United States · Ohio · Cincinnati
Clifton, Cincinnati — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Gas lamps still burn on the side streets off Ludlow Avenue in Clifton, a neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, on the hills above the Mill Creek valley.
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Where to stay in Clifton
Where visitors usually base themselves, and why.
Clifton keeps its trade on Ludlow Avenue, not in lobbies. The beds sit at the edges. Corryville, south-east against the university campus, carries the nearest rooms, while Downtown Cincinnati holds the bulk of the city's hotel desks about three miles away. Stay in Corryville if you want Burnet Woods and the Esquire Theatre within a walk.
Downtown suits you better when the rest of Cincinnati is the point.
Find hotels in Clifton
Direct booking searches for these neighbourhoods.
Corryville
Corryville carries the hotel rooms closest to Clifton, hard against the university campus, with Burnet Woods between the two.Find hotels in Corryvillevisitors who want the rest of Cincinnati on the doorstep and Clifton as a morning tripDowntown Cincinnati
Downtown Cincinnati holds the bulk of the city's hotel desks, about three miles south of Ludlow Avenue.Find hotels in Downtown Cincinnatianyone who would rather wake on a gas-lit side street than beside a lobbyClifton
Ludlow Avenue runs to shops, a cinema and restaurants rather than hotels, so a bed inside Clifton is the exception. Few places to stay nearby — book ahead.Find hotels in CliftonHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
Things to do in and around Cincinnati
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Churches & Religious Sites
5- St. George Parish and Newman Center Heritage
- First Unitarian Church Heritage
- Calvary Episcopal Church Heritage
- Winton Place Methodist Episcopal Church Heritage
- Grace Church Heritage
Castles & Historic Sites
1- Ludlow Monument
Parks & Gardens
1- Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden
Landmarks & Notable Places
8- Henry Probasco House Heritage
- George B. Cox House Heritage
- Rawson House Heritage
- David and Mary May House Heritage
- William Resor House Heritage
Show 3 more →
- Nurre-Royston House Heritage
- Moses Goldsmith Building Heritage
- Joseph A. Hemann House Heritage
worth knowingacross 4 categories in and around Cincinnati
About Clifton
What are the main landmarks in Clifton?
Clifton's landmarks stand along two streets and inside two parks. Ludlow Avenue carries the Gaslight District, where the Esquire Theatre opened in 1911 as the Clifton Opera House and still shows art-house film. Burnet Woods holds an artificial lake, a bandstand, and the Trailside Nature Center with its planetarium.
Mount Storm Park is older ground. Its Temple of Love, a Corinthian pergola, once roofed the reservoir that watered the estate's greenhouses and swan lake. Clifton Avenue does the ceremonial work, with the Probasco Fountain near Woolper Avenue and the Gothic Revival stone of Calvary Episcopal Church.
What is the history of Clifton?
Clifton began as farmland. The village took its name from the Clifton farm, a spread of hills and dales, and was incorporated in 1850; Cincinnati annexed it in 1893. Streetcar lines pushed out through the 1880s and 1890s, and the estates behind Clifton Avenue broke into house lots.
The William Resor House dates from 1843, a Greek Revival box put up by a stove manufacturer. The Henry Probasco House, the limestone Oakwood, went up between 1859 and 1866 for the man who gave Cincinnati its Tyler Davidson Fountain. Rawson House came around 1870, an Italian Villa in brick on Clifton Avenue.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Clifton?
Corryville: travellers who want the university edge and a short walk back into Clifton. Downtown Cincinnati: visitors who want the rest of Cincinnati on the doorstep and Clifton as a morning trip. Clifton: anyone who would rather wake on a gas-lit side street than beside a lobby.
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Updated October 2026