Things to do in Columbus

Neighborhood · Immediately south of downtown

Thirty-plus blocks of nineteenth-century brick houses and brick streets built by German immigrants, saved from demolition in the 1960s and now one of the largest privately funded historic restorations in the country.

Local tip: The Book Loft is 32 rooms of bookshop in a pre-Civil War building and takes a proper hour. Schmidt's for sausage and a cream puff if you want the full version. Park once and walk — the brick streets are hard on tyres and harder on heels.

Nightlife · High Street, between downtown and campus

The city's gallery, restaurant and bar strip under a run of illuminated arches, with a Gallery Hop on the first Saturday of every month that has run for decades.

Local tip: Gallery Hop is the night to arrive as a newcomer — it is free, it is busy, and the galleries genuinely open. Go on foot or by bus; parking on High Street on a first Saturday is a losing game.

Food · Downtown, beside the Short North

A public market trading since 1876, with three dozen independent stalls — and the counter where Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams started before it went national.

Local tip: Weekday lunch is when locals use it and the queues are survivable. The Bridge Park sister market in Dublin is newer and quieter if you are north of the city.

Nature · Riverfront, west of downtown

The downtown riverfront was rebuilt into a linear park after a dam removal restored the Scioto's natural channel, with Franklinton — the city's oldest settlement — turning into an arts district on the far bank.

Local tip: 400 West Rich and the Franklinton studios open to the public on Franklinton Fridays, second Friday of the month. The riverfront path connects to the Olentangy Trail, which runs all the way north past campus.

Landmark · Ohio State campus, north of downtown

A 100,000-seat horseshoe that becomes the third largest city in Ohio on a home Saturday, on a campus laid out around a vast open green.

Local tip: If you are not going to the game, do not plan to drive anywhere near campus or the Olentangy on a home Saturday. If you are, someone will teach you the Script Ohio and the four claps whether you asked or not.

Neighborhood · North of campus along High Street

A long low-rise neighbourhood of 1920s houses running north from the university, with an independent high street, a food co-op and a ravine park system nobody outside Columbus has heard of.

Local tip: Whetstone Park's Park of Roses is free and genuinely worth a June evening. The Olentangy Trail runs the length of the neighbourhood and is the best way into downtown by bike, avoiding High Street entirely.