Top 10 Things to Do in Omaha This Weekend

Omaha is one of the easiest weekends in the Midwest: three hours from Kansas City, two from Des Moines, an hour from Lincoln, and compact enough that you can park once downtown and walk to most of what matters. Here's how we'd spend a Friday-to-Sunday, in order.

1. Walk the Old Market on Friday evening

Cobblestone streets, brick warehouses turned into galleries and bars, and string lights overhead. Start with a drink, wander the passageways, then eat somewhere you didn't plan on. This is the part of the trip everyone remembers.

2. Catch golden hour on the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge

Free, ten minutes end to end, and you get to stand in two states at once. Go about forty minutes before sunset for the skyline shot.

3. Give Saturday morning to Henry Doorly Zoo

It is genuinely world-class and genuinely enormous. Arrive at opening, do the Desert Dome and the Aquarium before the crowd, and give yourself four hours minimum.

4. Eat a steak, properly

This is a beef town and it is not subtle about it. The Drover's whiskey-marinated ribeye is the classic order; book a few days ahead on weekends.

5–10. The rest of the shortlist

• Joslyn Art Museum — free general admission and a marble hall worth the stop on its own.
• Gene Leahy Mall and the rebuilt riverfront parks — a slide, a lagoon and a lot of grass.
• Blackstone District — the best block of bars and pasta in the city.
• Benson — dive bars, live music and cheap late-night food.
• Omaha Farmers Market — Saturday mornings, May through October.
• Lauritzen Gardens — quiet, huge, and the best rainy-day backup plan.

Where to base yourself

First visit: the Old Market or downtown. With kids: Aksarben Village or Midtown, closer to the zoo and with suites and parking. On a budget: cross the river to Council Bluffs and save real money without losing much time.