Columbus Travel Guide, Ohio

Columbus is Ohio's state capital, as well as the state's biggest city, and is located near the center of Ohio.  The city was established in 1812, assuming the function of being the capital in 1816.  Columbus's economy is diversely based on technology, retail, insurance, education, and health care.  In 2006, the city was ranked to be the 15th biggest city in the country, having 747,755 inhabitants, and was the 32nd biggest metropolitan area, the capital with the 3rd most in population in the United States, and the 4th biggest city of the Midwest.

When you are traveling to or from Columbus, you have a choice of several airports that you can arrive or depart from.  The most popular airport is the Port Columbus International Airport, which is located on the eastern side of Columbus.  This airport is the provider of services to many domestic destinations, as well as to a few international destinations.  Another airport is the Rickenbacker International Airport, which is located in the southern part of Franklin County and has a big facility for cargo, as well as plays an important role for the Air National Guard of Ohio.  The Bolton Field and OSU Don Scott Airport are also two other important general air facilities in the city's area.

There used to be a main train station in the downtown area of Columbus, which was called Union Station.  The station was demolished in 1979, and now there is the Greater Columbus Convention Center standing in its place.  This makes Columbus the second biggest metropolitan area that doesn't have passenger rail services in the United States.  However, there are studies underway for reintroducing these services to the city through the project of Ohio Hub.

If you don't have a car to drive around while you are visiting Columbus, don't worry about being able to get where you want to go.  The city maintains a municipal bus service that is widespread, which is commonly called the COTA (Central Ohio Transit Authority).  Right now, the COTA only services the city with buses, but streetcar or light-rail services have been discussed many times during recent years.  The COTA is the provider of about 50,000 weekday rides every year with 234 buses on 53 routes each day.  This comes to a total of 562 square miles served with more than 4,000 stops, 380 shelters for the buses, and 26 facilities for park-and-ride.  In 2005, they determined that they had 14.6 million riders, traveling 9.7 million miles.

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• Nazareth Restaurant & Deli
  travel tip by szbogi posted more then 30 days ago
  Featuring Middle-Eastern cuisine for over 20 years now, the Nazareth Restaurant & Deli welcomes the hungry man with open, friendly faces and makes you feel at home at once. They are open for special events, large gatherings too,...
• Yannis Greek Grill
  travel tip by Jackie posted more then 30 days ago
  A bit of European feeling is what you get at Yanni's Greek Grill. The atmosphere is friendly, inviting and they serve really great Greek food. We loved the calamari and the Greek salad, the portions are large and for quite a small...
• Northstar Cafe
  travel tip by sushikedvenc posted more then 30 days ago
  Located at both ends of Columbus, the Northstar Cafe is a top-notch cafe that serves delicious pastries, food and has a high-standard service. Their ingredients are fresh from the market, the passion for the food is shown is the...

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