{"id":102558,"date":"2026-02-01T23:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T23:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/102558\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T23:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T23:30:08","slug":"pittsburghs-old-world-borough-is-a-scenic-suburb-with-a-charming-main-street-and-world-class-golf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/102558\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh’s Old-World Borough Is A Scenic Suburb With A Charming Main Street And World-Class Golf"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Pittsburgh’s revitalized downtown is considered “criminally underrated,”<\/a> visitors seeking more bucolic landscapes and small-town charm should head about 13 miles east of the city to the riverfront community of Oakmont. Prized for its prime location on the Allegheny River, Oakmont\u00a0was first settled in the early 19th century\u00a0and later became a hub for\u00a0manufacturing.\u00a0Its national reputation took shape in the early 20th century, when Henry Fownes<\/a>, a wealthy Pittsburgh steel tycoon and avid golfer, began searching for a site to build a challenging, British-style golf course. He purchased nearly 200 acres in Oakmont to create Oakmont Country Club<\/a>, which opened in 1904.\u00a0Today, it is widely regarded as “the hardest golf course in America”<\/a> and has hosted over 20 USGA championships.<\/p>\n

While the prestigious club is private\u00a0and accessible only to members or championship ticket holders, the borough of Oakmont brims with history and is worth a visit even if you don’t golf. Oakmont’s main thoroughfare\u00a0\u2013 split between Allegheny River Boulevard and Allegheny Avenue and bisected by railroad tracks and the Arboretum Trail<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0is lined with restaurants, shops, the historic Oaks Theater<\/a>, and Riverside Park.<\/a>\u00a0Throughout the borough, leafy residential streets are dotted with elegant homes, including\u00a0one you can tour,\u00a0as well as the quaint Oakmont Inn.<\/a><\/p>\n

Oakmont is about a 45-minute drive from Pittsburgh International Airport, which opened a sleek new terminal<\/a> in 2025. The best time to visit is June through September when temperatures hover between 75 and 83 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n

Read more: Florida Beach Towns That Could Pass For The Caribbean<\/a><\/p>\n

Golfing in Oakmont\"\"<\/p>\n

The Oakmont Country Club golf course has been ranked as one of the top 100 golf courses in the world.\u00a0Between 1919 and 2025, it hosted 10 U.S. Opens and three PGA Championships. Nearly every\u00a0major golf legend has played on its greens, including Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson, and Tiger Woods. Due to its narrow fairways and fast greens, the course is challenging even for the best golfers and demands high accuracy on every shot. The course is anchored by the elegant, Tudor-style clubhouse, which overlooks the ninth hole. “Playing at this course is a once in a lifetime treat,” wrote a\u00a0Google reviewer<\/a>.\u00a0“Immaculately maintained, incredibly challenging, and yet it never feels unfair. The clubhouse is a veritable golf museum \u2014 photos, signed memorabilia, and framed letters from many of golf’s greats.”<\/p>\n

While the course itself is open only to members, nonmembers can purchase tickets during major championships and walk the grounds. Upcoming events include the U.S. Open in 2033, 2042, and 2049, as well as the U.S. Women’s Open in 2038.\u00a0Even if you can’t get on the course, Oakmont Country Club’s website\u00a0offers a\u00a0digital tour<\/a>\u00a0so you can know what to expect if you ever have the chance to play.<\/p>\n

In the center of town, the Oakmont Golf Center<\/a> is an indoor golf facility with Trackman simulators available year-round, along with golf instruction. About a 15-minute drive away is the 3 Lakes Golf Course<\/a>, a public 18-hole course.<\/p>\n

What to see and do in Oakmont\"\"<\/p>\n

Oakmont’s walkable downtown will bring you past historic sites, delicious eateries, and beautiful homes. While most residences are private, you can tour the Kerr Memorial Museum,<\/a> a doctor’s home and office that was built in the late 19th century. The museum is a time capsule into the life of Dr. Thomas Kerr and his family, who lived in the Queen Anne-style residence until 1994. A few blocks away is the circa 1938\u00a0Oaks Theater<\/a>, the borough’s beloved cultural institution, which\u00a0hosts movies, game nights, and dance festivals in a beautiful space that harkens to its Art Deco-era beginnings. Enjoy Oakmont’s prime riverfront setting by walking into Riverside Park,<\/a> a sprawling green space with tennis courts, a playground, and a\u00a0baseball field, as well as a walking path along the Allegheny River.<\/p>\n

To fuel this Oakmont walking tour, stop into Oakmont Bakery,<\/a> which opened in 1988 and\u00a0has won multiple best bakery honors<\/a> from local publications over the years.\u00a0The European-style shop has a vast number of delicious treats, including cakes, cookies, bagels, breads, donuts, and more. Another longtime Oakmont classic is Hoffstot’s Cafe Monaco<\/a>, which has been in business for more than five decades and\u00a0serves beloved Italian specialties, including fettuccine Alfredo, lasagna, veal marsala, and chicken piccata. If you’re staying in Oakmont for a couple of nights, you can book a room at the\u00a0Oakmont Inn<\/a>, a charming bed-and-breakfast across from Oakmont Country Club. Its\u00a010 rooms and suites are refined and cozy havens with patterned wallpapers, elegant wood furnishings, and comfortable beds. Some of the rooms even boast views over the golf course’s greens. Amenities include a delicious daily breakfast, a spacious veranda and game room, and even an outdoor putting green.<\/p>\n

Ready to discover more hidden gems and expert travel tips? Subscribe to our free newsletter<\/a> and add us as a preferred search source<\/a> for access to the world’s best-kept travel secrets.<\/p>\n

Read the original article on Islands<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Pittsburgh’s revitalized downtown is considered “criminally underrated,” visitors seeking more bucolic landscapes and small-town charm should head…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[10449,22823,49731,14805,49729,49727,49728,8720,73,75,74,49730],"class_list":["post-102558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-allegheny-avenue","tag-allegheny-river","tag-enjoy-oakmont","tag-golf-course","tag-oakmont-bakery","tag-oakmont-country-club","tag-oakmont-golf","tag-oaks-theater","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-riverside-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}