Baltimore

A port city on the Chesapeake Bay with the Inner Harbor's National Aquarium, Fort McHenry (birthplace of "The Star-Spangled Banner"), the old waterfront of Fells Point and blue crab feasts.

Baltimore is Maryland's largest city, located at the mouth of the Patapsco River at the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay, about 65 km from Washington, D.C. and about 160 km from Philadelphia. The city centers on the Inner Harbor. Along the waterfront are the National Aquarium, historic ships such as the USS Constellation, and the Maryland Science Center. Federal Hill on the south side looks out over the skyline. To the east lie the old waterfront neighborhoods of Little Italy, Fells Point and Canton. To the north, the Mount Vernon area is home to the Washington Monument, the Walters Art Museum and the Basilica of the Assumption. Farther north are the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Hampden neighborhood. Fort McHenry is southeast of the harbor and can be reached by water taxi. Annapolis's historic district and the U.S. Naval Academy, about 45 km to the south, make a classic day trip. The best times to visit are Apr–Jun and Sep–Oct. Summers are hot and humid, and winter sometimes brings snow. From BWI Airport, it's about 20 minutes to downtown by light rail or taxi. Amtrak and MARC commuter trains connect the city with Washington and New York. Downtown sights are easy to link on foot and by water taxi, and the free Charm City Circulator bus covers the main areas. Plan on 2–3 days. Maryland blue crab season runs roughly Apr–Nov, and crab cakes and Old Bay seasoning are must-tries. Some neighborhoods have safety issues, so avoid walking alone at night outside the Inner Harbor and other tourist areas.

Top sights

• Inner Harbor – Baltimore's city living room. A harborside promenade links the aquarium, historic ships, and science center, and you can ride a water taxi.
• National Aquarium – One of America's top aquariums. A tropical rainforest under a glass pyramid and the Blacktip Reef shark exhibit are the most popular attrac…
• Fort McHenry National Monument – A star-shaped fort that repelled British bombardment in 1814 and the birthplace of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the U.S. national anthem.
• Fells Point – A historic 18th-century harbor district with cobblestone streets, red-brick row houses, and waterfront bars. A great place to eat blue crab…
• Walters Art Museum – A free-admission general art museum with a rich collection spanning ancient Egyptian mummies, medieval illuminated manuscripts and Asian ar…
• Baltimore Museum of Art – Free admission to the permanent collection, with one of the world's largest Matisse collections and an elegant sculpture garden.
• B&O Railroad Museum – The birthplace of American railroading, with numerous antique steam locomotives displayed inside an 1884 circular engine house.
• Annapolis Historic District – Maryland's state capital, with a colonial-era old town, the State House and a sailboat marina; a classic day trip from Baltimore.
• United States Naval Academy – The cradle of naval officers in Annapolis, where visitors can tour the chapel, the crypt of John Paul Jones and the campus.
• Oriole Park at Camden Yards – The classic ballpark that launched the retro-ballpark trend, and the best place to experience a Baltimore Orioles game.
• American Visionary Art Museum – A whimsical museum devoted to self-taught 'outsider' artists, with a mosaic exterior and inventive installations that catch the eye.
• Washington Monument & Mount Vernon Place – The first large monument in the United States honoring George Washington; climb 227 steps for views over the Mount Vernon neighborhood.
• Federal Hill Park – A hilltop park on the south shore of the Inner Harbor, and a classic spot for photographing Baltimore's skyline and harbor at night.
• Maryland Science Center – A large hands-on science center beside the Inner Harbor, with dinosaur exhibits, a planetarium and an IMAX theater that suit families.
• USS Constellation & Historic Ships in Baltimore – A fleet of historic ships moored in the Inner Harbor; the 1854 full-rigged sailing warship USS Constellation is the highlight, and visitors…
• Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum – The small rowhouse where Edgar Allan Poe, the father of detective fiction, lived in the 1830s; cramped inside but full of nostalgic atmosph…
• Westminster Hall and Burying Ground – Edgar Allan Poe's final resting place, often adorned with raven ornaments and pens and letters left by readers, with a gothic atmosphere.
• Lexington Market – One of America's oldest public markets, open since 1782, with a new hall that opened in 2022 and the famous crab cakes of Faidley's.
• Baltimore Basilica – The first Catholic cathedral in the United States, a neoclassical building designed by Latrobe, with a domed skylit interior of beautiful l…
• Maryland Zoo – One of America's oldest zoos, famous for its African penguin breeding colony and a good half-day outing for families.
• Little Italy – An Italian neighborhood between the Inner Harbor and Fells Point, lined with long-standing restaurants and cannoli bakeries.
• Reginald F. Lewis Museum – One of the largest African American history museums on the East Coast, telling four centuries of Black history in Maryland.
• Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum – The rowhouse where baseball legend Babe Ruth was born, displaying his memorabilia and only a few blocks from Camden Yards.
• Hampden – A neighborhood full of Baltimore's quirky character, with independent shops lining 36th Street and famous for its Christmas light displays.
• Star-Spangled Banner Flag House – The home of Mary Pickersgill, who sewed the giant flag that flew over Fort McHenry; it tells the stories of the flag and the national anthe…
• Johns Hopkins University (Homewood Campus) – The main campus of the United States' first research university, with red-brick Georgian buildings and green quads, a popular spot for phot…

Where to eat

• Faidley's Seafood – A legendary Lexington Market stall founded in 1886, famous for its hand-formed jumbo lump crab cakes—the ultimate taste…
• Attman's Delicatessen – A historic Jewish deli opened in 1915 on Corned Beef Row, serving thick-cut corned beef sandwiches that define the flav…
• Thames Street Oyster House – A popular waterfront oyster bar in Fells Point, featured on Baltimore Magazine's 2026 Best Restaurants list.
• L.P. Steamers – A neighborhood crab house in Locust Point where you can crack steamed crabs with wooden mallets on the rooftop deck for…
• Charleston – Chef Cindy Wolf's white-tablecloth destination in Harbor East, where the 3-to-6-course prix fixe menu represents the pi…
• Ekiben (Fells Point) – A popular local Asian fusion fast-casual spot, famous for its Taiwanese curry fried chicken steamed buns and tempura br…

Itineraries

• New Jersey to Delmarva Coastal Highway – Head south along the Atlantic from boardwalk towns to Cape May, take the ferry to Delaware, and see wild horses.
• Washington, D.C. to Shenandoah & Colonial Triangle – Head north from Washington, D.C. to historic battlefields, drive along the Skyline Drive on the Blue Ridge, and visit C…