How to get around Cincinnati
So you’ve arrived in Cincinnati and you’ve figured out a place to stay. But what about getting around the city – and, in particular, to and from the ballpark? Fear not – we’ve got all of the answers you need to make your visit easy.
Getting to and from the airport
We covered this in our Travel chapter, but just some quick reminders:
- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport (CVG) is located about 11 miles from downtown Cincinnati, but it’s on the Kentucky side of the river.
- Your best options for getting from the airport to downtown Cincinnati or Newport/Covington, KY are either taking a rideshare or taxi (both tend to be around $35-40), or taking the Airporter 2X bus, which runs directly from the airport to downtown Cincinnati for just $1.50.
Unless you have a specific reason for needing one, we strongly recommend against renting a car if you’re just in town to see some baseball. Once you’re in the downtown area, everything you would likely need to access will either be walkable, accessible via the (free) light rail system, or a short rideshare away.
Getting to the ballpark if you’re staying in downtown Cincinnati
As we mentioned in the Lodging chapter, the downtown Cincinnati area is a compact place. Almost all of the hotels in the downtown area are less than a 15-minute walk to the ballpark, and that will certainly make walking the easiest method of getting around. Downtown Cincinnati is a safe place to walk, even at night after events, but we will suggest avoiding the area of 5th St. between Main and Walnut at night, because it can be a little sketchy.
But there are other options for getting around if walking isn’t your thing.
Rideshare
Although it would seem silly to have to take a rideshare such a short distance, you certainly could. There’s no official pickup/dropoff spot at the ballpark for rideshares, but the easiest place to start or end a ride is at the corner of E. Freedom Way and either Rosa Parks St. or Marian Spencer Way. That will put you just 1-2 blocks from the west entrance to the stadium, and you can walk right through the pedestrian street at The Banks to get there.
Taking The Connector (Light Rail)
Cincinnati has a very nice light rail system called “The Connector.” Not only is it safe and clean, but it’s also free! That’s the good news.
The bad news is that if you’re staying downtown, it’s really not going to save you much time over walking. At most you’ll save yourself five city blocks of walking (after having to walk 1-3 blocks to a station).
If that makes the difference for you, then that’s great – hop on the Connector and it will drop you off right across the street from the ballpark.
Note: The Connector does not run to Kentucky. It’s only for the downtown Cincinnati area. See the map for full route or click here for the full Connector map.
TSI TIP: The Connector runs in one direction (counterclockwise) around the city, so if you’re staying at a hotel to the east of the route, make sure to walk to the west side of the route to catch the southbound tram. Otherwise you’ll have to make the entire loop around the city, which will take way too long.
Rental Scooters
Believe it or not, this is a really effective way to get from downtown hotels to the ballpark if you want to save a few minutes (and are comfortable on a scooter).
Scooters are located throughout the city – you can use Bird (bookable on the Lyft app) or Lime (bookable on the Uber app), and you just hop on a scooter and go. You can drop it off right outside of the entrance to the ballpark on Joe Nuxhall Way at 2nd Street (shown below).
TSI TIP: You should note that there are “no-ride/park” zones for both scooter platforms, and if you’re in one, you will not be able to end your ride there. And we’ll be honest: our experience with scooters at GABP is that sometimes the app will say we’re in a parking zone, but the app won’t actually let us park there. We know that you can end scooter rides at Nuxhall and 2nd, and that’s right outside of the main ballpark entrance, so just do that and don’t worry about dealing with unexpected complications.
Rental Bikes
As for bikes, Cincinnati has its own “Red Bike” program that positions rental bikes around the city. You’ll need to download the BCycle app, and set it to “Cincinnati” so it will show you the local program. There are five docking stations located within two blocks of the ballpark, but be sure to check the app before you start your journey to make sure there is an available return slot at one of those locations. You don’t want to get there and not be able to return the bike.
TSI TIP: Renting a bike may be efficient, but it won’t be cheap. The minimum rental is $12 for a two-hour use over the course of 24 hours. Those two hours can be used cumulatively – you can park, ride, park, and ride as much as you want until you’ve used up your 120 minutes of time within those 24 hours. So just keep in mind that for two (or more people), renting bikes will cost well more than taking a rideshare (or walking or taking The Connector). We’d only suggest this if you’re going to go for a longer bike ride along the Ohio River.
