Top Things to Do in Baltimore and How to Get There

Top Things to Do in Baltimore and How to Get There

Baltimore's best-known attractions are clustered more tightly than visitors expect, but the city's one-way streets, stadium-event traffic and limited downtown parking make the "how to get there" question worth answering before the "what to see" one. Here is both.

Inner Harbor

The Inner Harbor is Baltimore's visitor center of gravity — the National Aquarium, the Maryland Science Center, the USS Constellation and a dense cluster of restaurants all sit within a short walk of each other on the waterfront. Parking garages ring the harbor but fill quickly on weekends and during Light City or New Year's Eve events; a drop-off at the harbor's edge avoids the garage search entirely.

National Aquarium

One of the city's signature attractions, and often the single biggest driver of Inner Harbor weekend traffic. Timed-entry tickets are worth booking ahead, and a direct drop-off at the aquarium's entrance beats circling for street parking that mostly does not exist nearby.

Fort McHenry National Monument

The birthplace of "The Star-Spangled Banner" sits a few miles south of downtown on its own peninsula, with a visitor-friendly layout but a single access road that can back up during special events and summer weekends. See our dedicated Fort McHenry transportation page for specifics on timing a visit around the site's event calendar.

Fells Point

Baltimore's historic waterfront neighborhood of cobblestone streets, independent shops and a dense restaurant and bar scene. Parking is genuinely difficult here, especially on weekend evenings, and the neighborhood's narrow one-way streets are not forgiving for an unfamiliar driver — a reason many visitors choose to be dropped at the door rather than park at all.

Oriole Park at Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium

Baltimore's side-by-side sports campus hosts the Orioles and Ravens, and on a game day the surrounding blocks become a controlled, police-managed traffic zone with expensive, limited parking. See our dedicated pages for Camden Yards and M&T Bank Stadium transportation — a pre-arranged drop-off and pickup is the single biggest stress-reducer on a game day.

American Visionary Art Museum

A smaller, idiosyncratic museum on Federal Hill, worth the visit for anyone interested in outsider and folk art, and a short hop from the Inner Harbor by car — though Federal Hill's residential streets have limited street parking of their own.

Federal Hill Park

A short, steep walk up from the Inner Harbor with one of the city's best skyline and harbor views, particularly at sunset. The surrounding Federal Hill neighborhood has a busy restaurant row of its own worth pairing with the visit.

The Maryland Zoo

North of downtown in Druid Hill Park, the Maryland Zoo is a full-day destination for families and sits far enough from the Inner Harbor cluster that it is worth planning as its own trip rather than squeezing in alongside a harbor day. See our Maryland Zoo transportation page for details.

Baltimore Museum of Industry and the Baltimore Museum of Art

Two very different museums — the Museum of Industry covers the city's working-class and manufacturing history on the waterfront near Fells Point, while the Baltimore Museum of Art sits near Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus, a short drive but a genuinely different part of the city from the Inner Harbor cluster.

The Easiest Way to See Several of These in One Day

Because Baltimore's attractions split roughly into a downtown/Inner Harbor cluster and a scattered set of outlying sites (the Zoo, Fort McHenry, BMA), the most efficient way to see several in a single day is hourly as-directed service — one chauffeur and vehicle staying with you between stops, rather than hunting for parking at each one individually. It is also the simplest way to handle a day that starts or ends at BWI.

Planning a Baltimore sightseeing day, with or without an airport connection? Request a quote or call 877-609-1919 for hourly or point-to-point service anywhere in the city.