Located along Lake Erie in northwest Ohio, Toledo offers visitors a diverse array of cultural, historical, and recreational attractions. From world-class art museums to historic neighborhoods, scenic metroparks, and unique sites, there are many interesting things to see and do in the “Glass City.”
| Attraction | Description |
|---|---|
| Toledo Museum of Art | Features over 30,000 works including pieces by famous artists, ancient artifacts, a glass pavilion, a kids’ art museum, gardens, and a glassblowing demonstration center. |
| Toledo Zoo | A top zoo with over 5,000 animals, various habitats, a butterfly house, elephant habitat, reptile display, aviary, rides, and a splash park for kids. |
| National Museum of the Great Lakes | Covers maritime history of the Great Lakes, shipwrecks, lighthouses, and shipping, with a replica ship, shipwreck artifacts, and the Schoonmaker Museum Ship. |
| Toledo Botanical Garden | A 60-acre garden with different biomes, a Festival of Color, glass artwork, a koi pond, gnome huts, and a historic farmhouse. |
| Toledo Metroparks | Offers hiking trails, gardens, wildlife displays, riverfront trails, and diverse natural habitats. |
| Toledo Museum of Science and Industry | An interactive science museum with exhibits on biology, physics, technology, a space center, Tesla’s Lab, and a playground for kids. |
| Toledo’s Public Art Collection | Features public art in downtown Toledo, including sculptures, murals, and mosaics. |
| 5th Street and Warehouse Districts | Offers shopping, dining, and entertainment with boutiques, antique shops, farm-to-table eateries, and markets. |
| Fort Meigs and the War of 1812 | A historic fort with costumed interpreters, reconstructed barracks, blockhouses, and a museum detailing American and British battles. |
| Toledo Firefighters Museum | Located in a historic fire station, it displays vintage fire engines, uniforms, and firefighter culture. |
| Toledo Opera and Symphony | Hosts opera productions and symphony concerts in the Valentine Theatre and other venues. |
| Glass Pavilion | Part of the Toledo Museum of Art, it showcases glassblowing demonstrations, glass art, and history of glass innovation. |
Here are 12 of the top attractions to check out when visiting Toledo.
Toledo Museum of Art
Name and Location: The Toledo Museum of Art is located in Toledo, Ohio.
History and Significance: Founded in 1901, the Toledo Museum of Art has an extensive collection of over 30,000 objects ranging from ancient to contemporary art. It is considered one of the best museums in the Midwest.
What to Expect: Visitors can view stunning paintings, sculptures, glass art, and other works across the museum’s various galleries. Popular highlights include the Glass Pavilion showcasing glass art and the Cloisters with medieval art.
Visitor Information: Open Tuesday-Sunday. Admission is free. Guided tours and children’s programs available. Wheelchair accessible.
One of the best things to do in Toledo is spend an afternoon at the Toledo Museum of Art. This world-renowned museum houses an outstanding collection of over 30,000 works spanning antiquity to the present day. Wander through galleries filled with pieces by masters like Rembrandt, Monet, Renoir, Glass, and Picasso. Be sure to view the impressive glass pavilion showcasing Toledo’s famous craft.
Other highlights include ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian artifacts, as well as a significant collection of medieval armor and weapons. The complex also contains a hands-on art museum for kids, scenic gardens, and a glassblowing demonstration center.
Toledo Zoo
Name and Location: The Toledo Zoo is located in Toledo, Ohio.
History and Significance: Established in 1900, the Toledo Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in the United States. It is home to over 5,000 animals across various exhibits. The zoo emphasizes education, conservation, and research.
What to Expect: Visitors can see animals from regions like Africa, Asia, and Australia. Popular exhibits include the Aquarium, Aviary, Primate Forest, and Kingdom of the Apes. Many interactive animal encounters offered.
Visitor Information: Open daily. Reasonable admission fee. Stroller rentals and dining options available onsite. Wheelchair accessible.
Families will love spending a day at the Toledo Zoo, one of the country’s top zoos. This sprawling zoo in the Old West End neighborhood houses over 5,000 animals across arctic, aquatic, and African exhibits. Get eye level with gorillas, lions, hippos, polar bears, penguins, komodo dragons, and more.
Don’t miss the butterfly house, elephant habitat, reptile display, and aviary. The zoo also features amusement rides, a steam train, petting farm, and splash park for kids. Special events like summer concerts, holiday lights displays, and behind-the-scenes animal encounters take place year-round.
National Museum of the Great Lakes
Name and Location: The National Museum of the Great Lakes is located in Toledo, Ohio.
History and Significance: Founded in 1996, this museum documents the history of transportation, commerce, and recreation on the Great Lakes. It has extensive exhibits on maritime trade, shipwrecks, fishing, and more.
What to Expect: Visitors can explore interactive displays and artifacts about the ecology, industry, and culture of the Great Lakes region. Many hands-on activities for kids. Also houses research facilities.
Visitor Information: Open daily. Reasonable admission fee. Guided tours available. Gift shop and cafe onsite. Wheelchair accessible.
