Cincinnati sits in a bowl of hills on the north bank of the Ohio River, looking across at Kentucky. It was the first major inland American city, booming on river trade before the railways, which is why it has architecture that most Midwestern cities simply do not: block after block of nineteenth century brick, and a suspension bridge that was the prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge.
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What Is Here
THE JOHN A ROEBLING SUSPENSION BRIDGE IS THE HERO IMAGE AND IT CAME BEFORE BROOKLYN. Roebling built it between 1856 and 1866, and when it opened it was the longest suspension bridge in the world at about 322 metres between towers. He then went to New York and built the Brooklyn Bridge, which is why this one looks so familiar. You can walk it, it hums under traffic, and the view back at the city from the Kentucky end is the best free thing here. The towers are a distinctive sky blue.
THE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD FREEDOM CENTER IS ON THE RIVERFRONT AND IT IS WHY THAT RIVER MATTERS. The Ohio was the boundary between a slave state and a free one, so crossing this water was the thing enslaved people were trying to do, and Cincinnati was a destination and a danger at once. The museum covers that and modern slavery, and it holds an actual slave pen moved from a Kentucky farm. Allow two to three hours.
OVER-THE-RHINE IS THE MOST INTERESTING DISTRICT IN THE CITY AND WE HOLD NO PHOTOGRAPH OF IT. Said plainly. OTR holds one of the largest surviving collections of Italianate architecture in the United States, built by German immigrants from the 1860s, and it was close to derelict a generation ago and is now substantially restored around Vine Street and Washington Park. FINDLAY MARKET, Ohio's oldest continuously operating public market, is in it. Neither appears in any attributable frame we have, and the second image is a close view of the Great American Tower's crown instead. Go to OTR anyway; it is the reason to stay a second day.
THE THIRD IMAGE IS A RIVERBOAT, WHICH IS NOT NOSTALGIA. The BB Riverboats and the River Queen still work this water, and a dinner or sightseeing cruise is a genuinely good way to see the hills and the bridges.
MOUNT ADAMS AND THE HILLS DECIDE HOW THE CITY FEELS. Cincinnati is built on steep slopes and Mount Adams is a small hilltop neighbourhood of narrow streets with the best views and the best bars. The EDEN PARK overlook and the Krohn Conservatory are up there, and the Cincinnati Art Museum is FREE.
CINCINNATI CHILI IS NOT CHILI AND YOU SHOULD KNOW BEFORE YOU ORDER. It is a thin, sweet-spiced Greek-influenced meat sauce seasoned with cinnamon and allspice, served over spaghetti and buried under a mound of shredded cheddar. A three-way is spaghetti, chili and cheese; a four-way adds onions or beans; a five-way adds both. Skyline and Gold Star are the chains. People either love it or feel misled, and the misleading part is the word.
THE BENGALS AND THE REDS PLAY ON THE RIVERFRONT and the Reds are the oldest professional baseball franchise in the United States. Game days fill the central hotels.
When to Go
Late April to early June and September to October. Warm, less humid, and the hills in autumn colour are the best of the year.
JULY AND AUGUST ARE HOT AND VERY HUMID, in the high eighties and nineties Fahrenheit with a heat index that regularly passes 100 in a river valley that holds the air still.
Winter is cold, grey and damp, dipping below freezing, with occasional significant snow and ice. The hills become the problem rather than the cold: Cincinnati's steep streets ice over and the city handles it moderately.
Spring brings heavy rain and the Ohio floods, which is worth knowing because the riverfront parks and roads close when it does.
Getting There
By air, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International is about fifteen minutes from downtown AND IT IS IN KENTUCKY, which surprises people. There is an airport bus and plentiful ride-hailing.
By car, at the junction of Interstates 71, 74 and 75. The riverfront expressway and the bridges are congested at peak.
By train, Amtrak's Cardinal stops at Union Terminal three times a week IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, which makes it impractical for most visitors. UNION TERMINAL ITSELF IS WORTH VISITING REGARDLESS: a 1933 art deco half-dome that is one of the finest railway buildings in America and now houses the city's museum centre.
THE BELL CONNECTOR STREETCAR IS A SMALL LOOP linking downtown, the riverfront and Over-the-Rhine, and it is useful for exactly that corridor and nothing else. Everything further out needs a bus or a car, and the hills make walking between neighbourhoods harder than a map suggests.
