24 Indoor Rainy Day Destinations in the Queen City

Flying Axes

100 W. Sixth St., Covington
This Louisville-based axe-throwing company has expanded operations into Covington. Two guests compete at a time, throwing five axes and trying to get the highest score.
Photo via facebook.com/flyingaxes

American Sign Museum

1330 Monmouth Ave., Camp Washington
Take a walk down Memory Lane and experience the only public sign museum in America. Take a guided tour of more than 200 signs, beginning with the fancy gold-leaf signs of the 1900s through the plastic era of the funky 1950s and 1960s.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

The Escape Game

28 W. Freedom Way, The Banks
Groups work together to solve clues in order to escape rooms with adventure themes ranging from Prison Break to Gold Rush or The Heist. Teams have one hour to escape.
Photo via Facebook.com/TheEscapeRoomCincinnati

Visit the Mercantile Library

414 Walnut St. #1100, Downtown
Located on the 11th and 12th floors of a downtown office building is Cincinnati’s own Room of Requirement (for those who aren’t Harry Potter fans, basically it’s just an extraordinarily cool, hidden sort of space). Open since 1835, this membership library (one of only a handful left in the U.S.) is home to more than 80,000 books, dynamic lecture series, concerts, yoga classes and cocktail hours. While you have to be a member to check out books, the public is welcome to wander the stacks, attend events and marvel at the luddite luxury of this classic space. While it's free to visit, renting out books requires a membership.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Tour New Riff Distilling

24 Distillery Way, Newport
During the Bonded Tour (offered noon-4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday), guests can get a detailed look at New Riff’s distilling process, “from grain to barrel.” Learn about fermentation, distillation, bottling, barreling and New Riff’s event space at its main Newport facility, adjacent to The Party Source. The tour also includes free tastings of a variety of their spirits, including the just-released bourbon and single barrel. Bonded Tour: $10 per person.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Fowling Warehouse

2940 Highland Ave., #230, Pleasant Ridge
This unique entertainment franchise capitalizes on the up-and-coming tailgating game, which combines bowling and football. The objective is to knock over the opponent's bowling pins with a football before they knock yours down. Guests can either reserve a lane, which costs $120 for two hours with up to 10 maximum players per lane, or they can enjoy "open play," which requires no reservation and costs $10 per person to play all night long.
Photo via fowlingwarehouse.com/cincinnati

Mosaic Climbing

9501 Union Cemetery Road, Loveland
Loveland's Mosaic Climbing is a multi-functional gym with modern touches and unique features. The gym is the second business venture for owners Nicole Brown and Chris Shotwell, who also own Lexington's LED Climbing. The gym features geometric Walltopia walls for rope climbing and bouldering, advanced training amenities like a yoga studio, fitness room, co-working spaces and private event rooms — there's a lot to love.
Photo: Holden Mathis

Arcade Legacy: Bar Edition

3929 Spring Grove Ave., Northside
The boozy version of the local Arcade Legacy chain blends pinball, retro arcade games and classic console play with alcohol and Avril-Bleh hot dogs (plus vegan options, massive nachos and sides). All games — except pinball — are free to play if you buy drinks or food. If you don’t want booze, they also offer inventive sodas. The bar, usually 21 and older, goes all ages from 2-8 p.m. on Sundays.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Esquire Theatre

320 Ludlow Ave., Clifton
Offers movies from mainstream to foreign, including special themed events and midnight screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Photo: Emerson Swoger

Jungle Jim’s International Market

5440 Dixie Highway, Fairfield
Some people refer to Jungle Jim’s as “an amusement park for food”. Founded in 1971, Jungle Jim’s has become a unique shopping experience one cannot get anywhere else. The 300,000-square-foot space has thousands of items to choose from and one of the largest wine collections in the United States.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal

1301 Western Ave., Queensgate
The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal — home to the Cincinnati History Museum, Duke Energy Children's Children's Museum, OMNIMAX theater and Museum of Natural & History Science with replica limestone cave — has a new occupant: the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center. Founded in 2000 by Holocaust survivors and their families, the Holocaust & Humanity Center’s small museum and educational programs were previously located inside Kenwood’s Rockwern Academy, a Jewish community school. The new center now has roughly three times more exhibition space than it had previously, and the location is especially poignant given that Holocaust survivors arriving after World War II got their first taste of the city when they entered Union Terminal.
Photo: Jesse Fox

Vent Haven

33 W. Maple Ave., Fort Mitchell
Vent Haven is the only museum in the world dedicated to the art of ventriloquism. In addition to more than 800 figures (don’t call them dummies), guests can view a library of vent-centric books, playbills and thousands of photographs. The museum also hosts the international ConVENTion every year for more than 600 ventriloquists. 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. most Tuesdays from May to September; other tours by appointment. $10 per person donation encouraged.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

Krohn Conservatory

1501 Eden Park Drive, Mt. Adams
This giant greenhouse features deserts, tropics, a butterfly garden, orchids and an interior waterfall, which guests can walk behind. Seasonally themed exhibitions feature unique plants, and the ever-popular annual butterfly show showcases butterflies from various parts of the world.
Photo: Kellie Coleman

Newport Aquarium

1 Levee Way, Newport
See and touch a variety of aquatic life at this massive, walk-through aquarium, which boasts the world’s first Shark Bridge. View exhibits featuring penguins, jellyfish, the world’s largest collection of shark rays and more.
Photo: Hailey Bollinger

EnterTRAINment Junction

7379 Squire Court, West Chester
The area’s only train-themed family entertainment center, including the world’s largest indoor interactive train display.
Photo via Facebook.com/EnterTRAINmentJunction

Rhinegeist

1910 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine
A large brewery and event space in historic Over-the-Rhine (housed in an old Moerlein bottling plant) producing hoppy and sessionable ales. The brewery offers games like ping pong and cornhole. Taproom is 21+ after 8 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday nights and rooftop is always 21+.
Photo via Facebook.com/Rhinegeist

Creation Museum

2800 Bullittsburg Church Road, Petersburg
A Christian theme park that takes a romp all over science and evolution to explore “answers in Genesis.” There’s also a planetarium, botanical garden, zip line and a petting zoo (with camel rides).
Photo via Facebook.com/CreationMuseum

Everybody’s Records

6106 Montgomery Road, Pleasant Ridge
Spend a rainy day collecting vinyl at Everybody’s with selections covering everything from Rap and Reggae to Rock, Jazz, Punk, Country and even Gospel music. The iconic independent record celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2018.
Photo via Facebook.com/EverybodysRecords

Carol Ann’s Carousel

8 E. Mehring Way, Downtown
The whimsical carousel is glassed-enclosed and features 44 hand-carved animals which you can ride for $2.
Photo: Jesse Fox

Cincinnati Observatory

3489 Observatory Place, Mount Lookout
Nestled high atop Mount Lookout is the 175-year-old Cincinnati Observatory, “the birthplace of American astronomy” and home to the oldest public telescope in the country. Stop by most Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights for a 30-minute astronomer-led presentation plus a guided stargaze of celestial bodies. Tickets cost $7 per person on Astronomy Fridays and Saturdays; $5 Thursdays.
Photo: Brittany Thornton