Five miles east of downtown, University Circle is a cluster of more than seventy cultural and medical institutions, and is also home to several major performing arts companies. The eclectic Museumof Art , fronted by a lagoon at 11150 East Blvd (Tues, Thurs, Sat & Sun 10am-5pm, Wed and Fri 10am-9pm; free; tel 1-888/269-7829, ), ranges from Renaissance armor to African art, and has a good café. Also notable is the Museum of Natural History , Wade Oval, with exhibits on dinosaurs and Native American culture (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm; Wed until 10pm Sept-May; $6.50; ). The modest Cleveland Botanical Garden , 11030 East Blvd (daily dawn to dusk; free), is trying to increase its profile, with a $37 million face-lift. Meanwhile, dotted along East and Martin Luther King Jr boulevards in Rockefeller Park, 24 small landscaped cultural gardens are dedicated to and tended by Cleveland's diverse ethnic groups, including Croatians, Estonians and Finns. Murray Hill , Cleveland's Little Italy, is adjacent to University Circle. Beyond this attractive area of brick streets, small delis and galleries is the trendy Coventry Village neighborhood.

Five miles southwest of downtown via I-71 (exit at W 25th or Fulton Rd), the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo , 3900 Brookside Drive (summer Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat & Sun 9am-7pm; rest of year daily 9am-5pm; rainforest also open Wed until 8pm; $7, or $5 zoo only; ), features a "Wolf Wilderness." Seven thousand plants and 118 species of animal, including orangutans, American crocodiles and Madagascan hissing cockroaches, populate a spectacular 164-acre rainforest building. The RTA runs special buses from downtown during summer.

Out from downtown

• Out from downtown

Ohio cities


All U.S. city guides