Is Cincinnati Safe for Women?
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States and no country-level warning. Its guidance concentrates on the practical differences a British visitor meets: entry requirements and ESTA, the cost of healthcare without insurance, extreme weather including hurricanes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts between June and November, and wildfires, which the FCDO describes as a danger in many dry areas, particularly in canyons, hills and forests.
Cincinnati's violent crime is concentrated in particular residential neighbourhoods well away from visitor districts, and its property crime runs above the American average. The practical version: downtown, The Banks, Over-the-Rhine around Vine Street and Washington Park, Mount Adams, Hyde Park and Northside are all comfortable, and OTR in particular has changed a great deal, though it changes BLOCK BY BLOCK and the northern end past Liberty Street is less so. Downtown empties after office hours on weeknights. CAR BREAK-INS ARE THE COMMONEST CRIME AGAINST VISITORS, so leave nothing visible, including on Mount Adams and at park trailheads.
THE HILLS AND THE STEPS ARE THE PHYSICAL CHARACTER OF THE CITY. Cincinnati has hundreds of public staircases built when people walked to work up these slopes, and many are in poor repair, unlit and overgrown. They are a genuine part of the city and not a shortcut to take alone after dark.
Summer heat with a heat index above 100 in a valley that traps humid air is the likeliest way to be hurt here.
Winter ice on steep streets is the seasonal equivalent, and a Cincinnati hill in freezing rain is genuinely dangerous on foot and in a car.
Severe thunderstorms and tornado watches are normal in spring and summer. A watch means conditions are possible; a warning means shelter now.
The Ohio floods and the riverfront closes when it does.
The Cincinnati Packing List
Humid summers, damp cold winters, steep hills and heavy air conditioning.
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women works here for the river-valley reason: you move between humid outdoor air and hard indoor air conditioning all summer, and the damp cold of an Ohio January gets through cotton in a way it does not get through wool. From November to March add a heavyweight merino base layer.
A Columbia Fast Trek II fleece, which in summer is for over-cooled museums, and a Marmot PreCip Eco rain jacket for fast thunderstorms and bridge wind.
A wide brim sun hat for the riverfront and the bridge walk, which have no shade.
Walking shoes with grip and Darn Tough merino socks. THE HILLS AND THE PUBLIC STAIRCASES ARE WHY, and in winter the same streets ice.
Not linked and worth packing: A LARGE WATER BOTTLE; AN UMBRELLA, which works in Ohio Valley rain; A LIGHT LAYER FOR INDOORS IN SUMMER; TRACTION DEVICES OR AT LEAST VERY GRIPPY SOLES IF YOU COME IN JANUARY, because the combination of freezing rain and a one-in-six gradient is the local hazard; and AN APPETITE FOR A THREE-WAY, which you should order once knowing exactly what it is. The US is almost entirely card-based and tipping is expected at 18 to 20 per cent.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Essential Resources for Women in Cincinnati
Emergency numbers: 911 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile. Calls are answered locally and dispatchers will stay on the line. For non-urgent police matters many cities also run a 311 information line.
The city is built on steep hills in a river bowl, and both of its seasonal hazards follow from that. SUMMER: a heat index regularly above 100 Fahrenheit in a valley that holds humid air still, which is the likeliest way to be hurt here. WINTER: freezing rain on one-in-six gradients, where Cincinnati's steep streets ice and the city copes moderately, so grippy soles or traction devices are a real precaution in January. CINCINNATI HAS HUNDREDS OF PUBLIC STAIRCASES built when people walked up these slopes to work, and many are unlit, overgrown and in poor repair: they are part of the city's character and not a shortcut to take alone after dark. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADO WATCHES are normal in spring and summer, where a WATCH means conditions are possible and a WARNING means shelter immediately. THE OHIO FLOODS in spring and closes the riverfront parks and roads. THE AIRPORT IS IN KENTUCKY, about fifteen minutes from downtown. AMTRAK STOPS THREE TIMES A WEEK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, though Union Terminal is worth visiting for itself. THE BELL CONNECTOR STREETCAR covers only the downtown, riverfront and Over-the-Rhine corridor. CAR BREAK-INS ARE THE COMMONEST CRIME AGAINST VISITORS, including on Mount Adams and at park trailheads. OVER-THE-RHINE CHANGES BLOCK BY BLOCK, with the northern end past Liberty Street less restored. The Cincinnati Art Museum is free.
