A Midwestern city with America's largest medieval art collection, 16th-century architecture, and the historic Glass Bowl Stadium. Home to significant Renaissance art pieces.
Toledo sits along the western shore of Lake Erie as Ohio's fourth-largest city. The city's glass manufacturing history lives on at the Toledo Museum of Art's Glass Pavilion, where you can watch artists create intricate glass pieces daily. Walk through the Greek Revival museum building to see European paintings from the 14th century, or catch a Toledo Mud Hens baseball game at Fifth Third Field. At the Toledo Zoo, you can see hippos swimming behind glass walls in the world's first hippoquarium.
Glass Manufacturing Legacy
At the Toledo Museum of Art's Glass Pavilion, you can watch artists shape molten glass into artwork during daily demonstrations in the Hot Shop. The main museum building, with its white marble columns and Greek Revival architecture from 1912, houses collections ranging from 14th-century European paintings to contemporary African sculptures. The Glass Pavilion itself contains more than 5,000 glass artworks from ancient to modern times.
Cultural Venues
Listen to classical music at the Peristyle concert hall, where the Toledo Symphony Orchestra performs weekly during their season. The Valentine Theatre's 901-seat auditorium hosts both the Toledo Opera and Toledo Ballet throughout the year. The Toledo Jazz Orchestra plays regular concerts at various venues across the city.
Toledo Zoo and Science Museums
Walk through the 51-acre Toledo Zoo to see more than 10,000 animals. The hippoquarium lets you watch hippos swim underwater through glass walls. The Africa! exhibit recreates savanna landscapes with lions, elephants, and giraffes. At the Imagination Station downtown, your children can try more than 300 hands-on science experiments, from building simple machines to understanding weather patterns.
Parks and Recreation
Walk through specialized gardens at the Toledo Botanical Garden, including a Shade Garden with 250 hosta varieties and separate spaces for herbs, vegetables, and perennial flowers. The Glass City Metropark connects to the Maumee River with walking paths and The Ribbon recreation area. In summer, you can attend free concerts at the Marina District's outdoor amphitheater.
Getting Around Toledo
Fly into Toledo Express Airport or drive via I-75 or I-80/90, which intersect in the city. You can walk around downtown easily, and TARTA buses run regular routes throughout the metropolitan area. Local taxi services operate 24/7.
Day Trips
Drive 35 minutes to Maumee Bay State Park's sandy beach and hiking trails. Cedar Point amusement park, open from May to October, has 17 roller coasters. Take a ferry to Put-in-Bay on South Bass Island for swimming and waterfront restaurants from spring through fall. Ann Arbor is 45 minutes north by car, while Detroit, Cleveland, and Columbus are all within a two-hour drive.
