How to spend 48 hours in Cincinnati

6pm: check in to The Lytle Park Hotel 
Make your base at Lytle Park, an elegant string of rooms and suites carved into a 1909 neo-Tudor building. Living trees grow in the stylish lobby, which is replete with a skylight and glittering bar, plus top-notch views from aptly named Vista, the hotel’s rooftop watering hole. You’ll be right by the treasure-filled Taft Museum of Art, with its fine store of works by European masters, and a hop and a skip from Downtown highlights such as the Great American Ball Park, too.

8pm: dine at Mita’s
Colombia-born and New York-raised, chef Jose Salazar – who now lives in Cincy – puts a Latin spin on Spanish tapas at this swish Downtown restaurant. Feast on cheeses, tacos and arepas, and staples such as patatas bravas and shishito peppers, washed down with a glass or two of Spanish wine.

8am: breakfast at Sleepy Bee Café
There are now four locations of this Cincy classic, known for its local-first ethos and tempting breakfast plates. It’s a top place to try ‘goetta’, a meat-and-oat sausage patty that originated with the city’s German immigrants – you’ll find a vegan version on the menu, too.

10am: hang out in Over-the-Rhine
Named after the German settlers who made a home here in the 19th century, Over-the-Rhine was once down at heel and ranked among America’s most dangerous neighbourhoods. However, a period of gentrification has populated the district with bougie fashion boutiques, independent cafés and breweries.

Wander down Vine Street, ducking into upmarket clothing stores such as Idlewild, and make time to pour your own candle at The Candle Lab OTR. If you fancy some ice cream, Graeter’s has been a Cincy favourite since 1870, when Louis Charles Graeter first began doling out the sweet stuff from a pair of carts.

If you’re around a little later, stop by one of the area’s breweries. Some 36 breweries operated in the city in the mid-19th century, pioneering German-style lagers and earning Cincy the nickname ‘Beer Capital of the World’. Rhinegeist is one of the finest today, offering a selection of craft lagers and IPAs coupled with stellar city views from its rooftop.

12:30pm: lunch at Skyline Chili
No visit to Cincy is complete without sampling the city’s signature dish: a steaming plate of spaghetti and sweetly spiced chilli. Go for the belly-busting ‘five way’ – the classic chilli and spaghetti, plus beans, cheese and onions (veg option available). There are plenty of places to try it, but you can’t go wrong with down-to-earth Skyline, which has locations across the city and beyond.

2pm: catch a Reds game
Did you know that the Cincinnati Reds are America’s oldest pro baseball team, formed in the 1880s? Cheer them on at their home stadium, the Great American Ball Park, with a pint of local Rhinegeist or Moerlein in hand.

5:30pm: go underground
American Legacy Tours showcases Cincinnati’s subterranean sights on its Hidden Caverns excursion. Learn more about the city’s brewing heritage as you sink beneath the streets to explore abandoned tunnels once used by the long-defunct Linck Brewery. The company’s gangster tour, which unfolds just across the Ohio River in Newport, Kentucky, also comes highly recommended.

7:30pm: eat a Southern feast
Chef Jeff Harris pays homage to his New Orleans roots at Nolia, a chic spot serving upscale Southern dishes. Watch as Harris and his team whizz up delights such as stuffed collards, skillet cornbread and lamb steak from the open kitchen. There’s a solid menu of artisanal cocktails named after hip hop stars, too.

9pm: enjoy some live music
Round off the night at Ghost Baby, an intimate live music bar that unfolds beneath Vine Street in one of Cincinnati's historic lagering tunnels. Sink an old fashioned or two as you listen to jazz bands, soul singers or stirring acoustic sets.

8:30am: breakfast at Maplewood
West Coast-inspired plates are on the menu at this bright Downtown kitchen. Choose between avocado toast drizzled with local honey, a veg-packed hash or lemon and ricotta pancakes.

10:00am: be dazzled at the American Sign Museum
You’ll find a glittering display of neon signs at this quirky museum, around a ten-minute drive north of Cincy’s Downtown core. The collection spans around 100 years, including everything from a vintage McDonald’s sign featuring original mascot Speedie, to winking adverts for drug stores and ice-cream shops. Visitors can look in on a modern neon workshop, too.

12:30pm: eat your way around Findlay Market
Ohio’s oldest continuously operating public market is Cincy’s pride and joy, and one of the finest foodie destinations in the city. Get a taste with a Cincinnati Food Tour: you’ll visit a variety of stalls, from long-running Eckerlin Meats, known for its award-winning goetta, to Gramma Debbie’s Kitchen, where you’ll find a mean vegan chilli.

2pm: take in displays at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Arranged along the northern banks of the Ohio River, and with Kentucky just across the water, Cincinnati is uniquely positioned at the border between the American North and South. That means thousands of enslaved peoples escaped to freedom by crossing the waterway as they made their way along the Underground Railroad, a network of safe houses. Poignant displays tell this story as it relates to Cincinnati and beyond, while further exhibits examine modern-day fights for justice and freedom.

4:30pm: blend your own bourbon at Wenzel Whiskey
The quaint Northern Kentucky city of Covington is just a quick jaunt across the river (via the striking John A Roebling Suspension Bridge, designed by the same civil engineer as the Brooklyn Bridge). It’s an ideal place to sample Kentucky’s titanic whiskey output (the state produces 95 per cent of America’s bourbon) or, better yet, blend your own.

Head to Wenzel Whiskey where you can thieve bourbon right from the barrel and concoct your own blend with help from experts. Whisky connoisseurs should also make time for nearby Revival Vintage Spirits, a bottle shop with a serious store of retro liquor, from 1800s bourbon to 1980s Scotch. There’s a bar inside, so you can sample a wee dram before you buy. 

6:30pm: dine at Mama’s on Main
Covington’s charming MainStrasse Village brims with bars and restaurants and Mama’s on Main is one of the newest and the best. Come by for well-executed Italian mainstays such as eggplant parmesan and spaghetti al limone. The interiors are a delight, too: a feast of stained glass, exposed brick and vintage plates, designed by the artist co-owner herself.

8:30pm: have a nightcap at Knowledge Bar & Social Room
Located in Hotel North (refined Hotel Covington’s sister property), Knowledge Bar lures punters in with its imaginative cocktail menu and sumptuous interiors – think wood-panelled ceilings, velvet bar stools and glittering gold accents.