Cleveland is full of options for frugal family outings every day of the year, with four diverse seasons and cultural resources aplenty. Winter flurries and summer thunderstorms won’t put a damper on your fun here!
There’s a variety of venues for parents, babysitters, or nannies to take cover when inclement weather gives the kids cabin fever and everyone needs to get out of the house to stay sane. Pack some snacks and an appetite for excitement and enjoy these activities that won’t cost you a dime.
Start Your Week at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Address: 3900 Wildlife Way, Cleveland, OH 44109
Hours: Open daily, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. | Open until 6 p.m. on weekends & holidays during the summer.
Phone: 216-661-6500
Curtail Monday moaning with a day at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, where Cuyahoga County and Hinckley Township residents receive admission at no charge that day. This once-a-week freebie typically draws a crowd, especially in the summertime, so gather a picnic lunch and arrive when the gates open to avoid the herds of parents with their tots in tow. Be strategic to stay on budget: Bring store-bought beverages and goodies to stave off concession stand temptations and use the park map to plan a route that avoids the Rainforest, movie theater, train, and carousel areas, which all cost an additional admission fee.
Visit a Cleveland Recreation Center
Locations: Click the link above for details on various locations across the city.
Hours: Schedules vary by location. All centers closed Sundays.
More than 20 City of Cleveland recreation centers are open year-round, with equipment and activities for all-ages family fun, fitness, and enrichment. You’ll find playgrounds, splash pads, exercise machines, computer labs, game rooms, arts and crafts, sport courts, and both indoor and outdoor pools. Look for flyers on-site to learn about opportunities to participate in organized sports teams, as well as classes for children and adults. Free meals are provided for kids under 18 after school and at lunchtime during the summer. Amenities vary by location.
Frolick in the Park
Locations: Find a park here or here.
There are more than 150 different parks and playgrounds operated by the City of Cleveland, in addition to the 23,000-acre Cleveland Metroparks system, stretching across Cuyahoga County and Hinckley Township. From jungle gyms to cascading waterfalls, you’ll find plenty of places to get fresh air and expel some energy. Check out the Cleveland Metroparks calendar, where most days you’re likely to find an assortment of free educational events and cultural programs, like concerts on the beach and hikes led by naturalists. When wonky weather threatens your outdoor fun, nature centers at the Cleveland Metroparks are an exciting place to kill time with live animal encounters, natural history exhibits, and hands-on activities.
Search for Notables at Lake View Cemetery
Address: 12316 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44106
Hours: Open daily, hours depend on season
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April 1 – Oct. 31: 7:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. | Gates may close at dusk during late fall.
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Nov. 1 – March 31: 7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Phone: 216-421-2665
A popular tourist destination sprawling across more than 285 acres, Lake View Cemetery was planned with horticulture as an integral part of its design. “Cleveland’s outdoor museum and arboretum” is home to trees and shrubbery carefully cultivated for educational, scientific, and ornamental value. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is the final resting place for many famous people, including Eliot Ness and John D. Rockefeller. The James A. Garfield Memorial honors our nation’s 20th president, and the Jeptha H. Wade Memorial Chapel showcases one of few interiors remaining worldwide that was completely designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and his studios.
Check Out a Cleveland Public Library
Address: 325 Superior Ave, Cleveland, OH 44114 (Main Library)
Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Phone: 216-623-2800
There’s a jam-packed calendar of events available for the 29 Cleveland Public Library branches. A day trip downtown to the cavernous Main Library can deliver hours of amusement as you navigate its two buildings that span an entire city block. When weather permits, pack a brown-bag lunch to enjoy among the statuettes in the tree-shaded Eastman Reading Garden. Don’t miss Superman: From Cleveland to Krypton – An Exhibit, on display through the end of 2017. Any permanent resident of Ohio is eligible for a library card that enables borrowing privileges, but if you’re forgetful like me, fines can wreak havoc on your plans to pinch pennies. Instead, take advantage of digital downloads of magazines, e-books, music, and videos. It’s a guaranteed, no-cost tool to banish boredom all week long. Click here for more locations and hours.
