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The Banks, Cincinnati — Area Guide & Where to Stay
The Ohio River runs below The Banks, a riverfront quarter of Cincinnati laid out between Paycor Stadium and Great American Ball Park.
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Where to stay in The Banks
Where visitors usually base themselves, and why.
The Banks keeps a small share of Cincinnati's rooms, and the bulk of the hotel stock sits uphill in Downtown Cincinnati beyond Fort Washington Way. What a bed here buys is the walk: Great American Ball Park closes the eastern end, Paycor Stadium the western, and the Andrew J Brady Music Center stands between them on the water. The streetcar stops on East Second Street.
Nights run loud when a game lets out, so quieter rooms sit toward Smale Riverfront Park and the Ohio River. Choose it if you want the ballparks and the riverfront on foot.
Things to do in and around Cincinnati
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
3- Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal Heritage
- Taft Museum of Art Heritage
- Cincinnati Art Museum
Churches & Religious Sites
7- Immaculata Church Heritage
- Old St. Mary's Church Heritage
- St. Francis Xavier Church Heritage
- St. Paul Church Heritage
- Covenant First Presbyterian Church Heritage
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- Pilgrim Presbyterian Church Heritage
- Salem Methodist Episcopal Church and Parsonage Heritage
Stadiums & Sports
1- Cincinnati Athletic Club Heritage
Landmarks & Notable Places
3- George Hunt Pendleton House Heritage
- Bellevue Heritage
- Betts House
worth knowingacross 4 categories in and around Cincinnati
About The Banks
What are the main landmarks in The Banks?
The Banks holds the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which opened on East Freedom Way in 2004. Freedom seekers crossed the Ohio River into Cincinnati, and the museum sits on that bank for exactly that reason. Music took the western end in 2021, when the Andrew J Brady Music Center opened at 25 Race Street with a stage facing the water.
Buses load below the street. The Riverfront Transit Center runs beneath the northern edge of The Banks. Two big names belong next door rather than here: Great American Ball Park closes the eastern end, and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum sits inside that ballpark.
What is the history of The Banks?
The Banks stands on the footprint of Riverfront Stadium, which opened in 1970 and came down by implosion in 2002. Clearing it was only half the work. Rebuilding Fort Washington Way sank the freeway into a trench and freed the riverbank behind it for building, which is the reason a district exists on this ground at all.
Building began in 2008, and the first apartments and shop fronts opened in 2011. Roy Rogers was born in a tenement on Second Street, on ground the stadium later covered.
Where is The Banks?
The Banks occupies the strip between Paycor Stadium and Great American Ball Park, with Fort Washington Way above it and the Ohio River below.
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More areas in Cincinnati
Updated October 2026