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.
13 creek crossings, a canyon that keeps closing in around you, and a hike I’d genuinely put back on my itinerary, West Fork Trail was the one.
We got to Call of the Canyon at 7:15am and the lot was barely a quarter full. By 12:30 it was 85% full, so if there’s one tip that matters most, it’s this: go early.
The maintained trail is 6.6 miles round trip, mostly flat, mostly shaded, but I kept my regular tennis shoes dry the whole way by hopping across the rocks at each crossing. It’s rated moderate, and honestly that’s about the distance, not the terrain.
Here’s what nobody tells you though ✨ the maintained trail isn’t the end. We changed into water shoes at the official endpoint and kept going another mile straight through the creek, canyon walls narrowing around us the whole time. That extra mile ended up being my favorite part of the entire hike.
5/5 for me. I’d bring the water shoes again in a heartbeat.
Link in bio for the full guide parking, timing, what to pack, and everything I wish I knew before I went 🥾
Two hours, zero regrets. The Pink Jeep Broken Arrow Tour is hands down one of the most fun things we did in Sedona.
Open-air Jeeps crawling over slickrock, backcountry views you can’t reach on your own, and the famous Road of No Return, steep, thrilling, and somehow completely safe the whole way down.
If you’re picking one paid activity in Sedona, make it this one.
You have to do @pinkjeeptours 🌵🚙 Link in bio for the full review.
Dinner beside Oak Creek at Cress, and yes, it’s a splurge, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.🤍
Candlelit tables under the trees, the creek running right beside us, a menu that mixes Arizona ingredients with French technique. We ordered a little of everything: the squash and beet salad, milk rolls with three different butters, sweet potato gnocchi that somehow felt light instead of heavy. Then two desserts because we couldn’t decide. The Vanilla Crème Caramel with Manchego cheese completely stole the show, salty and sweet in a way that sounds strange until you taste it.
Plan on $100–250 for two depending on what you order, and this isn’t the spot for a quick casual dinner, it’s slow, intentional, and worth every minute. Book ahead and ask for a creekside table if you can.
If you’re looking for one unforgettable meal in Sedona, this is it. Link in bio for the full review 🍽️
Sky Ranch Lodge, Sedona. Booked it for the location, stayed for the sunsets.
This is not a five-star resort with ten restaurants and a spa menu the length of a novel. It’s a family-owned boutique hotel on Airport Mesa that knows exactly what it’s good at: red rock views from basically everywhere and one of the best sunset spots in town, private, with maybe four other couples instead of a crowd.
We booked a Premier Rim Room and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Watched the sunset from our own patio one night and it’s still one of my favorite moments of the whole trip.
✨ Six acres of botanical gardens to wander morning and evening
✨ Pool + hot tub that hit exactly right after a day of hiking
✨ On-site food truck for easy breakfasts and lazy room service nights
✨ Complimentary shuttle so you’re not fighting Sedona parking
✨ Robes, slippers, and a staff that felt genuinely happy to help
Two stays in and I’d book it again without a second thought. This is where to stay in Sedona if you want it to actually feel like Sedona.
Thank you to @skyranchlodge for having us, link in bio for the full review 🌵
Four hours on a train through a canyon you can’t reach by car — such a fun experience! We picked the indoor seats with unlimited access to the open-air viewing car, which honestly felt like the only right call. You’re not stuck in an assigned seat the whole time we bounced between the two, snacks in hand, chasing the best light.
The scenery is the whole point. Red rock cliffs, the Verde River, a 734-foot tunnel, historic trestle bridges views most people visiting Sedona never see, because you literally can’t drive to them.
The charcuterie box that comes with your ticket is shockingly filling ✨ so skip lunch at the Copper Spike Café beforehand, save your appetite for dinner back in Sedona.
Four hours with no stops did start to feel long by the end, but the trade-off for scenery like this? Worth it.
Would I ride it again? Yes. Would I buy lunch first again? No.
Link in bio for the full review cost breakdown, what to pack, and exactly how early to arrive 🚂
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