Take a Self-Guided History Tour
Address, Hours & Phone: All tours are self-guided and can be done at any time of day.
Take a trip back in time when you download the free Cleveland Historical mobile app, developed by the Center for Public History + Digital Humanities at Cleveland State University. As you set out on one of the more than 30 self-guided tours of Northeast Ohio neighborhoods, you will learn more about the influential people, places, and moments that have shaped the city. Football fans will enjoy a stop at the home of John W. Heisman on the Sports tour, and Broadway buffs won’t want to miss a walk through the nation’s second-largest theater district on the Arts and Culture tour. When location services are enabled on your wireless device, the “Stories” section of the app will list notable locales near you, with vintage photos and fascinating narratives.
Trolley Hop Around Town
Address: Routes listed in link above.
Hours: Trolleys offer pickups every 10 minutes during operating hours.
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C-Line: Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 11 p.m. | Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.
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E-Line: Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Phone: 216-621-9500 (RTAnswerline)
Flash a grin and stash your cash: “Smile and Ride Free” is the slogan of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s four complimentary trolley coaches. The C-Line is available most frequently and makes stops between the Warehouse District and Playhouse Square, including the Global Center for Health Innovation and Convention Center, the East 4th Street neighborhood, and many major hotels. The E-Line visits the area’s top entertainment destinations. It runs through the Warehouse District and down Euclid Avenue to the Cleveland State University campus.
Get a printable map or download the RTA mobile app to scope out your route, or just wing it; signage is extremely easy to spot. Plan to make a detour for some al fresco dining, like a DIY picnic by the splash pad on Public Square or a homemade meal noshed whilst savoring the sweeping Lake Erie views in front of Mall C.
Visit the Rockefeller Park Greenhouse
Address: 750 E. 88th St., Cleveland, OH 44108
Hours: Open daily, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Phone: 216-664-2512
With well-maintained restrooms and ample free parking, the Rockefeller Park Greenhouse is a great destination for quick pick-me-ups during wintertime weather and a logical launchpad for trekking through the surrounding Cleveland Cultural Gardens when it’s nice outside. Departing from the greenhouse, the entire self-guided walking tour of the 29 gardens meanders approximately 3.5 miles along East Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and through picturesque foliage and artisan sculptures. With each turn of the season offering a new landscape to appreciate, this outing can become an activity to anticipate several times a year.
Enjoy the Cleveland Museum of Art
Address: 11150 East Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106
Hours: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. | Wednesday & Friday, 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Phone: 216-421-7350
Overlooking Wade Lagoon, the Cleveland Museum of Art was opened in 1916 “for the benefit of all the people forever.” Thanks to continued grants and membership funding, regular admission is still gratis more than 100 years later. Explore exhibits on your own using the museum map, or visit the information desk located in the Ames Family Atrium at 1 p.m. each day for a guided tour. Browse the calendar of events for free family activities, like story time and play days. A room for nursing mothers is available on level one adjacent to the North Court Lobby.
Get Your Feet in the Sand
With Huntington Beach to the west, Headlands Beach State Park to the east, and Edgewater Beach with its newly built beach house centrally located near downtown Cleveland, enjoying our Great Lake Erie couldn’t be easier or more enjoyable. Lay down a blanket, search for beach glass, build a sandcastle, or spark up a barbecue in the picnic area. Click here for a list of Cleveland Metroparks beaches and swimming pools. Lakeside sunsets are a spectacle no matter the season, and some of the year’s best photo opportunities can be captured when the winter winds start whipping on the shore, creating snowdrifts and crystallizing lighthouses in ice.
Visit a Place Where Money Grows on Trees
Address: 1455 E. Sixth St., Cleveland, OH 44114
Hours: Monday – Thursday, 9:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Phone: 216-579-3188
Whoever said “Money doesn’t grow on trees” never took a trip to the Learning Center and Money Museum inside the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, where a 23-foot money tree is among the exhibits featured in an interactive look at the history of money. Find out how you’d fare in a trade economy on a trip to Barter Islands, identify counterfeit bills, and make your own currency.
