Downtown Highlights Weekend
Enjoy a weekend in downtown Dayton while discovering everything it has to offer! From river walks/biking, kayaking, local restaurants, galleries/museums, beer, and cocktails, what more could you ask for?
Day 1
Get your exercise in the morning while it’s still cool! Downtown is situated at the center of more than 300 miles of paved, off-street trails. Head to RiverScape MetroPark and walk, run, or bike the trails that link downtown to neighborhoods, natural areas, and attractions throughout the region.
Or, grab a kayak and paddle past the iconic fountain and through the whitewater shoots of RiverScape River Run.
Be sure to explore RiverScape itself when you’re done, checking out the Inventors Walk and beautiful landscaping.
Once you’ve worked up a hunger or a thirst, take a break at one of Downtown’s many cafes and coffee shops. Grab a bite to eat or your favorite coffee, tea, or other handcrafted beverage and do some quality people watching from a leisurely patio. Use the self-guided café tour Avenza app to pick your spot.
You’ve been to all the big box stores, but if you’re looking for some truly unique shopping, downtown’s the place. Stroll through the brick streets of the Oregon District and find antiques, Dayton-themed gifts, novelties, plants, art, and much more from a great collection of independent retailers.
Once you’ve finished the district make your way to other shops in the core of downtown for cupcakes, boutique clothing, home goods, and more. Use this handy Shopping & Services directory to locate options by category.
Downtown is home to a huge variety of independent restaurants, so whatever you have an appetite for, you’re sure to find it here. From fine dining to great bar food, pizza to sushi to tacos to steak to Thai to Italian to Irish to burgers to… well, you get the idea… you can’t go wrong with a dinner on the town. Many restaurants have amazing patio spaces, live music, and other amenities to enhance your experience. Find a list of downtown dining options here.
If you're not ready to call it a night, there are plenty of nightlife options in the historic Oregon District and throughout downtown!
Day 2
This feels like an art day! Grab a coffee to go and head out on a self-guided walking tour of downtown’s public art. Everywhere you look, you’ll find murals, sculptures, painted sewer grates, unique bike racks, and other ways our city stays funky and fun to look at. That Avenza app you downloaded yesterday also features a readymade downtown public art walk to get you started, or you can wander on your own and be sure you’ll bump into plenty of creative creations throughout downtown.
If you’re tired of walking or want to save time so you see more, check out a bike from Link, Dayton’s bike share program, and ride from stop to stop.
After you’ve seen the public art, pick one of downtown’s many art galleries and museums to explore for another dose of culture before or after lunch!
This next step has the potential to derail the rest of your afternoon in the best way, so if you decide to blow off the rest of the Daycation, we won’t judge you! Downtown Dayton is the epicenter of the region’s craft beer and spirits explosion. You’ll find more local breweries, distilleries, and bars serving local brews than you could dream of. Pick one for a quick lunch and beer break before continuing on, or open up that Avenza app one more time and make your own self-guided brewery and distillery crawl!
If the summer afternoon sun is getting to be too much to handle, or you just love independent cinema, now would be a good time to take in a movie at The Neon. Downtown’s movie theater features a great lineup of art films, indie flicks, and more, along with a nice snack bar featuring beer, wine, and local coffee. Alternatively, if you’d rather be outside, take some time to relax in Cooper Park near the beautiful main branch of Dayton Metro Library, or lay out on the lawn at Levitt Pavilion.
Cap off your weekend with another great dinner from the patio of a downtown restaurant, and then toast to your Daycation with an amazing craft cocktail. In addition to the breweries and distilleries, downtown has really stepped up its cocktail game in recent years. Some of our bars and restaurants have garnered national and regional attention for their commitment to their craft, and you’ll soon see why as you enjoy your choice of expertly-crafted libation.
