Baltimore
A great port on Chesapeake Bay where blue crab is eaten with a mallet on newspaper, and where the fort that held out against the British in 1814 gave the United States its national anthem. Between the cobbled quays of Fells Point, one of the largest aquariums in the country, two free art museums and the birthplace of the American railway, the city can be explored on foot and costs less than its neighbours Washington and Philadelphia.
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Baltimore · Photo M-DESIGNZ LLC / Pexels
Things to do in Baltimore in 4 days
Day 1
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Under the glass pyramid on Pier 3, spiral ramps climb around an Indo-Pacific coral reef with blacktip sharks up to a rainforest under the roof, where sloths, tamarins and birds roam free.
💡 Entry is by time slot: book online and arrive at opening time, or on a Friday evening, when the aquarium closes later. Allow three hours. Price: $49.95, about €43, for ages 21 to 69; $39.95, about €34, for ages 5 to 20 and over 70; free for under-4s.
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The old harbour ringed by a brick promenade, with four museum ships including the USS Constellation of 1854 and the Taney, the last ship afloat that fought at Pearl Harbor, overlooked by Federal Hill Park.
💡 Walk round in the late afternoon, climb Federal Hill Park at sunset, then take the water taxi to Fells Point. The ships can be visited with a ticket per ship or a pass, on sale at the Constellation kiosk. Price: free promenade; paid entry to the ships.
Thaidragon27 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Day 2
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A museum unique in the United States, devoted to self-taught artists, with matchstick sculptures, embroidered dresses and giant models in mirror-mosaic rooms, and a 17-metre whirligig by Vollis Simpson outside.
💡 Open Wednesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Go round all three buildings, including the neighbouring former whiskey warehouse, and look at the mosaic-covered façades. Combine it with Federal Hill Park, five minutes away. Price: $20, about €17; $11, about €9, for children from age 7 and students.
Sarah Stierch / CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)Learn moreMore
The 1763 waterfront district that built the Baltimore clippers, with cobbled streets, narrow brick houses and dozens of bars open since the 19th century, where the young Frederick Douglass once worked as a caulker.
💡 Come by water taxi from the Inner Harbor, and stay for the evening, when the bars fill up. The oyster bars around Thames Street serve from noon. At weekends, the square hosts markets and concerts. Price: free.
APK / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Day 3
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The star-shaped fort that withstood 25 hours of British bombardment in 1814, inspiring Francis Scott Key to write The Star-Spangled Banner, with barracks, powder magazine and ramparts facing the water.
💡 Go by water taxi in season, or by car, 5 km from the harbour. The grounds and the visitor centre are free, only the fort itself charges, with no cash accepted: bring a card. Stay for the raising or lowering of the flag, carried out by the rangers. Price: $15, about €13, from age 16, valid for 7 days; free for under-16s.
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A free museum spanning five thousand years of art, from Egyptian mummies to Manet and Monet, beside Mount Vernon Place and the first monument raised to George Washington, a marble column of 1829.
💡 Entry is free, Wednesday to Sunday; on Thursdays, the museum opens in the afternoon and closes later. After your visit, step into the George Peabody Library next door for its reading room with five tiers of cast-iron balconies, when it is open to the public, and climb to the top of the monument when the staircase is accessible. Price: free museum.
Dylan k / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
Day 4
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The former B&O Railroad Museum, in the Mount Clare workshops where America's first commercial railway began, with an 1884 roundhouse full of 19th-century locomotives around a turntable.
💡 Open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Add the short train ride on the country's first railway line, sold separately on site according to the timetable. On the second Wednesday of the month, entry drops to $10. Price: $20, about €17; $12, about €10, for children.
Hassan Albadawi / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)Learn moreMore
The city's great free museum, famous for the Cone collection of more than a thousand works by Matisse, bought directly from the artist by two Baltimore sisters, with sculpture gardens featuring Rodin and Calder.
💡 Open Wednesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., until 9 p.m. on Thursdays. Book a free ticket online or at the front desk; only temporary exhibitions charge. A ride-hailing car or the bus gets you there in 15 minutes from the harbour. Price: free.
Baltimore Heritage from Baltimore, MD, USA / CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)"Book" (hotels) and "via GetYourGuide" (activities) are affiliate links (Booking, GetYourGuide). Prices, times and distances are approximate.
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Good to know before you go
🍽️ Must-try food
Burgers and barbecue
brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl
the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
Mexican food
tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
Pancakes and weekend brunch
a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
Dishes to look for in the good places: Baltimore.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
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The little details that make all the difference once you're there.
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