Cincinnati has an impressive amount of public art, especially around Over-the-Rhine and downtown. If you are looking for the Best Cincinnati Murals, several are easy to work into the same day while exploring Findlay Market, Vine Street, Walnut Street, and the surrounding neighborhoods.
These are nine of the Cincinnati murals I would look for, along with their locations and a walking order that keeps you moving through the city instead of bouncing back and forth. If you are trying to fit the murals into a larger sightseeing day, my One Day in Cincinnati Itinerary for First Time Visitors will help you figure out where they make the most sense.
Location: Near Elm Street and East McMicken Avenue, around the Rhinegeist Brewery parking area
This mural immediately caught our attention because of the mix of figures, animals, and details spread across the wall.
I also liked how some of the older features of the building are still visible behind the artwork. It gives the mural a more layered look and makes it feel connected to the space around it.
Location: 1720 Pleasant Street, Cincinnati, Ohio
Instead of people or recognizable objects, this wall is covered in bold black, white, and red lines that form an almost maze-like optical design.
It stands out even more because of the colorful historic buildings surrounding it in Over-the-Rhine.
The location is also close to Findlay Market, so this is an easy mural to add while exploring that part of Cincinnati. We spent quite a bit of our Cincinnati trip around this area, and my Secret Food Tours Cincinnati Review What to Expect covers another way to explore Over-the-Rhine and several historic neighborhoods.
Location: Near 1617 Elm Street in Over-the-Rhine
You probably do not need to know much about Bootsy Collins to recognize him in this mural. The star-shaped glasses, dramatic clothing, and bass guitar make that fairly easy.
Collins was born in Cincinnati and went on to perform with James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic, making him one of the city's best-known musical figures.
The bright colors also make this one of the more noticeable pieces of Cincinnati street art along this route.
Location: 1005 Walnut Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
The mural is filled with colorful patterns that resemble a series of portals. A large central figure appears to watch over the city, while the surrounding design combines fantasy and science-fiction imagery.
Artist Saya Woolfalk's work explores identity and imagined future worlds, and ArtWorks describes the mural's portals as an invitation to imagine a different future society.
Location: Near the Know Theatre, approximately 1120 Jackson Street
This is probably one of the easiest murals on the list to use as a Cincinnati photo spot. Lookin' Good has a retro sign design with neon-style graphics, a smiling sun, and an enormous thumbs-up. It is just fun to photograph.
There are several other murals in this immediate area, too, so keep looking around instead of taking your photo and immediately leaving.
If you want photos of yourself rather than only the mural, an iPhone Tripod is useful for stops like this when you do not want to hand your phone to someone else.
Location: 1107 Walnut Street, Cincinnati, Ohio
If you like colorful murals, Crazy Cat, Crazy Quilt is hard to miss.
The enormous geometric cat is built from bold blocks of color and quilt-like patterns, complete with bright yellow eyes and mismatched shapes.
The mural is based on the work of Cincinnati artist Edie Harper and depicts Katrinka, her favorite cat. ArtWorks created it as a tribute to Harper's career and connection to Cincinnati.
There is a lot of color packed into one wall, and as a crazy cat lady, the giant cat automatically made it one of my favorite Instagram spots in Cincinnati on this route.
Location: 1519 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Over-the-Rhine: Into Its Renaissance was inspired by the neighborhood itself, including its architecture, landmarks, and community.
The design incorporates working hands, plants, leaves, and other neighborhood details representing growth, creativity, and the diversity of OTR. ArtWorks lists Pat Bruns, Quentin Gibeau, and Jarrett Jamison as the teaching artists behind the mural.
Save this for later on Pinterest so you don’t forget it.
Location: 1014 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
Fresh Harvest turns produce into a huge still life, with brightly lit fruits and vegetables appearing as if they are about to spill out of a wooden crate.
Jonathan Queen's design was inspired by traditional European paintings, but enlarging everything to the scale of a building gives it a completely different look.
If all that produce makes you hungry, my Best Places to Eat in Cincinnati From Breakfast to Dessert covers the restaurants, local foods, and dessert stops I would actually add to the same trip.
Location: 119 East Court Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
The last mural on this route is Homecoming (Blue Birds), based on a painting by Cincinnati artist Charley Harper.
It shows a male and female bluebird returning to their birdhouses using Harper's distinctive geometric style, which he called “minimal realism.” Harper studied and later taught at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where he met his wife, Edie Harper—the artist whose work inspired the Crazy Cat, Crazy Quilt mural earlier on this route.
I like that you can see work connected to both artists within the same relatively compact part of Cincinnati.
This starts around the northern part of Over-the-Rhine near Findlay Market and works south toward downtown, which makes more sense than jumping between addresses.
