Fresh, trendy, and bright: The reinvented Steel City Pittsburgh is worth visiting

Cycle trails, innovative architecture, modern museums and a wealth of sports and music options make the Steel City a quirky and fun US travel option

Pittsburgh from the Duquesne Incline. Picture: Dave DiCello

I used to love those biology books where the digestive, reproductive, and respiratory systems were all on different transparent sheets and you could superimpose each one and see how they all fitted together.

I think town planners, architects and sculptors who repurpose industrial equipment and warehouses and silos — and even whole transport networks — must have been fans of these books too.

A trip to Pittsburgh really shows how a city’s past can be woven right into busy modern life, from sports team names to cycle trails and trendy breweries.

But if we’re going with a biological analogy, then Pittsburgh’s past might well be compared to one of the less-alluring ends of the human anatomy.

The city was once an industrial hub for coal mining and steel production — with all the grime and soot that goes with those trades. It was almost too good at prioritising these commercial ventures — and in the 1950s many people felt the smoke was a sign of productivity and prosperity.

But as those thankfully aren’t the main sources of employment in Pittsburgh anymore, the city has literally cleaned up its act and looks fresh, trendy and bright. 

Cycle tour on the Hot Metal bridge. Pic: JP Diroll Photography

The industrial past hasn’t been obliterated though — it’s right there in the local American football team name, Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s in the Hot Metal Bridge, the truss bridge which once allowed up to 180 tons of molten iron an hour to be transferred from blast furnaces on one side of the Monongahela River to the opposite bank. The bridge has been cleaned up and the downstream span reopened for pedestrian and bicycle use. The Great Allegheny Passage hiker/biker trail takes in this bridge as it approaches Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle area.

Pittsburgh from the sky. Picture: Dustin McGrew

Pittsburgh’s industrial past is also saluted in everything from art in the city’s Carnegie Museums to The Strip District. Steady on, that name might be a bit misleading — it actually refers to a strip of repurposed warehouses, mills, and factories. These are now home to ethnic grocers, meat and fish markets, bakeries, street vendors, and as many doughnut, coffee, and hot sauce stores as you could want.

Speaking of food, any low-cal diet plans are gonna take a hammering here.

Classic Primanti Bros sandwich. Picture: primantibros.com pittsburgh

Pittsburgh food classics include delicacies welcomed in from other cultures and often modified along the way. For a classic taste of Pittsburgh however, head to Primanti Brothers. It’s a sandwich chain that started in 1933 in the Strip District and it was originally designed to serve truckers making deliveries in the neighbourhood. As they were eating on the move they got the whole meal built into one sandwich so don’t be surprised to meet fries, coleslaw, and even a fried egg, in your rather large sandwich. Super tasty and definitely fuel for a couple of hours — but for something a good deal fancier it’s time to jump on the Duquesne Incline funicular and head up to the Monterey Bay Fish Grotto. This funicular was built in 1877 to carry cargo and later passengers up the steep Mount Washington and it’s beautifully restored and offers superb views and picture opportunities of the city below. The restaurant itself is glass-walled and on two levels at the top of the building so the fabulous seafood and ornate cocktails have the perfect backdrop for more pictures.

You’ll be on the move again the next day and there are many breweries, distilleries and great snack options, so pace yourself. There are only so many extra meals you can squeeze into 24 hours so a great way to sample lots of flavours is the ’Burgh Bits and Bites tour of the strip district (€43 per person).

Roberto Clemente Museum, Pittsburgh. Clemente was the first Caribbean and the first Latin-American player posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973

Even if you don’t follow baseball, the Clemente Museum (clementemuseum.com) is fascinating. It is packed with baseball artifacts, works of art, literature, photographs, memorabilia, and related materials which focus on Roberto Clemente, his teammates, his personal life, and his humanitarian causes. And the founder, Duane Rieder is a photographer and winemaker so there’s a whole lot going on here. Worth giving time to, for sure.

TRYP by Wyndham Pittsburgh/Lawrenceville Pittsburgh

I stayed at the TRYP by Wyndham Pittsburgh/Lawrenceville, a brilliant base for getting out and about as it’s close to a good selection of hotspots and is pretty trendy and welcoming. Rooms are ‘bijou’, somehow minimalist and cosy at the same time. And you can get family rooms with king and bunk beds, so that’s handy.

Activities

Check out the fixtures and events at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium — even if you’re not a sports fan, a Pittsburgh Steelers’ game is some spectacle. I was lucky enough that my visit coincided with a Steelers v Patriots game and there was an absolute carnival atmosphere across the city. The stamina, the drive, the strength, and the commitment ... and that’s just the fans who toted Steelers mugs, teddy bears, flags, towels, capes, chairs and tents around with them to set up tailgate cookouts in carparks in the area.

And if there isn’t a game then check the gig list: Taylor Swift is playing there on June 16 and 17 and Ed Sheeran will be performing on July 8 and Beyoncé’s world tour will be here on August 3.

One of my favourite parts of this break was the bike trip along the river — the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP Trail). Hire a bike from $20 (€18.80) for 2 hours from Golden Triangle Bike Rentals and get moving. More colourful than a ‘greenway’, this mostly very flat trail takes in bridges, graffiti parks, great city views and hipster-cool bars along former railways serving local brews and a refreshing range of hard seltzers (alcoholic sparkling water).

Bike hire costs from $20 for 2 hours, $30 for 4 hours, to $40 for a full day. A Pittsburgh 2-2.5 hour guided tour costs $35 per person.

Old and new: buildings in Pittsburgh

Science and space fans will be keen to get to the Moonshot Museum. You could enjoy seeing real spacecraft as they’re being built, experience a simulated lunar mission, and find out more about jobs in the future of human space exploration. The first American lander since Apollo is being built right here. Adult admission tickets are $10, children (ages 3-17) are $5.

Moonshot Museum. Picture: Visit Pittsburgh

Andy Warhol was from Pittsburgh — there are more than 4,000 Warhol artworks in the seven-storey museum with different floors dedicated to various phases of his life.

The Carnegie Museum nearly deserves a trip all on its own. There are actually several museums including art and natural history so it’s possible to move from modern art to viewing the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex known to date. cmoa.org

Falling Water, a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house in Southwestern Pennsylvania

If you’ve ever fancied you could do a ‘room to improve’ yourself then check out some local Frank Lloyd Wright houses in the area. This architect designed more than 1,000 structures over 70 years and has influenced and inspired architects across the world. About an hour out of the city and actually into southwestern Pennsylvania you’ll find Falling Water. This is a 1935 house designed by FLW for the Kaufmann family, owners of Pittsburgh’s largest department store. The family used it as a vacation house during their lifetime and it was then donated to be used as a museum. Guided architectural tours cost $32 per person; in-depth guided tour costs $85 per person; a ground pass costs $15 per person

There’s another Frank Lloyd Wright at the wonderfully named Kentuck Knob. It’s definitely both dramatic and serene — the house is situated just below the crest of a great hill and has cantilevered overhangs and a very unusual floorplan. Tours cost $28 for an adult and $18 per child and student.

Get there

• Return fares with British Airways from London Heathrow to Pittsburgh start from €565 return.
• Operating year-round on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, the flight departs London at 16:45 and lands in Pittsburgh at 19:50 local time, a travel time of eight hours, 15 minutes.
• Stay: Rooms at TRYP by Wyndham Pittsburgh/Lawrenceville start from $159 (€149).
• Info: visitpittsburgh.com