The Fort Wayne center point is about the area of Indiana Univ/Purdue Univ and 1 mile north of Allen County War Memorial Coliseum AKA The Jungle.
Visitors come to Fort Wayne year-round, but the peak season ranges from May through the summer months. During this time, you can visit the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, which is open from late April through early October. This charming zoo is easy to conquer in a day, but there's plenty to see. Over 1,000 animals call this zoo home, and children love to feed the giraffes and ride the miniature train.
If you love festivals, the town also hosts Germanfest each June that celebrates German heritage and culture, and Middle Waves music festival follows in September. Early September also brings excellent weather and the annual Johnny Appleseed Festival, celebrating Fort Wayne's own John Chapman. This early settler made his fortune planting apple orchards and selling the seeds and trees to other pioneers.
More than a for-profit venture, Mr. Chapman was known to be generous and regarded his work as an important nutritional contribution to his neighbors' diets. While you're in town for the Johnny Appleseed Festival, be sure to pay your respects by his gravestone at Johnny Appleseed Park.
Fort Wayne also boasts several parks and botanical gardens that are most beautiful in the warmer months. Lakeside Park & Rose Garden is a favorite site for weddings and photo shoots thanks to its elegantly laid-out gardens, situated next to the river.
If you want to see some greenery year-round, you can visit Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Garden and marvel at the site's enclosed gardens, including an indoor tropical, desert, and showcase environment. It's also a charming place to take tea and enjoy a sweet treat. If the weather is accommodating, Fort Wayne's network of trails also beckons visitors to get some exercise and take in the river views.
For travelers on the road with large groups or families, the Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Wayne Southwest offers expansive accommodations. AAA members also enjoy a generous discount at this hotel if providing membership ID at check-in. Modern in design, room layouts allow guests to breathe and spread out on full sectionals, desks, and cozy beds. This hotel offers indoor amenities like a convenience store and an indoor pool, but outside, guests can also soak in good weather on the patio seating.
If you're a AAA member, you'll have another discount hotel option in town at the Holiday Inn at the IPFW Coliseum. This hotel offers warmth and a traditional design, notable for its unusual room layouts, broken up by walls and wood beams. This hotel's convenient features include ample meeting space, a bar and lounge, fitness center, and an indoor pool. Breakfast at the Holiday Inn comes at a surcharge, but is a delicious and convenient option for business travelers who can expense meals.
The Hyatt Place Fort Wayne offers its guests comfort and value, with rates on par with far lesser hotels. This modern hotel offers guests clean, bright, and comfortable guest rooms that are streamlined to suit travelers' needs, including optional ADA-accessible layouts with roll-in showers.
The property welcomes businesspeople and event planners with dedicated ballrooms and meeting spaces, and business travelers also appreciate the bar and lounge for late-night brainstorming sessions and cocktail meet-ups. For recreation, the hotel's fitness center and outdoor pool are welcome amenities for blowing off steam. Free breakfast adds to this hotel's value, and the in-room mini-fridge also offers savvy travelers a place to stow sandwich items, snacks, and beverages.
With its history dating back to the 1600s, you can discover plenty of artifacts and artworks in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Start at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, where you can marvel at the luminous 19th-century stained glass. The Cathedral Museum features artifacts dating all the way to biblical times, with such marvels as a handwritten scholar's Bible from the 13th century and a papal ring from the 16th century.
The Castle Gallery delights those who appreciate art and who also love to shop. This gallery exhibits its precious and exquisite antique artwork in a mansion dating to 1905. Visitors love that this awe-inspiring gallery is also very welcoming and approachable, and each artwork is marked to let them know what is for sale at a glance.
Fort Wayne Firefighters Museum thrills visitors young and old with its exhibit of classic firetrucks and vintage firefighting gear. Each item is kept in immaculate condition and creatively staged in an authentic firehouse.
For a taste of the current art scene, head to the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, known for its nice selection of modern and contemporary American painting and sculpture. Auer Center for Arts and Culture also presents theatrical productions and events that are worth exploring.
Science Central is a favorite spot for families, presenting interactive exhibits and activities that will while away a rainy or cold afternoon. Finally, if you need a break from all the arts, culture, and education, Jefferson Pointe Mall's dining and shopping offerings will satisfy cravings of all kinds.
During your stay in Fort Wayne, you'll learn a lot and have a lot of fun, too. Whether you prefer educational experiences or tasting the arts and sciences, Fort Wayne offers plenty to do and a lot of memories to be made.
