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| - I am from this area but one of my relatives who also lived here for many decades took the tour as part of a group activity, and recommended it to me saying that I would probably enjoy it/ learn some things I didn't know, even though I had already seen most of the areas on the tour over many years of living here and/or coming back to visit family. I did learn a few things I did not know about history, buildings, etc. and in general it was a nice leisurely enjoyable tour. I also appreciated that the 2 hour tour does not allow kids under a certain age, which is fine with me - no one wants to sit in front of a cranky crying toddler for 2 hours. The people who run the tour are very nice (in contrast to the tour operators I've encountered in some other cities) and the tours, which must be reserved by phone in advance, are reasonably priced. I paid 20 dollars (plus tip for the driver/ tour guide) for the 2.5 hour tour with no discounts.
The tour covered most of the high points of Cleveland's near West Side (Ohio City), the Flats, the downtown architecture, the Euclid corridor from Playhouse Square over to University Circle, and then University Circle area with the ride back on the Shoreway along the lakefront. Occasionally areas are not available due to construction or a street closure for an event.
Some things to know about this tour:
1) It does not pick up at your hotel, but departs from the West Bank of the Flats from a parking lot that costs 5 or 6 dollars to park. I do not recommend anyone walking down there unless they are super familiar with the area. It's a long walk, pretty deserted, and not the greatest area to be wandering around on foot, even in daylight. Take a taxi or uber and get there early to check in at the desk inside the Powerhouse, otherwise the whole bus of people sits around waiting for you.
2) The standard trolley tour (in other words, the one you get if you aren't taking it with a group who've arranged a special itinerary) you will pretty much be on the trolley the whole time, with no stops at places like the West Side Market or other shops or museums, except the 2 hour tour has a stop at the Rockefeller Greenhouse for 10 minutes, which is basically a restroom break as the Greenhouse is small and doesn't have a restaurant or anything. There's no hop-on hop-off for shopping, photo ops, or anything else.
3) The trolley has windows that open in the summer but in the cold weather they are shut and the trolley is heated, so no need to show up with your scarves and stadium blankets. Getting photos through the trolley windows is iffy, especially when they are shut.
4) You will see a lot of neat new stuff but also a lot of buildings and neighborhoods that have seen better days. You will also go through some neighborhoods that aren't the best or safest. Since I have been around here for many decades this doesn't bother me because I know these areas look better now than they did back in the 70s and 80s (the same way as I know the Flats look dead as a doornail by comparison with 30 or 40 years back). The tour is big into "accentuating the positive" so don't expect them to comment much on the decay.
I thought it was cute how normally dour Clevelanders of all stripes, from Browns game attendees to homeless people on the street, seemed really happy to see the trolley go by and waved at it. That made my heart glad :)
If I were running the 2-hour tour I would probably skip most of the Cultural Gardens, for the simple reason that it's 20 minutes of pretty much the same thing and most of the gardens do not have much to see from the bus. Instead I would have the tour visit additional historic neighborhoods of the city like Little Italy and Tremont, or spend some time exploring the industrial history of the Flats (instead of just pointing out a condo there and a club there). However, it wasn't a bad tour and it seemed like the people from out of town who were on my tour enjoyed it as is.
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