US State Department travel advisory: there is none, and this is not an omission. The State Department issues travel advisories for other countries, not for the United States itself, so no US advisory for this destination exists to link. In its place, the Government of Canada advice for the United States gives an equivalent third-country assessment.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits. The FCDO names no advised-against areas anywhere in the United States. The same advice also covers Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Main hospital: the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Albert Sabin Way is the region's Level I trauma centre with a 24 hour emergency department, and Christ Hospital in Mount Auburn is the other central option. Dial 911 for police, ambulance or fire. This is the single biggest practical difference for a visitor: there is no public health system, an emergency room visit without insurance can run into thousands of dollars, and an ambulance is billed separately and is not free. Comprehensive travel insurance with a high medical limit is not optional in the United States, and you should carry your policy number and the insurer's 24 hour number somewhere you can reach them. Urgent care clinics handle anything short of an emergency far more cheaply and quickly than an emergency room, and are the right choice for a sprain, an infection or stitches.
Official health authority: the CDC travellers' health pages, the US federal health authority for visitors, covers the US public health guidance, with the National Weather Service the authority for heat advisories, tornado warnings and Ohio River flood stages
Embassy contact: the United States is the host country, so there is no US embassy to contact. Your own country's embassy is in Washington DC, with consulates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Miami and Boston. Find yours before you travel and save the number.
Official tourism authority: Brand USA, the national tourism marketing body, covers Cincinnati and Ohio visitor information, the Bell Connector streetcar and the Findlay Market opening days
Takeaways
Walk the Roebling bridge. It came before Brooklyn and it is free.
Go to Over-the-Rhine and Findlay Market. We cannot show you either.
Cincinnati chili is a cinnamon-spiced sauce on spaghetti. Order knowingly.
The airport is in Kentucky. The hills ice in January.
Solo women safety assessment: Cincinnati is straightforward to visit alone with ordinary American city care. Downtown, The Banks on the riverfront, Over-the-Rhine around Vine Street and Washington Park, Mount Adams, Hyde Park and Northside are all comfortable, and eating alone in any of them is unremarkable; downtown empties after office hours on weeknights and the life moves to OTR and Mount Adams. The city's violent crime is concentrated in residential neighbourhoods a visitor has no reason to enter, its property crime runs above the American average, and the thing most likely to happen to you is a car break-in, so leave nothing visible in a vehicle anywhere including on Mount Adams. OVER-THE-RHINE IS WORTH ONE SPECIFIC NOTE: it has been transformed around its southern end and it changes block by block, with the stretch north of Liberty Street much less so, which is unusually abrupt even by American standards. 911 REACHES POLICE, AMBULANCE AND FIRE free from any phone, and the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Albert Sabin Way is the region's Level I trauma centre. THE UNITED STATES HAS NO PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE FOR VISITORS and an ambulance alone can cost thousands, so insurance is essential. THE CITY'S OWN TOPOGRAPHY IS THE REST OF IT. Cincinnati is built on steep hills in a river bowl, which means the summer air sits still and the heat index passes 100 regularly, and it means that in January freezing rain on a one-in-six street is genuinely dangerous on foot. The hundreds of public staircases threaded through the slopes are a wonderful thing about this city and many of them are unlit, overgrown and crumbling, so they are a daylight pleasure rather than a night-time shortcut.
Reading On
Cincinnati sits at the southern edge of the Midwest and the top of the South at once. The Cleveland packing list covers the other great Ohio city on Lake Erie, which is four hours north and a completely different climate, and the Detroit packing list covers the Great Lakes industrial city beyond it. West, the Chicago packing list is the region's capital. South, the Nashville packing list is about four and a half hours and the Atlanta packing list covers the Southern interior, both sharing this humidity in a hotter form. East, the Washington DC packing list and the Baltimore packing list cover the mid-Atlantic, and the Great Smoky Mountains packing list the nearest mountains. For the country, the United States travel guide for women carries the transport, the health insurance question and the regions in full. For why wool handles humid outdoor air and hard indoor air conditioning in one shirt, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection. Two hours north east, the Columbus packing list covers the state capital and Ohio's largest city, with a restored German quarter of its own and no passenger rail at all.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
