• Experience the Midwest's only drive-through safari at Cleveland's African Safari Wildlife Park (website: www.africansafariwildlifepark.com). Special feature at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (website: www.clemetzoo.com) is the rainforest habitat, with simulated tropical thunderstorms and an 8m- (25ft-) high waterfall.

• Enjoy a touch of German culture in Columbus at the lavishly restored German Village (website: www.germanvillage.org), complete with fine restaurants and taverns, and the 11-hectare (27-acre) Brewery District, with vintage beer-making factories which now contain restaurants, speciality shops and taverns.

• Follow in the footsteps of famous Western writer Zane Grey on a narrated sternwheeler cruise in Zanesville. Visit the National Road/Zane Grey Museum, and learn about the building of America's first highway and the town's famous Western writer.

• Visit Amish country in the northeast of the state. Shop for handwoven baskets, handmade quilts, antiques and fresh produce. For a glimpse into the Amish lifestyle, the Yoder's Amish Home (website: www.yodersamishhome.com) in Holmes County, which has two reproduction Amish farmhouses open to visitors, and buggy rides for children.

• Find many nature-based activities in the 13,355-hectare (33,000-acre) Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area (website: www.nps.gov/cuva). The 35km- (22-mile-) long river surrounded by steep, forested hills, sandstone gorges and hidden waterfalls is popular with birdwatchers and hikers. The Hale Farm and Village is a living-history museum depicting life in the mid 19th century.

• Spend the day riding rollercoasters at Cedar Point Amusement Park (website: www.cedarpoint.com), Kings Island Theme Park (website: www.pki.com) or Cincinnati's Boomerang Bay ‘Down Under' resort, featuring over 50 wet-and-wild activities and 30 slides.

• Explore Serpent Mound State Memorial, a giant snake effigy mound created by the Adena Native Americans over 2,000 years ago.

• Visit the National Museum of the US Air Force (website: www.nationalmuseum.af.mil) in Dayton, the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum. The museum follows the history of flight from the days of the Wright brothers to stealth fighter aircraft and today's precision technology.

• Grab a hotdog and watch a ballgame with either of the state's two pro baseball teams - the Cincinnati Reds (website: www.cincinnati.red.mlb.com) and the Cleveland Indians (website: www.cleveland.indians.mlb.com).

• Participate in water activities on Lake Erie, on Ohio's northern border. Watersports options include fishing, swimming, boating and jetskiing.

See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.