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Don't Skip the Second Cities
Condé Nast Traveler US
|November 2025
A weekend in Columbus, Ohio, proves that an under-the-radar midsize metropolis can offer its own set of memorable experiences
A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, I spent a weekend in Columbus, Ohio (#8 Large City in the United States and Territories). I promise this isn't the setup to a smug New Yorker's unimaginative quip (“longest weekend of my life”). Those were a charmed 48 hours. A few things were on my side: I was escaping parental responsibility (our oldest was applying to high school, a fraught time) and the weather was unexpectedly beautiful (70 degrees in late October, disturbing but delicious). I was in town for work, but my work is, if I'm honest, not difficult. Turn up at the public library and talk? That would take but one hour out of a whole weekend. I had time to kill.
This story is from the November 2025 edition of Condé Nast Traveler US.
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