Zanesville is a mid-size city in southeastern Ohio, built where the Muskingum and Licking rivers meet, and a rental car is the most practical way to explore both the city and the historic National Road corridor that runs directly through it. Zanesville sits just off Interstate 70, roughly halfway between Columbus and Wheeling, West Virginia, making it an easy stop for road-trippers as well as a workable base for visitors flying into Columbus's John Glenn International Airport and driving in, a trip of around fifty minutes on the interstate. Car rental in Zanesville itself is limited to a handful of local and regional operators rather than a full airport-style lineup, so visitors needing a wider selection of vehicle classes often rent in Columbus before heading east.
Zanesville's biggest draw for road-trip travelers is its place on the historic National Road, one of the first federally funded highways in the United States, and the city still shows that heritage in its downtown architecture and the Y-Bridge, a distinctive five-way span over the convergence of its two rivers. A rental car makes it easy to follow the National Road corridor in either direction, explore nearby small towns in Muskingum County, or detour south toward the Wilds, a large wildlife conservation park built on reclaimed mining land that is best reached by car.
Driving in and around Zanesville is straightforward: the city drives on the right, as throughout the United States, I-70 and the connecting state routes are toll-free, and roads are generally well maintained year-round with normal seasonal caution warranted for occasional winter snow and ice on the hillier back roads outside the city center. Traffic is light by national standards, and parking downtown and near the main historic sites is generally easy to find, making Zanesville a low-stress stop for any driving itinerary through southeastern Ohio.