Maritime history comes alive at Toledo’s excellent National Museum of the Great Lakes. Tracing the heritage of the Great Lakes region, informative exhibits cover topics like shipwrecks, lighthouses, fishing, immigration, shipping, shipbuilding, and military battles.
Standout displays include a massive replica ship dry dock, shipwreck artifacts, vintage boats and engines, an icebreaker pilot house, and models demonstrating how locks operate. The museum complex also includes the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship, a freighter open for tours.
Toledo Botanical Garden
Name and Location: The Toledo Botanical Garden is located in Toledo, Ohio.
History and Significance: Established in 1982, the Toledo Botanical Garden has cultivated extensive collections of perennials, herbs, roses, native plants, and more across 60 acres. It provides education and hosts community events.
What to Expect: Visitors can stroll through diverse gardens like the Woodland Border, Herb Garden, and Old-Fashioned Garden. Seasonal displays like spring bulbs and summer annuals. Many programs and classes offered.
Visitor Information: Open daily. Free admission. Tram tours and gift shop available. Wheelchair accessible areas.
Spanning 60 acres in West Toledo, the Toledo Botanical Garden is a beautiful place to spend an afternoon. Stroll through biomes like the Perennial Garden, Monet Garden, Conifer Forest, Herb Garden, and Japanese Garden. When weather permits, check out the stunning Crosby Festival of Color featuring over 1 million blooms.
Other highlights include glass artwork scattered throughout the grounds, a tranquil koi pond, whimsical gnome huts, and a charming historic farmhouse. Kids will love the hands-on Root Lab and muddy bug exhibits.
Toledo Metroparks
Name and Location: Toledo Metroparks is a park system with over 300 parks located in and around Toledo, Ohio.
History and Significance: Founded in the early 1900s, Toledo Metroparks protects important natural areas in the region. Parks include nature preserves, forests, trails, gardens, museums, and more. Provides recreation and education.
What to Expect: Visitors can hike, bike, picnic, golf, fish, and more. Popular parks include Oak Openings, Secor, Side Cut, and Pearson. Nature programs offered year-round.
Visitor Information: Parks open daily sunrise to sunset. Free admission. Some parks have activity fees. Pet and wheelchair friendly options.
Toledo benefits from an extensive Metroparks system that offers plenty of recreational opportunities. The suburban Wildwood Preserve Metropark has a nature center, hiking trails, gardens, and educational wildlife displays. Oak Openings Preserve is great for scenic hikes and birdwatching.
Secor Metropark features woodlands, ponds, a wetland habitat, and nature center. Side Cut and Farnsworth Metroparks offer easy riverfront trails with Maumee River views. Explore wide open spaces,wetlands, and forests just minutes from downtown Toledo.
Toledo Museum of Science and Industry
Name and Location: The Toledo Museum of Science and Industry is located in Toledo, Ohio.
History and Significance: Founded in 1945, this hands-on science museum provides interactive STEM education. Exhibits cover topics like physics, astronomy, biology, technology, and more. Caters to visitors of all ages.
What to Expect: Visitors can explore exhibits like a planetarium, physics discovery lab, prehistoric Ohio, and Innovation Station. Many kid-friendly science demos and activities.
Visitor Information: Open Tuesday-Saturday. Reasonable admission fee. Science camps and classes offered. Wheelchair accessible.
For hands-on science fun, visit the Imagination Station science museum at the Toledo Museum of Science and Industry. This interactive museum has awesome exhibits focused on biology, physics, technology, and more.
Explore space in the Plumbrook Aeronautics Center,touch electricity in Tesla’s Lab, maneuver robot arms, enter a maze of mirrors, and check out severed human anatomy sections. Kids will love the on-site playground, dinosaur dig pits, steam exhibits, and seasonal butterfly house. Make sure to catch an educational omnitheater film too!
Toledo’s Public Art Collection
Name and Location: Toledo’s Public Art Collection is located across downtown Toledo, Ohio.
History and Significance: Since the 1980s, Toledo has acquired over 100 pieces of public art by renowned artists. The collection helps beautify the city and reflect its diversity. Art includes murals, sculptures, mosaics, and more.
What to Expect: Visitors can take self-guided walking tours to view public artworks across downtown. Highlights include the Glass Pavilion mosaics, 3-D Man sculpture, and various building murals.
Visitor Information: Artworks are freely viewable in public spaces year-round. Walking tour maps available online. Wheelchair accessible.
Downtown Toledo is home to an impressive collection of unique public art. Look for Claes Oldenburg’s huge iconic “Brush Monument” along the riverfront. Dorothy’s “Toledo Girl” statue depicts a young girl reading outside the library.
See colorful glass murals, abstract sculptures, and whimsical mosaics across downtown like Tom Otterness’ dancing frogs by the baseball park. The Toledo Arts Commission offers a free public art walking tour brochure to help you locate all these artistic gems dotted around the city.
5th Street and Warehouse Districts
Name and Location: The 5th Street and Warehouse Districts are two adjoining neighborhoods located downtown in Toledo, Ohio.
History and Significance: These historic districts housed prominent warehousing and manufacturing facilities in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Today they offer dining, shopping, arts, and entertainment.
