Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
Sorry! We don't have any recommendations for Baltimore right now.
Visiting Baltimore without seeing the Inner Harbor is like touring New York City and skipping Manhattan. The harbor and surrounding area are home to a good number of the city's most popular sites: the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Camden Yards, M&T Bank Stadium, the American Visionary Arts Museum, and The Maryland Science Center.
The neighborhoods themselves are fun to explore. Historic Federal Hill, just south of the Inner Harbor, is home to some of the oldest houses in the city. Fells Point and Canton, farther east, are lively waterfront communities. Mount Vernon and Charles Village have wide avenues lined with grand old row houses that were once home to Baltimore's wealthiest residents. Farther north are Roland Park (Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. contributed to its planning), Guilford, Homeland, and Mt. Washington, all leafy, residential neighborhoods with cottages, large Victorian houses, and redbrick Colonials. It's easy to tour the Inner Harbor and neighborhoods such as Mount Vernon, Federal Hill, Charles Village, and Fells Point on foot. To travel between areas or farther out, however, the light rail or a car is more efficient. Most of the Inner Harbor's parking is in nearby garages, though meters can be found along Key Highway. In other neighborhoods, you can generally find meters and two-hour free parking on the street.
Built in 1812 for $40,000, this green-dome structure has been used for teaching medicine for nearly two centuries. Part of the downtown campus of the University of Maryland at Baltimore, Davidge Hall is a relic of the days when dissection was illegal; the acoustically perfect anatomy theater was lighted by skylights instead of windows so that passersby would not witness students working on cadavers. Register for tours via the website.
The only remaining tower of three of this type that once existed in Baltimore, this brick structure was used to make shot pellets by pouring molten lead from the top. As the drops fell, they formed balls that turned solid in cold water at the bottom. In the summer months the tower may close due to heat.
With 32 stories, Baltimore's World Trade Center, designed by I.M. Pei's firm, is the world's tallest pentagonal structure. The 27th-floor "Top of the World" observation deck allows an unobstructed view of Baltimore and beyond from a height of 423 feet.
Sign up for Travel Tips & News
Thank you for your interest!
