Oakland , Pittsburgh's university area, which is dotted with the mansions of wealthy industrialists, houses the predictable mixture of students and more-established families. Sights concentrate around the campuses of Carnegie-Mellon University , the University of Pittsburgh (always known as "Pitt") and several other colleges. The 42-story Gothic-revival Cathedral of Learning , Fifth Avenue at Bigelow Boulevard, called by Frank Lloyd Wright "the world's largest Keep Off the Grass sign," is a university building with a difference: over twenty classrooms are furnished with antiques and specially crafted items donated by the city's different ethnic groups, from Lithuanian to Chinese to Irish. These beautiful rooms, far more interesting than they may sound, have been used by students since the 1930s; all are open to the public except the exotic Syria-Lebanon room and the Early American room, complete with trap door and secret passage, which are shown on ninety-minute guided tours only (Mon-Fri 9am-2.30pm, Sat 9.30am-2.30pm, Sun 11am-2.30pm; $3). Alternatively, you can do your own tape-recorded tour (also $3) or follow the useful booklet ($1.25). On the grounds behind the Cathedral of Learning is the French Gothic Heinz Memorial Chapel (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; free), notable for its long, narrow, stained-glass windows depicting political, literary and religious figures.

Across from the cathedral at 4400 Forbes Ave, the Carnegie cultural complex holds two great museums - the Museum of Natural History , famed for its extensive dinosaur relics and sparkling gems, and the Museum of Art , with Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and American regional art, as well as an excellent modern collection (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Thurs until 9pm, Sun 1-5pm, closed Mon Sept-June; $8, students $5). Schenley Park nearby includes the colorful flower gardens of Phipps Conservatory (Tues-Sun 9am-5pm, extended hours during shows; $6, students $4) and wild wooded areas beyond.

If you're coming to the East Side from downtown, be sure to avoid the area along Center Avenue known as The Hill District ; this is one of Pittsburgh's toughest districts, especially after dark. Many cab drivers avoid it, but as it neighbors the college precincts, tourists can easily stumble into it. An alternative route from downtown is along Liberty Avenue via the predominantly Italian neighborhood of Bloomfield , a busy area of shops, restaurants and quaint rowhouses.

The stretch of Fifth Avenue from around the Cathedral of Learning up to Shadyside is lined with important and architecturally beautiful academic buildings, places of worship and early private mansions. The imposing Soldiers and Sailors Memorial , 4141 Fifth Ave (Tues-Sun 9am-4pm; $4), also serves as a museum and is filled with military paraphernalia and historic exhibits. Further on, opposite the exquisite external mural of the Byzantine Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit , is the humble broadcasting complex of WQED , notable for being the first publicly-funded TV station when it opened in April 1954 and home to the long-running kids' show Mr Rogers' Neighborhood .

Shadyside , on the eastern fringes of Oakland, is an upmarket, trendy neighborhood with the commercial section of Walnut Street being particularly chic. There are several art galleries, and the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts , at 6300 Fifth Ave in Mellon Park, showcases innovative Pittsburgh art in various media (Mon-Sat 10am-5.30pm, Sun noon-5pm; free). A short way to the south, Squirrel Hill is another lively area, housing a mixture of students and the city's largest Jewish community, with a fine selection of shops and restaurants lining Murray and Forbes avenues, plus two multiscreen cinemas.

Further east, the small Frick Art Museum , 7227 Reynolds St (Tues-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-6pm; free), shows Italian, Flemish and French art from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries; its collection of decorative art includes two of Marie Antoinette's chairs. On the same grounds, Clayton is a mansion furnished exactly as it was when industrialist Henry Clay Frick lived there. Obligatory guided tours ($5) walk you around the house, pointing out the various late-Victorian decorative touches, as well as the bed where Frick recovered after being stabbed by an anarchist during the bitter Homestead Steel Strike. Frick and most of his family are buried, under tons of protective concrete and steel, just south of the family home, on the highest hill in Homewood Cemetery , which also holds the tombs of H.J. Heinz (of the ketchup and baked beans fortune) and sundry Mellons. Three miles north, bordering the Allegheny River, the green expanse of Highland Park contains the nicely landscaped and enjoyable Pittsburgh Zoo (daily in summer 10am-6pm, rest of year 9am-5pm; April-Nov $8, Dec-March $6), which has the distinction of having bred two baby elephants in recent years.

Oakland and the East Side

• Oakland and the East Side

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