corner of Main Street.
- Go to see the prehistoric Indian burial mounds, which are over 2000 years old. The most interesting ones can be bypassed on a circular route, leaving the city south on US 23.
Short North, which is around High Street between downtown and Ohio State, is the main cultural and entertainment area of the city. Dozens of art galleries, shops and restaurants are located here. On the evening of the first Saturday of every month, all galleries and museums stay open until late, attracting thousands of visitors, and on July 4, a fun costumed parade “DuDa” takes place in Short North. There are also many hotels, apartments, microbreweries and distilleries.
One of its many nicknames, “the city of arches”, Columbus was given dozens of wooden arches spanning the High Street at the turn of the 20th century. The arches were used for lighting and were later dismantled, but in 2002 they were restored in the Short North area as a historical landmark.
Favored not only by tourists but also by locals, the German village is a quiet and picturesque historic district with cobbled streets lined with trees, with pretty bungalows and chic Italian-style mansions. Here you can find pubs, bars, bakeries and shops for every taste, and the traditional Oktoberfest is also held here. The quarter is located south of downtown and east of High Street. In the heart of the area is Schiller Park, a great place to relax with an open-air theater surrounded by Victorian houses.
Beautiful and gothic church of St. Mary, built in 1893 and decorated with a high spire. Another area of similar spirit is Harrison West, north of downtown. In the eastern part of it is the Victorian Village, an old quarter with charming little houses.
Old Oaks is the most untouched area of the city, where buildings from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries have been preserved. It was inhabited by the middle and upper classes, and you can still see the Queen Anne and neoclassical Renaissance mansions here. Especially noteworthy is the Catholic Church of St. John, built in 1898, a recognizable Gothic building with intricately finished towers.
Noticeable and recognizable is the Main Street arch bridge, over 200 m long with three spans, spanning the Scioto River. Built in 1937, it became a bright symbol of the city, but the weather and traffic so spoiled the structure that in 2002 the bridge was closed, completely rebuilt and opened to traffic only in 2010. The Lane Avenue cable-stayed bridge in the University District is also noteworthy., over the river Olentangi. His photograph in night illumination is one of the iconic views of the city.
The tourist bureau of the city “Experience Columbus” has developed several tours of the city with a rather original theme. So, travelers can go on a coffee tour (believing that Columbus coffee houses are the best in the Midwest), a German food and drink tour, a craft tour of workshops and studios with handmade classes, spend an “ice cream Sunday” or street food -tour.
The large Columbus Zoo is also impressive, divided into several zones: North American, Asian, coastal zone, African forest and Australian. The zoo is organized in such a way that visitors can see many animals almost at arm’s length: red pandas, koalas, kangaroos, Amur tigers, Humboldt penguins. And the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Garden is famous for its stunning landscaping and a collection of over 400 plant species. It will be especially pleasant to visit the orchid garden from January to March.
Topiary Park is notable for its green sculptures based on drawings by George Seurat. In the early 1990s this park was decorated with 54 figures of people, many boats, dogs, a cat and a monkey.
Columbus Museums
The Columbus Museum of Art was opened in 1931 and its collection focuses on European and American art up to the modernist period. The expositions of the museum show outstanding works of Impressionist, German Expressionist and Cubist artists, including masterpieces by Monet and Picasso. The Wexner Gallery of Contemporary Art is located on the Ohio State University campus.
The large COSI Science Museum stands on the west bank of the river and was named one of the top 10 family science museums in the country in 2009 by Parents magazine. The little-known but rather interesting Jubilee Catholic Museum on South Gruppe Street is dedicated to sacred art: here you can see beautiful sculptures, stained glass windows and paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries. And of particular interest is the Kelton House Museum and Garden, dedicated to the Victorian era. The mansion was built in 1852, served three generations of the Kelton family and was one of the stations of the Underground Railroad (that is, a network of secret routes and safe houses for fugitive slaves heading to the free states and Canada in the 19th century).
Popular hotels in Columbus
Columbus events
The Asian Festival takes place annually in May in Franklin Park. Here, of course, full of oriental food and products. Taking place on the waterfront in June, the Columbus Art Festival is a major event with exhibitions, workshops, music and entertainment. Downtown by the river hosts the annual Jazz and Rib Fest in July, which usually attracts more than half a million spectators. And in mid-June, there is also a Latin fest. In addition, in June, the bars of the fashionable North Market District host the Park Street Festival, which attracts thousands of spectators, arranging one global party. Restaurant Week runs through mid-July and mid-January, and Father’s Day weekend at Franklin Park hosts the largest three-day festival of African-American culture in the States.
