Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Chicago, of course, takes the #1 spot. I'll put in the rest of the list in a bit.
You should have phrased the question "After Chicago, what is your favorite Midwest city for tourism?"
The poll results demonstrate that clearly.
You know (or you should know if you've seen my posts here and there) that I think my forever hometown of Kansas City is a really great place to visit, and had you phrased the question that way, I would have voted for it.
But you asked what my absolute favorite is, and like just about everyone else, I answered Chicago. No other city in the Midwest even comes close in the variety and quality of things to see, do and experience.
There are, however, other cities that come close to Kansas City as No. 2. The Twin Cities have great cultural institutions and parks as lovely as KC's (thanks in part to those lakes), for instance; I'd say it only falls short in the culinary sphere.
St. Louis has some things KC simply doesn't (Shaw's Garden [aka the Missouri Botanical Garden], the Anheuser-Busch brewery), and its main city park is more like New York's Central Park than Kansas City's Swope Park.
And so on.
But there's no point in doing this sort of comparison between any other large Midwestern city and Chicago.
Chicago is the only Midwestern city I've flown into for the purpose of visiting and tourism. Otherwise, the only other cities I've spent time in are Cleveland, St. Louis, Des Moines, and Omaha and I've stopped and spent time in those cities on cross country road trips.
I liked the architecture in St. Louis and enjoyed a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi River. It's a neighborhood type of town, I liked the The Hill which is Italian neighborhood and Soulard was pretty neat. Forest Park and the surrounding neighborhoods were impressive. Fortunately I had a friend show me around the city, I probably wouldn't have had a favorable impression of the city had she not shown me around the place.
In Cleveland, the weather was so horrendous with a brutally cold and damp wind blowing off the lake, so that hindered me getting to see as much as I wanted to, though I really liked the West Side Market. Des Moines was as dull as dishwater. Omaha was a pleasant surprise, I was charmed by the Old Market and it has very attractive parkland on the Missouri River.
Otherwise I don't see myself doing a purposeful visit to any other large cities in the Midwest, though if I did I suppose it would probably be Minneapolis (I'm a big Prince fan). I'm somewhat curious about the up and coming development in downtown Detroit, but not enough to go out of my way to see it. I'd be more interested in seeing places like Traverse City and exploring the Great Lakes shoreline in northern Michigan.
I've been to the Black Hills and Rapid City in South Dakota, it was a gorgeous area though I feel it has more kinship to the West than the Midwest. Is Oklahoma City not the Midwest? I've spent and afternoon and overnight there, Bricktown was pretty cool and the OKC bombing memorial was very thoughtfully done. Another city that was better than expected, though I'd only recommend just one night.
I know I'm a homer here, but I'd like to suggest you're selling Kansas City short.
Granted, the jazz scene is only a shadow of what it was in its heyday, but it survives.
And you're not going to get better barbecue anywhere else in the Midwest.
If you ask anyone not from the Midwest, and ask them where they would visit out of those cities, Chicago will be the only answer, I'd say 98% of the time.
These cities just don't have much of a tourist draw at all, other than Chicago.
Kansas City maybe 2nd, but it could also be Indianapolis or Cincinnati--maybe St Louis for the arch, but that's it. The midwest just isn't a vacation spot aside from Chicago.
Spoken like a non-Midwesterner.
Or, for that matter, a non-Middle American.
Granted, we are talking cities here, but Middle America (regardless of geography) flocks to Branson, Mo., in droves.
And if you think the Arch is all there is to St. Louis, you're selling St. Louis way short.
Most of the Midwest's second-tier cities (Milwaukee, Detroit, all three of the big Ohio cities, Kansas City, St. Louis, the Twins, Indy) have enough things to do and see in and around them to make a weekend in them worthwhile.
If they're not bigger tourist draws than they are, it's because most people East of the Alleghenies have no clue. (West of the Sierra Nevadas, everyone has relatives in the Midwest, so they know. Note how few Californians make statements like the one you made?)
More like spoken like someone who just simply doesn't know any better because they're not very travelled.
When you live in a bubble that's reinforced by mass media, outdated stereotypes, and a lack of curiosity for things you don't know, it's a given that you're going to be a little bit clueless.
Why was Dayton, OH, omitted? It is the aviation history mecca of the world, with the world's best and largest military aviation museum; the preserved field where the first actual airplane took to the skies and aviation greats such as "Hap" Arnold, Commanding General of U.S. Army Air Forces in WWII (before the creation of the Air Force), learned to fly; and the world's very first actual airplane. And yet most Americans, even many Ohioans, have little understanding of the history preserved in the literal "Birthplace of Aviation."
I've been to most of the cities listed, including many trips to Chicago, and Dayton by far is the most unique and inspiring destination in the Midwest IMO.
Dayton has the top attraction in Ohio as calculated by tripadvisor.com -- the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
This FREE attraction holds tens of billions of dollars worth of rare artifacts -- from walk-through Presidential aircraft to atomic bomb casings. What makes the museum truly special is it captures the experiences of the airmen who maintained, supported and fought the machines throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century.
