Columbus is one of those cities that sneaks up on you — a little artsy, a little sporty, a lot of good food, and plenty to keep you busy. If you’ve only got one day to explore, you can still hit the highlights and leave feeling like you got a real taste of the city. Here’s how I’d spend the perfect 24 hours in Columbus Ohio.
Start your day at The Woodbury, where the menu is just as creative as the space. The candied bacon crepes are a must — three crepes filled with sweet-and-salty candied bacon, fresh fruit, vanilla buttercream, and a drizzle of jelly sauce. If you want something a little bolder, order the Chicken Hotcakes Tacos: house pancakes with crispy fried chicken, chili aioli, strawberry salsa, and Milligan’s maple syrup.
If you want something faster, grab breakfast at The Lox instead. The bacon, egg, and cheese on an everything bagel is my go-to, but if you like salmon, the lox bagel is fully loaded with salmon, capers, and cream cheese.
After breakfast, head to the Short North Arts District. This neighborhood is full of colorful murals, galleries, and boutiques — perfect for a morning stroll. Take time to pop into a few shops, snap some mural photos, and just enjoy the creative energy of the area. If you want even more ideas for things to do nearby, check out my Top 5 Things to Do in Columbus, Ohio.
When you’re ready for lunch, make your way to Wario’s Beef & Pork. The sandwiches here are massive — big enough to share — so order a Caesar salad, one sandwich (try the steak sandwich or the cheesy Warrior’s Way), and a side of potatoes if you’re hungry.
Park behind Wario’s if you can (last time it was $1.35 for an hour), then take a walk through the Arena District — it’s a fun, lively area with shops and public art. From there, you can walk to North Market, Columbus’s famous indoor food hall.
At North Market, grab a scoop of Jeni’s Ice Cream — Brown Butter Almond Brittle, Goat Cheese with Red Cherries, and Wildberry Lavender are just a few of the inventive flavors. Get it in a butterscotch waffle cone if you really want to do it right.
If you’re still hungry, head to Mo Mo Ghar, where Chef Phinsto Lama serves up Tibetan and Nepalese favorites. This spot was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and for good reason. Try the Johl Mo Mo (steamed chicken dumplings in a spicy fenugreek tomato sauce) or the Choila Set (a spiced chicken salad with rice, potatoes, and black-eyed peas) — Guy Fieri called it one of the most unique dishes he’s ever had.
Spend your evening in German Village, where the brick-lined streets and historic homes make you feel like you’ve been transported somewhere completely different. Stop into the boutiques, walk the cobblestone streets, and make time for The Book Loft, a bookstore with 32 rooms of books — it’s easy to get lost in the best possible way.
For dinner, book a table at Lindey’s (More Info on Lindey's Here), a Columbus classic. Their menu changes seasonally, but everything I’ve had has been 10/10. Make reservations two to three weeks in advance if you can — by 5:30 or 6 pm, walk-ins are nearly impossible to snag. If you don’t have a reservation, try for open seating at the bar or outside on the patio. Don’t skip the bread and butter — it’s baked fresh in Grandview and the butter is perfectly salty.
After dinner, take one last stroll through German Village. Between the gas lanterns, the historic architecture, and the cozy atmosphere, it’s the perfect way to end your 24 hours in Columbus.
Columbus packs a lot into one day if you plan it right. Start with a creative breakfast, eat your way through Wario’s and North Market, wander the Short North, and finish with German Village and dinner at Lindey’s. It’s a day full of flavor, art, and just enough walking to make you feel like you earned that extra scoop of ice cream. If you’re staying longer, you’ll love my Spend a Weekend in Columbus, Ohio and Spend a Week in Columbus, Ohio guides.
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 🚂
I ate chilaquiles while a Cessna taxied past the window, and that’s just a normal Tuesday breakfast in Sedona.
@mesa_grill_sedona sits right beside the Sedona Airport Scenic Lookout, so along with your food you get red rock views stretching in every direction and a front-row seat to tiny planes lifting off. Chef Mercer Mohr runs the kitchen, serving up Southwestern comfort food from breakfast through dinner, chilaquiles, elevated diner classics, burgers, steaks, seafood, all of it.
The view is what pulls people in the door, but the food actually holds its own. Good enough that this place stays packed with locals, not just tourists passing through on their way to the lookout. It also picked up the 2025 Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice and OpenTable Diners’ Choice awards, so it’s not just me saying it.
Indoor seating if you want the AC, a pet-friendly patio if your dog’s along for the trip. Either way, get there before plane-spotting turns into a wait for a table.
Link in bio for the full Sedona breakfast roundup ✈️🌵
Confession: my newsletter is where the good stuff lives. Not the polished, edited-for-the-grid stuff, the “here’s the hole-in-the-wall I almost skipped” stuff, the packing lists I actually use, the “don’t book this hotel” warnings before you waste your money on them.
The newsletter is basically me texting you before a trip instead of after one. Sign up and you’ll be the first to know where I’m headed next, plus a few things I’ll never post here.
Link in bio if you want in. ✈️
Yes, it’s only July. Start planning anyway. Fall books faster than people expect, and a few of these destinations are worth getting ahead of. Here are five places worth putting on your radar right now.
Ireland: Cooler temps, moody skies, dramatic coastline fall was made for it. Tourist crowds drop, the green stays, and the whole country feels a little more like itself.
Great Smoky Mountains, TN/NC: Fall foliage in the Smokies is the real thing. The color peaks mid-October and the views from the ridgelines are hard to argue with. It’s also one of the most visited national parks in the country, so going on a weekday makes a real difference.
New York City: Fall is NYC at its best comfortable temps, the energy of the city shifting into a new season, and every neighborhood doing something worth showing up for. It’s also just a great walking city when it’s not brutally hot.
Japan: Fall foliage season is as good as spring cherry blossoms and somehow less talked about. The colors are dramatic, the temples and gardens are stunning, and it’s worth planning around peak dates by region.
Mystic, Connecticut: Small, walkable, genuinely charming Mystic in fall feels like exactly what a New England autumn is supposed to look like. Easy to pair with a broader New England road trip if you want to extend it.
Full guides linked in bio 🍂
There are two kinds of travelers: people who plan a trip and then figure out where to eat, and people who book a restaurant and then build the rest of the itinerary around it.I am the second kind. I will not apologize for this.
The reservation gets locked in first. The hotel search happens within the same 24 hours. The flights get compared around the restaurant’s hours of operation. The rest of the trip exists to fill the days before and after the table I actually came for.
If this sounds unhinged, I completely understand. It has also resulted in some of the best meals of my life, so I’m going to keep doing it.
Drop a 🍽️ if you plan your trips around food too.
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