kelly
New Hampshire
My friends and I are roadtripping from NH to Ohio for a long weekend in June, but aren't familiar with anywhere outside of New England. Anyone have any recommendations for restaurants, bars, places to stop along the way, or even places to go while staying in Columbus?
Hello,
Sounds like a fun weekend! The drive from New Hampshire to Columbus will take about 12 hours if you don't make any stops. Of course this varies a bit depending on where you live in New Hampshire, but I don't see it taking any less than that. Add in a couple of stops for food, gas, and food and you will be traveling all day. Making additional stops for sightseeing will add hours to the drive as many things worth seeing are not right off the main highway. My point is if you plan on making it to Columbus on the first day, you probably won't be doing much sightseeing.
However if you plan on stopping for a night on route, you have a couple of options. I recommend taking a more southern route passing through Hartford, Reading (Pennsylvania), Lancaster (Pennsylvania), Hershey, Harrisburgand then on out by Pittsburgh. I would recommend spending the night in either Lancaster, Hershey, or Harrisburg as these are roughly half way through the drive and have good attractions, restaurants, and nightlife. Just one example is Tröegs Brewing Company in Hershey, they have great bear and food.
While in Columbus be sure to hit up Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. They are famous throughout the Midwest and have a few locations in Columbus. Some other restaurants worth checking out are Schmidt's Restaurant Und Sausage Haus, Northstar Café, Brown Bag Deli, and German Village Coffee Shop. A good bar (and restaurant) you might like is the Surly Girl Saloon.
If you would like some more personalized suggestions based on your travel style, time frame, and interests contact me through The Traveler's Toast.
Happy travels!
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Columbus is has quite a few craft beer breweries and distilleries. You can take tours of these places and get a tasting.
Some other craft breweries to check out are:
RIght next door to Middle West Spirits is Brothers Drake Meadery & Bar which offers mead and have live bands playing. Both these places are in the Short North district.
Some places to visit and walking tour do in Columbus are
Check out Columbus Underground and see what's happening in Columbus that weekend you and your friends are coming.
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Be prepared to pay a fortune in tolls traveling through NY. I would recommend The Short North area of Columbus, Its an entertainment district located between downtown and campus, and parking is not impossible. If you are so inclined the city is cycle friendly and has those communal bikes that you can pay and ride. If you need to get your runners fix check out the Olentangy River Rd and Scioto River trails, you can often see nice sunsets from them. June is also the month in which Comfest takes place, a large festival in Goodale Park, I have not yet attended but it is supposedly awesome. Columbus also fashions itself as sort of a San Francisco of the Midwest in terms of LGBT stuff, so if you are into Gay bars and drag shows you might be able to catch one. It could be over 90 or under 50 degrees, Ohio weather is all over the place
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Andre
