Baltimore

Once among the most important port towns in America, Baltimore – or 'Bawlmer' to locals – is a city of contradictions. It remains a defiant, working-class city tied to its nautical past, but in recent years has earned acclaim for impressive, up-to-the-minute entrepreneurial ventures, from new boutique hotels and edgy exhibits at world-class museums to forgotten neighborhoods now bustling with trendy food courts and farm-to-table restaurants. Traditionalists shouldn't worry, though – local culture and hometown sports, from lacrosse to baseball, remain part of the appeal.

Best Time to Visit

Day Trips

Attractions

Must-see attractions

American Visionary Art Museum

Baltimore

Housing a jaw-dropping collection of self-taught (or 'outsider' art), American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) is a celebration of unbridled creativity…
Evergreen Museum & Library

Baltimore

Well worth the 7-mile drive north from the Inner Harbor, this grand 19th-century mansion provides a fascinating glimpse into upper-class Baltimore life of…
National Aquarium

Baltimore

Standing seven stories high and capped by a glass pyramid, this is widely considered to be America's best aquarium, with almost 20,000 creatures from more…
Edgar Allan Poe's Gravesite

Baltimore

Horror writer and poet, Edgar Allan Poe was buried (twice) on the grounds of Westminster Hall. His body was first deposited in an unmarked grave behind…
Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic Shrine

Baltimore

On September 13 and 14, 1814, this star-shaped fort successfully repelled a British navy attack during the Battle of Baltimore. After a long night of…
Walters Art Museum

Baltimore

The magnificent Chamber of Art & Wonders re-creates the library of an imagined 17th-century scholar, one with a taste for the exotic. The abutting Hall of…
National Great Blacks in Wax Museum

Baltimore

This simple but thought-provoking African American history museum has exhibits spotlighting Frederick Douglass, Jackie Robinson, Dr Martin Luther King Jr…
Maryland Historical Society

Baltimore

With more than 350,000 objects and seven million books and documents, this is among the world's largest collections of Americana. Highlights include one…