Getting to the ballpark from Newport at the Levee or Covington
If you’ve decided to stay across the bridge in Kentucky, getting to the ballpark is much easier than you might think by just looking at the map.
Walking
Purple People Bridge
The distance from either Newport or Covington isn’t that far: it’s less than a mile from the gates of the ballpark to the banks of either of them. So if you’re someone who likes to walk, this is an acceptable option, even at night. The Purple People Bridge goes right to the heart of the entertainment district at Newport, and the John Roebling Suspension Bridge will put you a few blocks away from the Marriott RiverCenter in Covington.
TSI TIP: If for any reason the Purple People Bridge is closed, you can easily switch to the Taylor Southgate Bridge instead. It’s actually closer to the stadium, but further from the center of Newport, so, in the end, it’s a push. We just like the Purple People Bridge more because it’s exclusively a pedestrian bridge.
Take the Southbank Shuttle
Seriously, this is one of the best unknown hacks for visiting Great American Ball Park, and one that makes staying on the Kentucky side of the river a really great option.
The Southbank Shuttle runs from both Newport and Covington directly to the ballpark. It’s not specifically a “stadium shuttle”, but … it essentially is. It runs every 15 minutes, and during baseball season it runs until 11pm every day, so you should still be able to take it after a night game.
The shuttles are sometimes old-timey trolleys, and are sometimes regular city buses (it just depends on what they’ve put into service on those days, or which one happens to show up when you’re standing there). Both are completely fine, nice, clean, and safe, and best of all, whichever one it is, they always cost $1 per ride.
In Newport, there’s a stop at the Fairfield Inn, one in front of the ALoft, and another in front of the Newport Aquarium.
In Covington, there’s a stop in front of the Embassy Suites/Marriott RiverCenter, and another stop at the Courtyard Marriott (next door to the Holiday Inn and Extended Stay America). It’s the same exact shuttle as the one in Newport, and also costs $1 each way.
TSI TIP: The shuttle only accepts cash or electronic payment on their mobile app. If you don’t want to use cash, download the app in advance and set up an account. Otherwise, be sure to have some small bills on you, because the driver cannot make change.
Rideshare
This is a perfectly decent option, and if you’ve got multiple people in your party, it may only cost you a few dollars more than the Southbank Shuttle (only without the wait or any potential lines of people). Plot the corner of either Rosa Parks Way and Freedom Way (right next to the bars at The Banks), or between 4th and 5th on Main. Both will put you within easy walking distance of the ballpark.
TSI TIP: Traffic on gamedays around the river can be challenging, so note that if trying to get dropped off at The Banks. The easier option is to get dropped off north of the ballpark and just walk a few blocks.
Scooters and Bikes
Cincinnati’s Red Bike program also operates in Kentucky, and you can ride bikes over the bridges between the two states. And the bikes are relatively easy – they have docking stations at The Levee, and outside of the stadium. But our same advice from above applies: you have to rent the bike for two hours at a rate of $12. So if you’ve got a family with you, it will cost way more money to rent a bike than it will to just take the Southbank Shuttle for $1 each way.
The scooters are another thing entirely. Assuming you can find a map that shows you the ride/no-ride zones, it’s our experience that you simply can’t trust it. We’ve tried to take these scooters back and forth across the bridge, and will tell you that sometimes they will shut themselves down and not allow you to ride on the bridges. When that happens, you have to turn around and essentially bring the bike back to where you started with it (and you’ll still get charged).
We can’t figure out what the issue is, and our attempts to contact the scooter companies have not been successful. So our advice is: skip the scooters if you are staying on the Kentucky side of the river. (We will update this if we get more clarity about why the service is inconsistent).
Bottom Line
Really, the big takeaways on transit are:
- If you can walk, that’s your best option when staying in downtown Cincinnati
- The light rail is free and nice, but doesn’t really save you much time/distance if you’re downtown
- The Southbank Shuttle to Newport or Covington is fantastic, clean, safe, and CHEAP. We strongly recommend it.
- Don’t take scooters over the bridge – they’re unreliable.
