Later, Fort Wayne became an aviation hub throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Travelers and airline passengers can get a taste of this fascinating past at the unusual Fort Wayne Air Museum at Fort Wayne International Airport. Since it is housed in an active airport, you'll need to book your tour in advance to get through security. It's best to allot at least an hour or more for the tour before your flight.
However, if you're traveling to or from this airport, this museum is a must-see that sure beats hanging out in the terminal or food court while waiting for your flight. The Fort Wayne Air Museum commemorates the glory days of aviation in Fort Wayne at the Old Baer Field, which was named for local hero and World War I flying ace Lt. Paul Baer.
Today, Fort Wayne is a well-rounded community with plenty to do and see, whether you are stopping by on business, visiting family, or enjoying a change of scenery in this all-American town.
When is the best time of year to visit Fort Wayne, Indiana?
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.
Below is a chart of the current pricing seasonality of hotels and motels in Fort Wayne, IN:
Averate Rates by Star Rating
Below we've posted 3 graphs displaying average price patterns by star rating class in Fort Wayne, IN. Analyze these line graphs to evaluate the best time period to make a reservation in Fort Wayne for your upcoming travels.
What are the Fort Wayne, Indiana luxury hotels?
4 Star Average Prices: £85.19
The Courtyard Fort Wayne Downtown Grand Wayne Convention Center blends the best of a casual and convenient hotel stay with high-end amenities befitting a four-star hotel. Of course, its guest rooms are well-equipped with high-end bedding and updated contemporary décor. However, the key point in favor of this property is its prime location. Three miles from Fort Wayne town center and only minutes from the convention center, this hotel is an excellent choice for business travelers.
Guests enjoy free shuttle service from the airport to the Courtyard Fort Wayne Downtown Grand Wayne Convention Center, as well as high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity, a business center, and ample event space for meetings and conferences on-site. When it's time to wind down after a long day of work, guests can work out in the 24-hour fitness center or swim in the indoor pool. The adjoining Champions Bar and Grill is also a great place to catch a football game and enjoy a drink or casual meal, without having to hop in a cab or car.
Where are affordable hotels near Fort Wayne, IN?
3 Star Average Prices: £75.19
Days Inn Fort Wayne is an affordable oasis for the road warrior and budget traveler. This roadside motel is modest but comfortable, offering unbeatable rates. Rooms are on the small side, but for those who are just stopping by for a night or two, the two queen bed setup is more than comfortable. Free Wi-Fi internet connection and updated televisions with cable programming sweeten the deal. Guests also enjoy free breakfast at the Days Inn Fort Wayne from 6 to 9 a.m., including unexpected hot items like scrambled eggs and waffles.
Nearby Super 8 Fort Wayne offers competitive rates in a clean, welcoming environment. Travelers will be delighted to find that their affordable accommodations include free breakfast daily, plus access to the hotel's seasonal outdoor pool. Though modest and compact, guests can get some cardio in on the treadmill and do some weight training via a weight machine at Super 8's on-site fitness center. Pets are welcome to join you during your stay, as well.
2 Star Average Prices: £58.07
Which hotels in Fort Wayne, IN offer the best discounts?
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.
Where are the best budget hotels around Fort Wayne, IN?
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.
What attractions does the city of Fort Wayne have to offer?
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.
'If you see it closely enough, you'd be in a better position to know that there is a definite pattern to be sensed here. Technology of today “ from Google to Apple “ has all been somehow come out of heartlands and small towns of America. We need to make sure that it keeps happening.
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.
Affordable Lodging in Fort Wayne
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.
Luxury and Style “ Resorts in Fort Wayne
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.
Top Things to Do/See in Fort Wayne
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.
Fort Wayne Sightseeing Tips
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!
Local Transportation in Fort Wayne
Following local transportation options are available in Fort Wayne.
- Citilink is the locally operated public bus system. It's cheap and fast, but it's not as frequent as you would have liked it to be.
- Car rentals can be quite effective here. Many luxury hotels in Fort Wayne have discounted car rental services on offer for the benefit and convenience of their patrons.
- Bicycle rentals are available, especially in the university campus area.