The best place to find things to do in Pittsburgh is probably downtown, at the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers. Known as the Golden Triangle, this wedge of waterfront real estate is where the city's cultural, financial, and historic districts converge. Take a stroll through the area or navigate the more than 20 miles of bike trails to discover art galleries, historic buildings, and shiny skyscrapers home to corporate powerhouses such as United States Steel and PNC bank.
For a quick survey of the Steel City's nearly 250-year history, you can go on a walking tour from the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. Expert guides will fill you in on Pittsburgh's architecture and let you explore forts constructed during the American Revolution. You can find your own way through history at the Senator John Heinz History Center, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, or at the Fort Pitt Museum, where you can learn of Pittsburgh’s part in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution.
A short cab ride brings you to the city's Oakland neighborhood, where you'll find art and history museums as well as the Phipps Conservatory. This elaborate, Victorian-style greenhouse showcases 17 botanical gardens, both in the steel-and-glass structure and on the grounds surrounding it. Oakland’s also the place to find the University of Pittsburgh’s Nationality Rooms created to represent the cultures of various ethnic groups that settled in the region.