Columbus Vacation Ideas with Kids

1. Columbus Museum of Art

The Columbus Museum of Art is an art museum located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. It was formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts and it was Ohio’s first art museum.

The museum’s focus is on collecting and exhibiting European and American modern and contemporary art together with glass and folk art and photography.

Since 2011, the museum has dedicated 18,000 square feet to the Center for Creativity, which includes galleries, workshop, and gathering areas where visitors can participate in hands-on activities. The museum’s current building, completed in 1931, is located at the same site where the Sessions Mansion, its original building, stood.

480 E Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215, Phone: 614-221-6801, Map

2. Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is located near Powell in Liberty Township, just north of Columbus, Ohio, along the banks of the O'Shaughnessy Reservoir and the Scioto River.

The zoo is home to over 7,000 animals from more than 800 species. The exhibits are separated into eight different world regions.

An 18-hole 140-acre golf course Safari Golf Club is also part of the zoo. The zoo also has 23-acre aquarium and water park Zoombezi Bay and 11-acre amusement park Jungle Jack's Landing. The zoo runs a world-renowned conservation program and supports other similar programs, funding over 70 projects in 30 countries. In addition, the zoo also has a working relationship with the Wilds, an animal conservation facility in southeast Ohio.

4850 W Powell Rd, Powell, OH 43065, Map

3. COSI

COSI, or Columbus Center of Science and Industry, was established in 1964 with the goal of combining fun with learning about science. It has over 300 hands-on exhibits, the largest Planetarium in Ohio, a big screen theater, and frequent live shows.

The center is located on Scioto Peninsula near downtown Columbus and the Ohio Statehouse. There is a new 6.5-acre park just west of the museum with a splash pad, picnic tables, playground, swings, and more. COSI’s new Dinosaur Gallery is a permanent exhibit with a full-sized replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a cast of an eight-foot titanosaur femur bone, a 100 million-year-old piece of fossilized amber, and more.

333 W Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215, Map

4. Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

Located in a large public park just outside downtown Columbus, Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a historic botanical landmark as well as a horticultural and educational institution with gorgeous indoor and outdoor gardens, exotic plant collections, exciting nature-based exhibitions, and world-famous artwork.

Originally constructed in 1895, the Conservatory is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The star of the conservatory’s art collection is Dale Chihuly glass artwork with a working glass Hot Shop. James Turrell’s Light Raiment II light installation illuminates the verdant John F. Wolfe Palm House at dusk every day. There are frequent seasonal and new horticultural and art exhibitions during the year.

1777 E Broad St, Columbus, OH 43203, Map

5. Easton Town Center

Easton Town Center is a popular indoor-outdoor shopping center in northeast Columbus, Ohio. It is designed to look like a small American town from the early 20th century, and it is charming, self-contained, and relaxed.

Its streets are laid out in a grid pattern in a continuous loop, with a range of stores, restaurants, cafes of all sizes, fountains, parks, and benches.

Many stores look similar on the outside, just as they would on the main street of some small American town. Of course, Easton Town Center includes traditional shopping mall elements such as large, multi-story department stores, a cinema complex with the largest movie theatre in Ohio, a comedy club, small shops and stands located in the common areas, ATMs, parking structures, and more. Easton receives more than 25 million visitors every year.

Easton Town Center, 160 Easton Town Center, Columbus, Ohio 43219, Phone: 614-416-7000

6. North Market

The North Market is a public market located in Downtown Columbus, Ohio. It is Columbus’ only public market and a great place to shop, eat, mingle, and people-watch. North Market is home to dozens of unique independent merchants and farmers, butchers, bakers, candy makers, fishmongers, grocers, and restaurateurs.

It is the place where farmers sell high quality seasonal products grown on their farms and where locals can buy fine art, jewelry, vintage articles, and hand-made objects. One of the biggest and oldest markets in Central Ohio, North Market is open on Saturdays and Sundays from June to October.

North Market, 59 Spruce St, Columbus, OH 43215, Phone: 614-463-9664

7. Ohio History Center

The Ohio History Connection, known before as the Ohio Historical Society, is a network of historic museum and historic sites across Ohio, one of the largest in the States. This statewide history organization was established in 1885 in order to encourage interest in the history of Ohio and its rich stories.

The Ohio History Connection is focused on sharing and preserving the state’s history, including housing the headquarters of Ohio History Connection, the state historic preservation office, the official Ohio archives, local history office, and over 50 museums and historic sites across Ohio. Part of the Ohio History Center is the Ohio Village, a vivid recreation of an original 1860 town.

Ohio History Center, 800 E. 17th Ave, Columbus, OH 43211, Phone: 614-297-2300

8. Ohio Village

Ohio Village is an interactive living history museum located in Columbus, Ohio. It is part of the Ohio History Center and managed by the Ohio Historical Society.

The village offers the opportunity to visualize life in Ohio during the difficult times of American Civil War.

It was opened in 1974 on 15 acres and includes 22 buildings, a mix of historic houses moved to the site from other locations, and faithful reproductions. Among them are the Town Hall, General Store and Masonic Lodge, Print Shop, Education Center, Blacksmith Shop, Pharmacy, Tinsmith Shop, Cabinetmaker/Undertaker's Shop, Broom and Basket Shop, Village Bakery, and others. In 1995, a large church was added to allow weddings to be held in the village. One of the most popular events organized in the village is the All Hallow's Eve, a traditional 1860s-style celebration of Halloween.

Ohio Village, 800 E. 17th Ave, Columbus, OH 43211, Phone: 614-297-2300

9. Scioto Greenway

Scioto Mile is an urban green oasis in downtown Columbus that consists of over 175 acres of lush verdant parkland along the riverfront. It stretches from the lively Arena District to the beautiful lush Whittier Peninsula. The Scioto Mile links Columbus downtown to the Scioto River through a system of parks, bikeway,s and pedestrian trails.

The Scioto Greenway includes some of the city’s most popular attractions such as a 15,000 square-foot fountain, the largest outdoor climbing wall in the country, and the tranquil 120-acre Scioto Audubon park and bird sanctuary.

It is easy to see why the Scioto Mile is a favorite green space for everyone in Columbus. In addition to the Scioto Mile, the new Scioto Greenways project added 33 acres of new park areas and 1.5 miles of trails that connect to the Scioto Mile network.

Scioto Greenway, 400 W Whittier St, Lockbourne, OH 43137, Phone: 614-891-0700

10. The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum in Columbus, Ohio houses the largest and most comprehensive collection of cartoons, comics, and related materials in the world. It also has a number of galleries that feature diverse cartoon-related exhibitions open to the public.

The museum has over 300,000 original cartoons, more than 45,000 books, about 67,000 serials that include comic books, 3,000 feet of shelves full of manuscript materials, and more than 2.5 million comic strip clippings and pages of newspapers. The museum also has a number of unique collections of manuscripts and original art including the International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection with more than 200,000 original cartoons, the Jay Kennedy Collection, one of the largest collections of underground comic books, and a number of other significant collections.

The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, 1813 N High St, Columbus, OH 43210