Facts & Accolades

Get to know Cincinnati with these facts and accolades.

Transportation/Accessibility

  • Located within one hour’s flight or a day’s drive of 60% of the U.S. population
  • Northern Kentucky and downtown Cincinnati create a two-state riverfront hot spot
  • Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is served by 12 passenger airlines and tour operators
  • Airport is just 15 minutes from downtown Cincinnati; take the TANK Airporter route for just $3 roundtrip.
  • ​Cincinnati Bell Connector is completely free of charge and runs on a 3.6 mile loop downtown. 

Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati

  • Focal point for City – Meeting Point, Destination Marker, great for photos
  • Spring/Summer – FREE events every week. Live music, salsa dancing, food trucks take place regularly. 
  • Fountain Square Ice Rink voted one of the Top 10 Ice Rinks in the Nation by USA Today
  • ​The Genius of Water (originally built for King Ludwig of Germany) Statue is famous from opening credits of WKRP in Cincinnati

Renaissance of Over-the-Rhine neighborhood

  • This once-bustling community of German beer brewers and pork packers built the nation's largest collection of 19th-century Italianate architecture.
  • Walking through this historic neighborhood today, you’d never believe the National Trust for Historic Preservation once put the neighborhood on its list of Most Endangered Historic Places.
  • One of the nation's largest urban historic districts - 362 acres and 943 buildings made the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
  • Findlay Market: Opened in 1855, Ohio's oldest continually operating open-air outdoor market is home to merchants selling meat, cheese, produce, etc. 
  • ​Washington Park is surrounded by the historic Music Hall, the state of the art SCPA and one of the largest homeless shelters in the region
    • 8-acre Washington Park sits in the heart of OTR
    • A $48 million renovation in 2013 created a 450-space underground parking garage and a beautiful park with performance stage.
    • ​​Home to outdoor yoga classes, dance nights, concerts, festivals and craft shows

Award Winning Attractions

Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

  • Second-oldest zoo in the country, opening in 1875
  • Nicknamed “World’s Sexiest Zoo” for more births than any other zoo in the world
  • Zagat Survey named one of the top zoos in the nation
  • ​​Home to Fiona, the famous hippo and now her younger bro Fritz

Newport Aquarium at Newport on the Levee

  • Named a Top-10 U.S. Aquarium by US City Traveler
  • ​​First aquarium in the Western Hemisphere to display the first Shark Ray, Sweet Pea. 

Contemporary Arts Center

  • One of the first U.S. institutions solely dedicated to contemporary art
  • ​​Current building, completed in 2003, was the first U.S. museum designed by a woman, Zaha Hadid

Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal

  • Named one of the Top 50 architecturally significant buildings in America by the American Institute of Architects​
  • ​Received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. The nation's highest honor for museums and libraries that make "extraordinary civic, educational, economic, environmental and social contributions."

Kings Island

  • Banshee roller coaster opened in 2014 – longest inverted coaster
  • Orion opened in 2020, becoming the 7th gigacoaster in the world
  • ​​The Beast is longest wooden roller coaster in country at 7,400 feet 

Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

  • Only two-time Tony Award winner outside of New York City

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

  • Named one of the “Ten Best Family Destinations for Learning Vacations” by GoNomad.com

Sports

  • Cincinnati Reds Major League Baseball at Great American Ball Park – Home of the 2015 All Star Game
  • Cincinnati Bengals football at Paul Brown Stadium
  • FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium
  • Division I Collegiate Sports
  • ​Thoroughbred horse racing at Turfway Park 

Restaurants

Cincinnati-style Chili

  • Cincinnatians eat more than 2 million pounds of chili each year topped by 850,000 pounds of shredded cheese. We love it served atop spaghetti as a 3, 4, or 5 Way!
  • ​​In 2011, Cincinnati’s Camp Washington Chili was featured on the Travel Channel’s Man v. Food Nation. Camp Washington Chili was named one of the nation’s best chili parlors by Travel + Leisure magazine .

Graeter’s Ice Cream

  • Only commercial Ice Cream manufacturer anywhere in the world to use French Pot freezers, and its two gallon batches are the smallest in the industry.
  • Released new line of gelatos and “A Little Less Indulgent” line in 2014. “This is the biggest product change we’ve made since Grandpa added chocolate chips back in the ’50s,” said Graeter’s President Rich Graeter.
  • Named to the top ten on Forbes Traveler’s list of “America’s best ice cream” (2008); and named one of the “Best Ice Cream Spots in the U.S.” by Food & Wine (2012).
  • ​Included on Oprah Winfrey’s “favorite things” list 

Goetta (Gĕt-uh)

  • Primarily composed of ground meat and steel-cut oats, this dish originated with German settlers who immigrated to the Cincinnati area in the 19th century.
  • ​Glier's Goetta, the largest commercial producer of goetta, produces more than 1,000,000 pounds annually, around 99 percent of which is consumed 

Cincinnati Accolades

  • One of the best places to live in the United States, according to a 2022 ranking from Livability.com.
  • Named on of six small cities with big food scenes by USA Today
  • Named the Best Walking City in Ohio and ranked 20th in the nation, according to Prevention magazine and the American Podiatric Medical Association.
  • ​​Esquire magazine ranks Cincinnati as seventh on its top 10 list of "Cities that Rock". Cities were chosen based on the talent in their music scenes, venues and record stores.
  • USA Today listed Cincinnati as one of the “10 great beer festivals” in the summer, Okotberfest-Zinzinnati is recognized as the world’s second-largest authentic Oktoberfest.