What to Expect: Visitors can stroll through the brick-paved streets lined with converted warehouses. The area features restaurants, bars, boutiques, galleries, and music venues.
Visitor Information: Free to walk around. Shops and restaurants open daily. Special events held year-round like arts festivals. Pet friendly.
Toledo’s historic Warehouse District and adjacent 5th Street provide fun shopping, dining, and entertainment. Peruse the 5th Street boutiques and locally owned shops selling art, antiques, books, records, costumes, and curiosities.
The Warehouse District lined with converted grain mills contains fabulous farm-to-table eateries like The Blarney and Fleetwood’s. Don’t miss stopping by Oh My Bloom floral studio and the huge Mighty Good Collective makers market in the Warehouse District.
Fort Meigs and the War of 1812
Name and Location: Fort Meigs was a military fort located north of Toledo, Ohio. It played a role in the War of 1812.
History and Significance: Fort Meigs was built in 1813 to protect Ohio settlers from British and Native American forces. It withstood two British attacks before being abandoned. Today it symbolizes Ohio’s role in securing America’s Northwest Territory.
What to Expect: Visitors can tour the reconstructed fort and view exhibits about the battles and history. Costumed reenactors provide demonstrations. Special war reenactment events held annually.
Visitor Information: Open Memorial Day to Labor Day. Nominal admission fee. Picnicking allowed onsite. Not fully wheelchair accessible.
History buffs will appreciate Fort Meigs along the Maumee River, a major American fort during the War of 1812. Costumed interpreters provide a glimpse into military life during the 19th century. Tour the reconstructed fort with barracks, blockhouses, and commanding officer quarters.
Exhibits in the on-site museum detail important battles that took place here between American and British forces. Reenactments and special events bring the fort’s history to life. Be sure to also visit nearby Fallen Timbers Battlefield where General Anthony Wayne defeated Native Americans in 1794.
Toledo Firefighters Museum
Name and Location: The Toledo Firefighters Museum is located in downtown Toledo, Ohio.
History and Significance: Founded in 1997, this museum highlights the history of firefighting in Toledo and honors fallen firefighters. Exhibits cover old equipment, local fires, fire prevention, and more.
Located in a historic 1904 fire station, the Toledo Firefighters Museum chronicles the city’s firefighting heritage. Examine vintage fire engines, hoses, uniforms, and equipment used through the years. Touch a piece of burnt steel from the World Trade Center.
Learn about devastating fires like the 1934 Swayne Field blaze. Other exhibits profile firefighter duties, training, and culture. Younger visitors love climbing on the firetrucks, trying on old fire coats and boots, and taking part in the Junior Fire Academy.
Toledo Opera and Symphony
Name and Location: The Toledo Opera and Toledo Symphony are performing arts organizations based in Toledo, Ohio.
History and Significance: The Toledo Opera was founded in 1959 and the Toledo Symphony in 1943. They provide high-quality musical performances to the community through productions, concerts, and educational programs.
What to Expect: Visitors can attend operas, symphonies, pops concerts, and recitals featuring renowned vocalists and musicians. Performances held at venues like the Toledo Museum of Art and Valentine Theatre.
Visitor Information: Season runs September to May. Ticket prices vary by show. Wheelchair seating available.
Experience world-class performing arts in Toledo like the acclaimed Toledo Opera and Toledo Symphony Orchestra. Housed in the historic Valentine Theatre downtown, the Toledo Opera stages around three grand productions every season. The professional Toledo Symphony performs year-round at venues like the elegant Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle.
Throughout the year, talented local and guest musicians put on incredible classical, pop, rock, and jazz concerts. The low cost of tickets makes these outstanding Toledo performing arts organizations accessible to enjoy.
Glass Pavilion
Name and Location: The Glass Pavilion is located at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio.
History and Significance: Completed in 2006, the Glass Pavilion is a stunning architectural space showcasing the museum’s renowned glass art collection. Its design emphasizes views of nature.
What to Expect: Visitors can view one of the world’s top collections of glass art inside and outdoors in the courtyard. Galleries feature ancient to modern glass pieces of all styles.
Visitor Information: Open during museum hours Tuesday-Sunday. Free admission. Tours and glassblowing demonstrations offered. Wheelchair accessible.
No trip to Toledo is complete without stopping at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Glass Pavilion. This stunning glass building was designed to showcase the city’s history of glass innovation. Watch live glassblowing demonstrations by professional artists and try making your own piece in the on-site glass studio.
Learn about the art and science behind sculpting molten glass. Tour the Glass Barge with exhibits on craft techniques. Browse the extensive collection of glass pieces both decorative and utilitarian. Toledo’s glass legacy shines at this one-of-a-kind pavilion.
Conclusion
Nicknamed the Glass City, Toledo offers visitors much more than art museums brimming with spectacular glassworks. History buffs will relish the War of 1812 sites, stunning Metroparks encourage outdoor exploration, families have endless fun options, and diverse neighborhoods serve up unique finds and flavors.
From world-class zoos to riverfront trails, symphonies to science centers, Toledo provides something of interest for every type of traveler. Its blend of cultural, recreational, artistic, and natural attractions make for an engaging midwestern destination.