It is the oldest and largest military air museum in the world, and easily could require two days for those eager to closely examine all exhibits, watch movies, and check out the outdoors Air Park -- which even contains buildings from a WWII 8th Air Force base in Britain -- which most visitors never visit due to a shortage of time.
Additionally, Dayton also is the home of the National Park Service's Dayton National Aviation Heritage Historical Park, a multi-location park includes the world's first airfield and the world's first airplane.
Carillon Historical Park is one of the very best local historical parks in the U.S. The Wright Brothers National Museum there, part of the national park, houses the Wright Flyer III, labeled by historians as the first "practical airplane," but in historical reality, the first airplane and the plane that established the Wright brothers the "fathers of aviation." Carillon also features an historical brewery, allowing visitors to taste the evolution of beer-making, beginning in the 19th century.
Kings Island, one of the best amusement parks in the Midwest, and the Camp Kern Ozone Zipline Adventures, which claims to offer the best zipline adventure in the Midwest, are both less than an hour south of Dayton. Some Camp Kern ziplines cross the Little Miami River, a scenic river.
This was one of my favorite visits in the Midwest. Especially relative to its size, Auburn perhaps offers the greatest concentration of historic autos and trucks in the Midwest, rivaled if not surpassed only by Dearborn, MI. Unfortunately, several of the Auburn museums seem to be struggling.
The Auburn Cord Dusenberg Museum absolutely floored me, especially the brilliance of the engineers who created those icons of American automobile history. E.g., I never knew that a mass-produced front wheel drive vehicle was launched in 1929! Or that Dusenbergs used hydraulic brakes in the early 1920s. The cars in this museum are works of art as well as mechanical engineering masterpieces.
Yes, and you won’t find it in its closest neighboring city by far, Chicago. We really do tend to like Milwaukee and to access it.
We like you too . It's great to have Chicago right down the road.
Excluding Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit & Columbus because they're either the clear #1 or I'm too personally familiar to be a tourist...
St. Louis or Traverse City depending on my mood. I've only experienced St. Louis briefly and would love to explore it more. I've been to TC many many times but I just love it there so much.
I'm also interested in spending more time in Cincinnati, Fargo, Kansas City, Des Moines, and Omaha. All of which I've been to but I need to spend more time in.
The rest I've either been to a lot or at least once and don't necessarily need to go back anytime soon.
You should have phrased the question "After Chicago, what is your favorite Midwest city for tourism?"
There are, however, other cities that come close to Kansas City as No. 2. The Twin Cities have great cultural institutions and parks as lovely as KC's (thanks in part to those lakes), for instance; I'd say it only falls short in the culinary sphere.
And yet 75% of years, the James Beard award winner for Best Chef Midwest comes from Minneapolis. this year, 3 of the 5 finalists are from Minneapolis. Like our economy, our local culinary scene is varied, unlike other cities whose culinary prowess rests with only one thing, e.g. BBQ.
The major legacy Midwestern cities almost all punch above their current weights in terms of cultural amenities. The trouble is that damn near all of them do a terrible job at marketing themselves and their amenities, so everything revolves around Chicago.
St. Louis, for example, should be marketing the hell out of itself as a family friendly destination. Not going into adult centric amenities like art museums, St. Louis should be hyping up the Arch and its museum, the City Museum (not what it sounds like at all. Google it), its expansive zoo, the Science Center, Magic House, Grant's Farm, Cahokia Mounds, the Missouri Botanical Garden, etc. There's more than enough to keep kids entertained for a week. It also helps that a large aquarium is opening at Union Station next year, and that many of these attractions are free or at little to no cost.
Chicago definitely blows the other cities out of the water. It should not even be included on the list and makes the poll pretty much useless.
I'm not very well traveled within the Midwest even though I live in KC but to be fair, I am isolated from lots of the other major midwest cities. I've been to Omaha and to be honest, the only place worth going there is the zoo which is amazing.
Kansas City is my home city and I see it's been pretty underplayed in this thread. The architecture is unique, the BBQ is amazing, and it's just in general a very pretty city. It's not called the Paris of the Plains for no reason. I also remember it was listed on Nat Geo's Best Trips for 2019 in the world. I mean to be fair, it's underrated because it's not within great driving distance from other major midwest cities and the name "Kansas City" gives it a misunderstanding among the media.
My List is This:
Chicago
--big gap--
Twin Cities
Detroit
--small gap--
St. Louis
Cleveland
Kansas City
Cincinnati
Columbus
Milwaukee
Indianapolis
--small gap--
Madison
Ann Arbor
Grand Rapids
Des Moines/Omaha
The rest
I don't really like small cities to be honest nor college towns. The hype around Madison and Ann Arbor though makes me want to visit their cores once at least however. I've heard good things about Grand Rapids too.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Dayton, OH
. It's great to have Chicago right down the road.