Summer is flying by, and because of how rainy it has been we haven’t been able to get out of the house and have as much fun as we usually do during the summer months. I refuse to let this rain get me down though! I’ve put together a Summer Bucket List of ideas so that the next time the sun makes an appearance I will be armed with ideas so we can get out and have some fun. And some of the ideas on my list would work on rainy days as well.
Check out my Summer Bucket List Ideas for Cincinnati and NKY and then leave a comment to let me know what kinds of fun you are having this summer! Let’s make the most of these last weeks of summer and squeeze in as much fun as we can before it’s back to the grind for the kids.
Sixteen Summer Bucket List Ideas for Cincinnati & NKY ::
Visit a Museum – The Greater Cincinnati area has so many museums to explore, and even though I’ve lived here all my life there’s still museums that I have yet to visit. And some even offer discounts or free admissions on certain days, so we could have fun for free!
Just a few of the awesome museums in our area:
Behringer Crawford Museum ~ Cincinnati Art Museum ~ Contemporary Arts Center (and UnMuseum for kids) ~ Cincinnati Museum Center ~ National Underground Railroad Freedom Center ~ Reds Hall of Fame and Museum ~ Taft Museum of Art
Click on the links to visit the websites of these museums to find out more details about ticket prices, hours, etc.
Take a Day Trip to Lexington where you can stop by one of their many breweries like West Sixth Brewing or Country Boy Brewing or take the munchkins to the Explorium where they can have all sorts of hands on fun! You can also visit the Kentucky Horse Park while you are there or just walk around Downtown shopping and grabbing a bite to eat.
Spend a day in Hamilton, Ohio and visit the Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park. Hamilton is almost a half hour away from where we live, but we love to make the drive to spend time there. Read more about our Day Spent in Hamilton in this post.
Plan a Special Date Night – I just signed the boys up for a camp that will have them occupied in the evenings for five days…that means five quiet evenings for us! I have the mid-summer madness going on at my house since they’ve been cooped up inside due to so much rain, so I cannot wait for a date night! This will help in the planning: Cheap Date Night Ideas.
Play Games ~ Some of our favorite places to hang out and play games around town are 16 Bit Bar + Arcade and Arcade Legacy in Northside. All of these places have family friendly hours and adult’s only hours, so it could be a family outing or a date night!
Visit a Kentucky State Park – Kentucky State Parks boast woods, lakes, rivers, cliffs, caves and MORE! And their lodge prices make weekend getaways affordable! 
OR Visit a Park closer to home ~ The newly improved Smale Riverfront Park is something to talk about! It’s awesome! Our other favorites are Devou Park and Washington Park.
Head to the Newport Aquarium to visit the sea creatures and sometimes during the summer months they offer discounted prices! We have not been to the aquarium or the Levee in a while so I’m going to make sure we do this summer!
Dine at a Restaurant you’ve never been to before – visit my Restaurant Archives for ideas on where to go.
Shakespeare in the Park – During the summer months you can catch a FREE Cincinnati Shakespeare Company production in many parks around our area! Visit the Free Shakespeare in the Park post for more details.
Bourbon Trail – Kentucky has some amazing bourbon distilleries for you to visit, the tours are often free and at the end you get to taste bourbon! Here are posts about two distillery tours that we enjoyed: Buffalo Trace in Frankfort and New Riff Distillery in Newport.
Head to Loveland, Ohio and take a leisurely bike ride on the great bike paths that go through the city and along the Miami River and then step back in time and visit the Loveland Castle.
Take a Hike ~ near or far, our area is full of great places to take a walk in the woods.
Visit Old Milford ~ Last summer the kids and I spent a lovely day in Old Milford, exploring the shops, noshing on pizza and ice cream and taking in the sights. I love this area of town! Read more about Old Milford in this post: Spend a Day in Milford.
BB Riverboats ~ BB Riverboats offers cruises of all sorts, but they all have one thing in common, a beautiful boat ride along the Ohio River. I’ve been on several cruises with them, and each time I’m left in awe of how gorgeous our region is. Check out the BB Riverboats website for details about cruise times, tickets prices, etc.
Take a drive to Augusta, Kentucky – The views along Route 8 are gorgeous, and once you reach Augusta you can take the ferry across the river to Ohio and drive along the river on the Cincinnati side!
Visit NaturePlay at BCM ~ This newly opened outdoor playspace for children is FREE and open to the public from dawn until dusk each day. Let your kids run and explore in a gated nature play area complete with pioneer cabins, caves, a zipline swing and much more! Read more in this post: NaturePlay at BCM.
There you have it, 16 Summer Bucket List Ideas for Cincinnati & NKY! Feel free to add your own ideas in the comments below. And don’t forget to keep a journal of your summer adventures! Summer Journals are a great way to get kids to do some creative writing over the summer months! I do this each year and my children really enjoy working on them.
Read more about this project in this post: Summer Journals.
