Things to do in Toledo, Ohio

August 8, 2024 7:40 PM

I'm visiting for a couple days with my family in early September and looking for some recommendations. You guys really helped me out on my trip to Chicago, so I'm hoping there are some MeFites with Toledo experience too :)

We'll be staying fairly close to the University, so anything really close is more likely to get done. No limits on recommendations though, we have varied interests and food preferences.

Also curious what traffic is like, is it chaotic or not bad?

posted by Eyelash to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total)

This is the lowest hanging tourism fruit, but the Toledo Museum of Art and the Toledo Zoo and Aquarium are both worth a visit.
posted by merriment at 8:29 PM on August 8, 2024 [4 favorites]

Toledo is the city of glass, back in the day they made all the auto glass for Detroit.

The Toledo Museum of Glass/Glass Pavillion is worth a visit and close to the university.
posted by Narrow Harbor at 10:34 PM on August 8, 2024 [3 favorites]

you may have fun exploring Toledo's Attic [Ward M. Canaday Center of the University of Toledo]. Toledo, Ohio & Toledo, Spain are officially the oldest sister cities [sister cities international]
posted by HearHere at 3:15 AM on August 9, 2024 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If you’re there on a baseball evening, a Mud Hens game is a great outing. They’re the farm team for the Detroit Tigers and much beloved in Toledo. The games are usually well attended and lively, and the area around the stadium downtown has lots of restaurants for dinner before or after.

I second the art museum, it’s a world class museum with impressive collections including well knows impressionist works, antiquities, and a surprising modern collection. It’s basically a straight shot down Bancroft from the university, there’s never any traffic. Parking is paid but museum admission is free, the best deal in town.

There are a series of metro parks and botanical gardens in Toledo that make for nice shaded walks in the woods. They all have good playgrounds if you’re with kids. Wildwood and Oak Openings are my favorites; Wildwood is very close to the university.

For restaurants, don’t expect any miracles! That said, Beirut is my favorite near the university, really authentic family style Lebanese, old school but good. Kotobuki in a strip mall on Monroe for Japanese/korean, it’s a local favorite and has been popular for decades. Grumpys is good downtown, especially at lunch. Tony Packos is vaguely famous but not especially good . . .

Have fun and don’t hesitate with any follow up questions!
posted by ohio at 3:44 AM on August 9, 2024 [3 favorites]

I don’t really know Toledo, but I passed through last year and had a nice evening at Maumee Bay Brewing in the historic (and haunted?) Oliver House building, and a good breakfast at Green Lantern Lunch, a greasy spoon with a big Green Lantern mural that caught my eye.
posted by rodlymight at 7:43 AM on August 9, 2024 [1 favorite]

The art museum is great!
posted by forkisbetter at 9:36 AM on August 9, 2024 [1 favorite]

Absolutely second both the Museum of Art and the Zoo. The zoo is the best you can get in the area without going to Chicago, and the art museum is full of absolute bangers, including a bunch of German expressionism (not as world class as the Detroit Institute of Art, but still surprisingly great). Glass pavilion is worth a stop there too — I never really rated glass work until taking some time there, maybe second only to Seattle's glass collection. Way more fine art & fun than Corning, which tends toward decorative.

As an added bonus, Jeff Nelson of Dischord Records is right up the road from the art museum, just look for the Victorian with a bunch of vintage Jeeps. (I mean, maybe don't just pop in on a stranger but I always thought it was cool, and one of my old friends was his neighbor for years.)
posted by klangklangston at 12:16 PM on August 9, 2024 [1 favorite]

Seconding the specific parks ohio mentioned — we had a couple of memorably lovely long walks there.
posted by eirias at 2:48 AM on August 10, 2024 [1 favorite]