Best Places to Go when Visiting Cleveland

Cleveland is a city that’s rich in cultural attractions, history, and nature. At North Coast Auto Mall, we want to share with you a bunch of our favorite places to go and explore in and around town. The following list is made up from the most popular picks and why they’re worth visiting. Before you go, come see us at North Coast Auto Mall – Cleveland for your next oil change or car maintenance needs and enjoy your trip knowing your car’s ready for the ride. 

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Image via Flickr by EDrost86

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is a multifaceted museum of music that celebrates the achievements of musical artists from across the spectrum and around the world. It’s a repository for everything related to the musicians inducted into the Hall of Fame, ranging from their instruments to their notebooks where they wrote down their opus magnums. But the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is much more than a place to see exhibits related to the musical greats; it’s also a place where music lives and breathes through exhibits, live concerts, and education. 

The Hall consists of five levels that have their own theme and related exhibitions. As an example, Level 4 features the full-sized replica of the stage set for Pink Floyd’s The Wall performance in Berlin. Level 5 is an exhibit dedicated to artifacts such as handwritten drafts of hit songs, outfits worn by performers, and instruments they played on stage and in the studio. Not all exhibits are open to the public due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but you can still visit most of the facility and enjoy the sights.

Greater Cleveland Aquarium

The Greater Cleveland Aquarium houses both freshwater and saltwater sea creatures that are found in habitats both near and far. Eight galleries offer up close and personal interaction with the residents. Each gallery has its own theme, including Ohio Lakes and Rivers, to highlight the native aquatic species that call the state of Ohio home. The Coastal Boardwalk gallery recreates the feeling of life along the seashore with resident inhabitants of the shallow waters. Those who want a bit of an exciting experience will find it in the Shark Gallery & SeaTube that recreates being 175 feet under the sea.

The mission of the Greater Cleveland Aquarium is to get visitors curious about aquatic life and how to help preserve their environment. Each exhibit is designed to give visitors a peek inside the life of a water dweller and what their daily existence is like. The aquarium itself is housed in the historic FirstEnergy Powerhouse that was built in 1892 to power the streetcars and railways of Cleveland, making a visit to the aquarium even more interesting. 

A Christmas Story House

It will be hard to resist the urge to say “You’ll shoot your eye out!” as you enter the front door of A Christmas Story House. The house itself was the filming location for the cult-classic movie “A Christmas Story” with all of the interior elements and furnishings placed where you expect them to be. And yes, the leg lamp is prominently displayed in the front window. You can visit the house, or stay overnight for a trip back in time. 

Across the street from the house is A Christmas Story Museum that is home to the props from other scenes in the movie. You’ll find the fire truck and the old man’s car parked out back while the toys from the Higbee’s Christmas window displays are located inside. The museum gift shop features merchandise based on elements from the film, and proceeds go towards supporting the house and museum. Who knows? You might go home with your own pink bunny suit and slippers.

Cleveland Metroparks

Cleveland Metroparks covers over 24,000 acres of parkland across 18 reservations that range from Lake Erie to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. The parks offer a variety of recreational activities that include miles of trails, golfing on one of the eight courses, or ice fishing on Hinckley Lake. The reservations offer a wide variety of terrain that make you wonder how they manage to exist in an urban setting. 

If you don’t have a lot of time to spend visiting the Metroparks, you’ll want to look at what each reservation has to offer and decide which one looks the best to you. There’s a park on Lake Erie that allow you access to the water and related activities, or you may prefer to experience the forests and floodplain of the Brecksville Reservation, then head over for a round of nine holes at one of the two golf courses. 

Cleveland History Center

The Cleveland History Center of the Western Reserve Historical Society is the oldest cultural institution in all of Cleveland. It was founded in 1867 and was established to oversee the preservation and collection of items, objects, and documents that relate to the city of Cleveland and the Western Reserve. Eventually the focus was scaled back to the curation and collection of items relating to northeast Ohio. However, you’ll find a comprehensive museum experience that includes the Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel and the Chisholm Halle Costume Wing of fashion exhibitions. 

The museum consists of multiple historic properties and homes that house exhibits related to the history of Cleveland and preserve how people lived in specific time periods. Shandy Hall shows what life was like in the 1830s while Hale Farm & Village features 32 historic buildings with re-enactors making period crafts while you watch.

That wraps up our selection of the best places to go when visiting Cleveland. We hope we’ve inspired you to make a stop at one of these destinations and experience what makes them such an awesome place to go. In the meantime, make sure to come see us at North Coast Auto Mall – Cleveland to check out our latest inventory of gently used cars and find out how we can help you drive away in a car that’s new to you to