Visiting Toledo’s Historic West End

Sometimes you plan things and sometimes you rely on serendipity.

We had a lot of different plans for our Monday in Toledo, Ohio. Unfortunately nothing was working out but I came across a suggestion on TripAdvisor to visit Our Lady, Queen Of The Most Holy Rosary Cathedral.

As I explored more, I found that the West End of Toledo is a historic area with a large collection of late Victorian homes. We only walked a few blocks but came across some great homes before we arrived at the Cathedral.

Our Lady, Queen Of The Most Holy Cathedral

Parking is free at the Cathedral and on the surrounding streets. Just read carefully for any parking restrictions, but most streets had free parking available.

Our Lady, Queen Of The Most Holy Cathedral is open most days, although you’ll need to check their website for mass and confessional times. There’s a school attached to the Cathedral, so you may find yourself there during drop off or pick up times in the school year.

If you call ahead you can get a tour arranged. I really wanted to do that, but as most of the other touristy things you might want to do in Toledo on a Monday are closed, we went on the day we had available. They do offer self-guided walking tour sheets, so you can take yourself around the Cathedral. I called ahead and was given instructions on how to access the Cathedral since most of the doors are locked throughout the day.

Once inside, Our Lady, Queen Of The Most Holy Cathedral was beautiful and peaceful. Even if you’re not religious, the architecture is beautiful both inside and out.

We were very fortunate the day we visited as the organist was practicing. Visiting the Cathedral is free, although they have donation baskets for a local charity. There wasn’t any pressure from the church to do this though, just discreet donation points throughout the Cathedral.

If you’re looking for a nice way to enjoy a pretty afternoon in Toledo, I’d recommend going to the historic West End area to check out its historic homes and visit Our Lady, Queen Of The Most Holy Cathedral.

There’s also a local coffee shop right across the street from the Cathedral called Black Kite Coffees and Pies. We didn’t get anything but it comes highly recommended by a local friend. It was an unexpected day since none of our original plans panned out, but it was definitely worth it.