Zach Klein, one of the most famous entrepreneurs of today and a co-founder of the oldest video sharing website in the world “ Vimeo, was quite spot on in identifying that the sheer levels of talent present in raw shape all over America needs to be harnessed so that our present state of knowledge and technology can be furthered!
As it turns out, Klein himself is from a quintessentially small-two of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Known for its historic building and a significant played role by its residents in the civil war, Fort Wayne also happens to be a popular tourist spot.
From conventional things like enormous expanses of never corn fields to a rich history that takes as many colors and shapes as you like, Fort Wayne is definitely one for explorers, wanderers and young of the heart!
If you are planning on visiting Fort Wayne anytime soon, we would be glad to help your plans materialize. Our short and quick guide to Fort Wayne hotels might be a good start for you to look around and see what it is that you can expect in the name of hospitality here.
What is clear to the sight need not be explained to the mind, and what is clear to the mind need not be proved to the sight. That's what Aristotle said of the dual reality of things. This dual reality is quite true when it comes to selecting one from many hotels in Fort Wayne. The pricing and comfort level are two weighing factors that you need to base your decision upon, and it's not always easy, to say the least!
Cheap hotels, as we all are fully aware, can help one save enormous percentages off their hotel bills, allowing them to keep their tour budget afloat and healthy. No wonder then that almost every tourist thinks it appropriate to check out the budget scene at the places of their interests.
In Fort Wayne, there are not too many cheap hotels that one can rely fully well on, in order to provide them with reliable and comfortable accommodation. But what it lacks in this sector is more than made up for in the typically American lodging way “ motels.
With dozens of motels scattered in and around the city, tourists really need not worry about cheap accommodation. Of course, motels are not always a good idea, especially if you are travelling with your family. But otherwise, a motel can help you save more than 50% of your hotel budget!
Red Roof Inn and Days Inn are two such dependable and reputed motel names in Fort Wayne that are known for cheap room tariffs, spacious rooms, hygienic food and courteous staff.
Midwest is not much known for its excess. The culture of Midwest is rather defined by the hard work that one has to put in just to survive. And when there is hard work in a community, prosperity is never too late to arrive.
This prosperity in Fort Wayne can be easily gauged by the vibrant hospitality scene here. With over half a dozen five star resorts in operation, Fort Wayne definitely outscores most cities in the region.
Hilton Grand Wayne Convention Center is the most famous of them all. It's a truly gigantic property “ even for Hilton “ but definitely fits the large scheme of things that seems to be prevalent in the Midwest. Spacious rooms with amazing views, decor to fall in love with and a brand of hosting that few others can compare with “ all of these mean that your stay at Hilton will be memorable and enjoyable to the last bit!
Among other Fort Wayne hotels that can be counted under the ˜luxury' head, Courtyard by Marriott and Fairfield Inn are two top names.
If there's one definitive Midwestern museum of history you should visit in your lifetime, it has to be the Fort Wayne History Center. Right from the native history of the region to colonized history, pretty much all the nuances of the time gone by can be witnessed and understood through just one visit. If you have kids accompanying you, a visit to Fort Wayne History Center becomes a must one!
But as it might turn out, kids may just get a little too fed up of all the history, and that's your cue to just head straight up to Fort Wayne Zoo. There are over 1,500 species of animals “ from innocuous koalas to princely tigers “ present here, and even a whole day might turn out to be much too short for you to cover the entire thing!
Fort Wayne Fine Arts Museum can also be visited, especially if you are interested in modern art/post-modern art.
While visiting Fort Wayne and sightseeing around it, what you need to keep in mind is the fact that even though there are not too many sights of renown in the area, the best part of your trip might come through exploration instead of site-hopping.
So, take your time to see beneath the surface and understand the city, take a whiff of fresh Midwestern air and dig into delectable local delicacies “ make the most of your trip!
Following local transportation options are available in Fort Wayne.
Below are reviews of the city of Fort Wayne, IN from an actual visitor's perspective.
It feels safer than most cities
Halls restaurant was GREAT
Getting around Ft. Wayne is easy with well placed signs.
Clean, pretty downtown with calm, attractive surrounding neighborhoods.
Different restaurants, close to downtown. Ballpark next to hotel. Just a great visit.
A lot of different things to do.
We were stationed in an ideal location: gasoline variety, eateries, grocery stores, banks and hospitals.
Very easy to travel and get around.
Everything!
Good town.
Awesome!
