Ohio Tourism and Travel Guide to: Hotels, Lodging, Destinations.

Ohio Tourism and Travel Guide to: Hotels, Lodging and Top Destinations. Check Our Discount Hotels In Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and More.

OHIO is the farthest State East of the Great Lakes States, lying to the South of shallow Lake Erie. This region is one of America's most industrialized areas, but the industry is largely centered in the East, near the Ohio River. To the South the landscapes become less populated and more woody. The State of Ohio also has the largest Amish population in the world. They farm in the North East and West into mid Indiana, and are much less of a tourist attraction than the highly publicized Pennsylvania Dutch Amish.

We offer fantastic hotel deals at all: Cincinnati Hotels, Cleveland Hotels, Columbus Ohio Hotels and Many More Top Travel Destinations around Ohio.

Enigmatic traces of the earliest inhabitants of Ohio can be seen at the Great Serpent Mound, a lush State Park fifty five miles East of Cincinnati Ohio, where a cleared hilltop high above a river was reshaped to represent a giant snake swallowing an egg, possibly by the Adena Indians around 800 BC. When the French claimed the area in 1699, it was inhabited by the Iroquois, in whose language Ohio means "something great." In the 18th century, this prime position between Lake Erie and the Ohio River made it the subject of vicious contention between the French and British. Once the British had maintained control of most of the French land east of the Mississippi River, settlers from New England began to establish communities along the Ohio River and the Iroquois War Trail paths on the shore of the lake.

During the Civil War, Ohio was at the vanguard of the struggle, producing two great Union generals, Ulysses Grant and William Sherman, and sending more than two times its quota of volunteers to fight for the North. The progress subsequently has followed the classic "Rust Belt" pattern: rapid industrialization, aided by its natural resources and central location, which during the 1970s floundered terrifyingly and has only recently shown any signs of recovery.

Although Ohio is dominated by its triumvirate of "C's" Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, the most visited destinations are the Lake Erie Islands, which have benefited from the recent cleanup of the polluted lake and now attracts thousands of partying mainlanders. Cincinnati and Cleveland, the latter hit especially hard by the recession, have both undergone major face lifts and are surprisingly attractive, as is the comparatively unpretentious state capital of Columbus Ohio.
Cincinnati Ohio
CINCINNATI , just across the Ohio River from Kentucky and roughly three hundred miles from both Detroit and Chicago, is a dynamic commercial metropolis with a definite European flavor and a sense of the South. Its tidy center, rich in architecture and culture, lies within a few minutes' easy walk of the arty Mount Adams district, the attractive riverfront and the lively Over-the-Rhine area in the north end of downtown.

The city was founded in 1788 at the point where a Native American trading route crossed the river. Its name comes from a group of Revolutionary War admirers of the Roman general Cincinnatus, who saved Rome in 458 BC and then returned to his small farm and refused to accept any reward or glory. Cincinnati quickly became an important supply point for pioneers heading west on flatboats and rafts, and its population skyrocketed with the establishment of a major steamboat riverport in 1811. Tens of thousands of immigrants from Germany poured into Cincinnati Ohio during the 1830s.

Loyalties were divided by the Civil War. At first, merchants were disturbed by the loss of important markets: then they began to pick up beneficial government contracts, and Cincinnati Ohio decided that the future lay with the Union. In the flourishing postwar decade, Cincinnati acquired Fountain Square, the prodigious Music and Exhibition Hall, a zoo, art museum, public library and the countrys first professional baseball team. Sport remains a great source of pride: downtown gift shops are decked out in the orange and black of the Bengals football team and the red and white of the baseball playing Reds .

A Cincinnati success story is the Rookwood Pottery , started by Maria Storer in Mount Adams in 1880. Its distinctive tiles adorn countless downtown Art Deco landmarks, as well as the Union and Dixie train terminals.

Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill and Longfellow all admired the City of Cincinnati Ohio: Mark Twain, on the other hand, said that he hoped to be in Cincinnati when the world ended, as it is always twenty years behind everyplace else.
Cleveland Ohio
Today, the great industrial port of CLEVELAND OHIO for so long the brunt of jokes after the heavily polluted Cuyahoga River caught fire in the early 1970s, is no longer the Mistake on the Lake. Although the path back from acute recession another 1970's legacy is by no means complete on a citywide basis, the downtown area is now a hub of excitement and energy. Cleveland Ohio boasts a sensitive and fond restoration of the Lake Erie, Cuyahoga River waterfront, a splendid assortment of museums, glittering city center malls and the new downtown super stadiums. Add to that the recent arrival of several major corporate headquarters and classy hotels and, of course, the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and there is an un-mistakeable buzz about the place.

Cleveland Ohio was Founded in 1796 and profited greatly, thirty years after, from the opening of the Ohio Canal between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. During the heyday of Cleveland Ohio, which began with the Civil War and lasted until the 1920's, the vast iron and coal supplies made Cleveland one of the most important steel and shipbuilding centers in the world. John D. Rockefeller made his billions in Cleveland, as well as many others whose now decrepit old mansions line Millionaires Row. This region has become a no go area, along with several other uninviting and faceless danger spots. Despite the investment of billions, the scars of scarcity are still apparent if you wander off the tourist paths.

South and West of Cleveland Ohio are several spots of interest, including the quaint lakeshore community of Vermilion, the tiny liberal college haven of Oberlin and the charming hamlet of Peninsula.

Cleveland Ohio - The City
The main streets in Cleveland Ohio lead to the stately 19th century Beaux Arts Public Square, at the very core of downtown, dominated by the landmark Terminal Tower in its South Western corner. Ontario Street, which runs North to South through the Square, splits the city into East and West. The most interesting areas in Cleveland Ohio are at two opposite ends of the spectrum: the industrial romance of the Flats in the Northwest and the cultural institutions of University Circle, east of the river.
Columbus Ohio
The largest city in Ohio, state capital and home to the massive Ohio State University, COLUMBUS OHIO is a likeable place to visit. Its position in the rural heart of the state also makes it the only center of culture for a good 3 hour drive in any direction.

Ohio became a State in 1803 after trying Zanesville and Chillicothe, legislators selected this former patch of rolling farmland on the high east bank of the Scioto River its capital in 1812. The fledgling city was built from scratch, and its considered town planning is evident today in broad thoroughfares and green spaces. Statuary forms another part of the cityscape, with monuments seemingly erected on any spare scrap of land, many of them of its namesake, Christopher Columbus ; there's even a replica of his ship, the Santa Maria , docked downtown on the Scioto River. For the 1992 quincentennial of the explorers discovery of North America, several Columbus city officials mistakenly felt that a full scale celebration would put their city, which has lagged behind Cincinnati and Cleveland in terms of public recognition, on the map. It bombed, with Native American Indians and other ethnic groups branding the festivities as exploitation.

After that failure to capture national recognition, Columbus Ohio city boosters have pinned their hopes on sport. The Columbus Crew of professional soccer, who play in the nations first stadium built specifically for pro soccer, have a gigantic following. So do the Ohio State Buckeyes college football team, and in 2000 brought in the first National Hockey League team in Ohio, the Columbus Ohio Blue Jackets.

However, until Columbus Ohio does manage to make it big, it is best enjoyed for what it is, a spirited college city with a smattering of decent museums, gorgeous Germanic architecture and a particularly energetic nightlife, including Ohios most active gay scene. The spacious, orderly and easygoing downtown area of Cleveland holds several attractions and the giant Columbus City Center Shopping Mall. The main entertainment districts, the Bohemian Short North and the more mainstream Brewery District, are on the north and south fringes, respectively.

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