If you’re wondering what to do in Akron Ohio, the Rubber City punches well above its weight — a 65-room manor house, a national park at its doorstep, a world-class art museum, and some of the best pizza in the state. Here’s how to spend your time in Akron, Ohio, whether you’re here for a day or a weekend.
What to Do in Akron Ohio: Start with Stan Hywet
Start with the crown jewel. Stan Hywet is a 65-room Tudor Revival manor built by Goodyear co-founder F.A. Seiberling, set on 70 acres of gardens and grounds. The house tour is genuinely impressive — original furnishings, a glassed-in conservatory, even a basement swimming pool — and the gardens (designed with input from Warren Manning) are at their best from spring through fall. It’s one of the finest historic house museums in America, full stop.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Akron sits at the southern edge of Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio’s only national park. The Boston Mills area is minutes from downtown Akron: hike to 65-foot Brandywine Falls, ride the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, or walk the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail — a 110-mile crushed-limestone path that runs from Cleveland through Akron to New Philadelphia. In October, the towpath through the valley is one of the best fall-color walks in the state.
Akron Art Museum and Downtown
The Akron Art Museum pairs a historic 1899 building with a striking glass-and-steel addition, and its collection of modern and contemporary art is stronger than you’d expect for a mid-size city. Downtown Akron rewards a stroll: the Akron Civic Theatre (a 1929 atmospheric theater with a starry ceiling) hosts concerts and shows, and Lock 3 is the city’s downtown gathering spot — concerts in summer, ice skating in winter.
Hale Farm & Village
Twenty minutes north in Bath, Hale Farm & Village is a living-history museum on the 1860s Western Reserve: costumed interpreters, working craftspeople (glassblowing, blacksmithing, spinning), and farm animals. It’s especially good with kids, and the fall harvest events are a highlight.
The Great Outdoors Around Akron
- Sand Run Metro Park — Summit Metro Parks’ 1,000-acre showpiece, with the Jogging Trail and great birding.
- Cascade Locks Park — walk the must-see locks of the Ohio & Erie Canal in the heart of the city.
- Blossom Music Center — the Cleveland Orchestra’s summer home and a top-tier outdoor concert venue in Cuyahoga Falls.
- Derby Downs — home of the All-American Soap Box Derby every July, with a small museum on site.
Where to Eat
No Akron visit is complete without Luigi’s, the downtown Italian restaurant serving famously crispy-crusted pizza since 1949 — a genuine local institution. For something sweet, the area’s Polish and Eastern European roots show up in bakeries across the city.
Making a Day of It
The ideal Akron day: morning at Stan Hywet, lunch at Luigi’s, an afternoon hike or train ride in Cuyahoga Valley, and an evening show at the Civic Theatre or Blossom. Two days lets you add Hale Farm and the art museum without rushing. Akron works as a day trip from Cleveland or Columbus — or as a base camp for exploring the national park. Whatever pace you choose, what to do in Akron, Ohio is an easy question to answer.
Getting There and Around
Akron sits at the junction of I-76, I-77, and the Ohio Turnpike (I-80), about 40 minutes south of Cleveland — an easy add-on if you’re already exploring things to do in Cleveland — and two hours northeast of Columbus. Downtown is compact and walkable, but you’ll want a car for Stan Hywet, Hale Farm, and the national park trailheads. Parking is easy and cheap compared to bigger cities — one more quiet advantage of the Rubber City.
One last thing: Akron’s nickname isn’t just history. The city still hosts the All-American Soap Box Derby finals every July at Derby Downs, and the rubber industry’s legacy lives on in the city’s museums and architecture. Akron made things that moved America — and it still rewards a visit. When someone asks you what to do in Akron, Ohio, you’ll have plenty of answers.