You will be doing a fair amount of walking if you visit all of them, so I would keep what you carry fairly light. If rain is possible, the Danvek Mini Umbrella is easy to throw into a small bag without carrying a full-size umbrella around Cincinnati all day.
If you have a car, another stop I would pair with a day in the city is Devou Park Guide Best Cincinnati Skyline Views. It is across the river in Covington, Kentucky, and gives you a completely different photo of Cincinnati than anything you will get while walking downtown.
What surprised me was how much variety we found. Within the same general area, there was everything from an enormous geometric cat and a retro thumbs-up sign to a Bootsy Collins tribute, an elaborate science-fiction-inspired mural, and a giant crate of produce.
And these are only a small sample. Cincinnati has murals all over the city, so you could easily find more as you explore different neighborhoods.
If you enjoy public art, photography, or finding something a little different between Cincinnati's bigger attractions, these are the Cincinnati murals I would add to your route.
If you end up booking anything for your trip, using my affiliate links helps support my blog at no extra cost to you. I spend a lot of time researching and writing these guides, so I really appreciate the support.
We stayed downtown, which made it easy to explore both Over-the-Rhine and the city center. Read my 21c Museum Hotel Cincinnati Review What to Expect if you are considering staying there.
You can also compare Cincinnati hotels through Booking.com.
If you want to add a guided activity to the rest of your Cincinnati sightseeing, browse options on Viator.
Comfortable shoes are the main thing I would prioritize for this route.
A Phone and Wallet Crossbody Strap keeps your hands free for photos, while the Clutch Powerbank is useful if you are using your phone for maps, photos, and navigation throughout the day.
If you are planning the rest of your Cincinnati trip, read my Ghost Baby Cincinnati Review: Is This Underground Cocktail Lounge Worth Visiting? for an unusual evening stop.
For a special dinner, my Boca Cincinnati Review A Memorable Date Night Restaurant covers one of our favorite meals from the trip.
Booked this Bryson City yurt for the ‘ber months and it’s already my top fall pick this year. 🍂
The Junaluska Yurt sleeps six but feels more like a stylish cabin than a yurt, two real queen bedrooms with actual doors, a full kitchen, and a private bathroom with a walk-in shower. Check-in is just a door code texted to your phone, no lobby, no waiting.
The real win is outside: wraparound porch, private fire pit, free firewood, a gas grill, and Smoky Mountain sunsets that stop you mid-sentence, picture all of that with October color on the ridgeline. Heads up, the last stretch in is a gravel road, so skip the low-profile rental, and there’s no restaurant onsite, you’re minutes from Bryson City, Dillsboro, and Sylva for dinner.
Two to three nights is the sweet spot. (We actually stayed in the dead of winter and it was still stunning, fall just takes it up a notch.) Full review linked in bio.
Italian food felt like the last thing I expected to find in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains... until I sat down at Ilda in Sylva.🍝
They call it Italian-Appalachian, and that’s not just a tagline. Homemade pasta, craft cocktails, local ingredients pulled straight from the mountains around it, this is the kind of meal that makes you forget you’re two hours from the nearest city. It’s cozy, it’s a little upscale, and it is not a walk-in kind of place, call ahead, because tables go fast on weekends.
It’s not cheap, and it’s not trying to be. But if you’re already making the trip out to Sylva, this is the one reservation worth planning your day around.
Full write-up, including what to order, link in bio.
Booked my fall cabin before September even started, and I’m not sorry about it. 🍂
These are the stays that make you actually want the cold to hurry up fireplaces, mountain views, the kind of porch you don’t leave. Not every one of these is going to fit every trip, but if a cozy fall getaway is on your radar, this is the roundup to start with.
One of my favorite travel seasons is almost here, and I have zero chill about it. 🍁✈️
There’s just something about fall trips cooler air, apple orchards, that first flannel of the season, food that actually makes sense with the weather again. I’m already mentally packing for it before September even starts.
If fall is your favorite time to travel too, tell me where you’re headed... I’m taking notes for the list.
Pack your bags... ✈️🧳My hiking and road trip gear shop just got a refresh, and this is everything that actually earns a spot in my bag. The dry bag pulls double duty for beach days and trail days, the Osprey backpack is the one I grab for anything motorcycle or day-hike related, and the GoPro comes with me literally everywhere at this point.
Nothing on this list is filler it’s all stuff I’ve used, packed, and repacked more times than I can count. Full shop linked in my bio if you want to build out your own kit before your next trip.
Follow @travelwithwendyplummer for Beautiful Beach Destinations, City Guides, Foodie Spots, and Luxury Hotel Recommendations.