Walkability. Good variety of restaurants
Walkability. Good variety of restaurants!
Fort wayne is beautiful
The zoo and area restaurants were very nice.
The zoo was the perfect getaway visit for our family while our son attended a track camp at Indiana Tech!
The whole experience. Customer service. Friendliness and cleanliness; extremely accommodating!
Restaurants and shopping!
Beautiful and quiet city.
Restaurants are close by the hotel.
I liked that it was quiet.
The small improvements in the city center are making downtown a place that is very inviting for all sorts of things to see and do.
The staff was pleasant and helpful. The facility was clean and comfortable. Very clean.
Shopping!
Good Lauren Daigle concert at Coliseum.
Sweetwater Sound Music Centre can't be beat!
We came for a funeral at St. Anne's residence, a warm and welcoming environment. Enjoyed our meals at Applebees and at The Olive Garden. Very attentive staff at Olive Garden.
Shopping!
City is wonderful. Lots to do!
Everything is nice. A lot of things to do and see.
Flying field for model airplanes!
Orchard Ridge Country Golf Club
The Children's Zoo was amazing!!!
Lots of things to do and enjoy.
We had a great time. We went to see the band Kansas at the Embassy Theater. We had dinner Friday evening at Salvatori's. It was excellent food at a reasonable price.
Walkability, the landing, promenade, and electric works. Overall really good food choices.
Nice stay. Great restaurant and great wine tasting to finish the evening.
Convenient
A great place for volleyball tournament.
Rumble at the Colosseum
Fort Wayne's Allen Public Library has a large Genealogy Collection.
Nice
Fort Wayne is a very big city. I'm from a small rual town in Missouri. They have a lot to offer!
All was well. I have family that live in Fort Wayne.
People are down to earth
Fort Wayne is a great city.
We have always enjoyed our stay in the Fort Wayne area. We have traveled here for the past 16 years.
People are very nice and local amenities are available.
Loved the hockey games and Indiana Tech Campus, downtown Fort Wayne and area restaurants.
Loved the hockey games and Indiana Tech Campus, downtown Fort Wayne and area restaurants.
It had a big city vibe. Lots to do and plenty of places to eat.
Fort Wayne is a great place to visit!
A lot of things to do. Variety of restaurants to choose from.
Love it! Nice restaurant and friendly people!
Fort Wayne children's zoo Parkview field – home of the minor-league baseball team Fort Wayne farmers market Botanical conservatory
It was a pleasant place to visit
We were there to visit family member in Ft. Wayne Lutheran hospital so didn't do much site seeing. Hospital is 2 blocks away. Lots of restaurants in the area. Catholic Church is 8 miles away.
I didn't get delayed at all because of traffic. Fort Wayne has a lot of attractions and it's fun to explore after a day of training it would be nice to get something that tells you a few recommendations for things to do or eat
Fort Wayne has a beautiful downtown area that seems to have many shops, activities, as well as things to see and do in general.
We stayed in Auburn. It was a nice size town. There was an Aldi and Walmart with several fast food restaurant walking distance and sets nearby.
Had everything we needed and more.
Had everything we needed very pleased.
We really enjoyed the ease of getting around, plenty of nearby eating establishments.
Everything was wonderful.
Excellent location near the baseball stadium, restaurants, etc.
Many sites for my family to enjoy such as Foster Park, the Zoo and eateries.
Was in and out of Fort Wayne for the retreat with little or no time to check out the city. Visited Texas Roadhouse for dinner, had excellent service with very little wait for an early Friday evening. Needed to print 1 hour pictures at 9 pm. Thought this would be difficult. Was referred to Walmart, but I've never had good luck with their one hour photo in town, and it was further away than we thought. Stopped in at the Walgreens, tech was very helpful and before we could even check out the clearance aisle, our pictures were ready for us!!
Love the city, its my hometown. Hated Econolodge and the service
Nice city and close to Spiece Fieldhouse where our kids were playing in a basketball tournament!
Don hall triangle and granite city restaurants were fantastic.
There are many sites to visit in town. Parkview Field is a great place to watch a game. They also do concerts there and other activities year round.
Many food options and shopping in Fort Wayne.
I loved all the shopping centres in this area.
Lots of places to visit. I particularly liked the Cinda B store and of course the Vera Bradley Outlet sale.
Will return and stay longer. Lots of nice people. Good, well informed tourism staff with easy maps to use and area information publications. A community with lots to offer. Looking forward to a return visit.