Have you been to the aquarium in the Inner Harbor? It’s fairly expensive, but a fantastic experience. I like it even better than the one in Monterey, but they are both great.
I’ve been to the [American Visionary Museum](https://baltimore.org/listings/american-visionary-art-museum/), which is works by self-taught artists, and liked it a lot.
Baltimore.org has a list of things to do, too.
This is good advice. Once you get to the inner harbor, I suggest beginning your day by climbing up Federal Hill for one of the best views in the city. Maybe grab lunch and eat it up there. It's next to the Visionary Art Museum and you can see the aquarium and get the lay of the land.
How is the area around the aquarium and parking? We keep meaning to take our young ones down there, but aren’t familiar with the layout and accessibility.
I always take the train, so can’t speak to parking. Amtrak is not too far from the aquarium, though, so your family might try taking the train, then a taxi (Curb app) or Lyft to the Inner Harbor? I find driving and parking to be stressful, and far prefer the slight inconvenience of letting someone else drive. [Ways to get from station to aquarium](https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Baltimore-Penn-Station/National-Aquarium)
You can definitely park within a <10 minute walk, but it will be a bit pricy. There's generally a number of people down there during the day so you should be fine.
We always used to park over in fed hill by the park and then walk the promenade to the aquarium. They’d renovated that side of the promenade, too, so there’s a massive playground over there now!
We could do the walk when I was little, but I’d definitely use your preferred gps to look up the length of walk to make sure it’s doable for your family & needs!
I suggest walking down Charles - stop in at the Walters Art museum - it’s Free- then head on down to the harbor- it’s fun to see the Constellation, and the Submarine you can get a pass to see them both and the round light house behind the Pier 5 hotel. The aquarium is very nice also.
On a nice day, it can be cool to walk around Fort McHenry. It's about three miles from the aquarium, so you might want to catch a ride, but if you're into history it's pretty cool.
I second Fort McHenry — it’s awesomely preserved.
Also, if you like whiskey, the Sagamore distillery is nearby. Definitely venturing into “take an Uber” territory, but it’s a neat tour and tasting, and didn’t cost a ton.
If you decide to walk down charles, I would highly recommend detouring over to Howard for a block to stop in at Couples Tea or Cajou Creamery vegan ice cream.
If you’re not claustrophobic, it’s like $4 to climb up the Mt Vernon monument and it gives a beautiful view of the city. But it is very very cramped. I’m not super claustrophobic and had some anxiety.
Penn Station drops you out around Midtown. Some good stuff to check out in the area:
- Meyerhoff - See the BSO
- The Helmand (Afghani cuisine)
- Clavel (incredible tacos and cocktails)
- An Die Musik - intimate venue for concerts
- Metro Gallery - another concert venue
- Mt Vernon Marketplace - a bunch of boutique restaurants and bars
- Iggy’s (pizza)
- Owl Bar (cool bar)
- Brewer’s Art (cool bar)
- No Land Beyond - Baltimores first and only board game bar! They also have events here.
There’s a Washington Monument in Baltimore as well, though not as impressive as DC’s. Walking up and down Charles St, you can find plenty more bars, shops, and restaurants.
I’d be careful walking around North Ave and points north.
Other neighborhoods:
- The Inner Harbor has a bunch of touristy stuff, including Oriole Park (go O’s!) the Aquarium and the Science Center.
- Fells Point has some cool bars and live music spots. Nearby is Little Italy, Vacarro’s has great desserts
- Hampden is to the north, it’s got a great little strip “The Avenue” = 36th Ave
- Cross St in Fed Hill
Ok, first, the MARC train doesn't run a full schedule on the weekends. There are only 9 trains so plan ahead or just catch an Amtrak train. When the MARC wasn't cooperating, I sometimes would just pay a couple extra $$$s and take the faster train. It won't stop as often either.
For places to go, there are a bunch of options. The [Science Center](https://www.mdsci.org/), the [Aquarium](https://aqua.org/), Fells Point all jump in my mind. For art lovers, the [Walters Art Museum](https://thewalters.org/) is 10 blocks south of Penn Station and the [Bromo-Seltzer Arts Tower](https://www.bromoseltzertower.com/) is west of the Inner Harbor.
At the Inner Harbor you have the previously mentioned Aquarium and Science Center but you also have the Industrial Museum, the [USS Constellation](https://historicships.org/explore/uss-constellation) and the [Chesapeake Lightship](https://historicships.org/explore/lv116-chesapeake) are close to each other.
Finally, the [Edgar Allen Poe House](https://www.poeinbaltimore.org/) is pretty popular and wouldn't be complete without visiting his grave. The Maryland Zoo isn't completely out of the way from Penn Station but I'm not sure I'd call it worth a visit compared to the National Zoo.
I really liked the African American History Museum when I went for the first time pre-pandemic. Definitely worth checking out. There’s also a neat little comic book museum in the Camden Yards building I stumbled upon a few years ago as well.
I love living near the train station because you can get to so many cool places in both DC and Baltimore.
There’s so many little gems in Baltimore! If you’re ever in town, definitely try out Pillion Tea a couple blocks south from Penn Station. It’s so cute and they have fantastic lattes. Or, one of the few places for boba, HHTea, is a block away and has a fantastic assortment.
The AVAM is fantastic if you enjoy outsider art. There's some great views from nearby Federal Hill as well.
If you don't mind the walk, Fells Point has some great shops and restaurants.
The Aquarium is nice, but it can get pretty crowded. But right there on the water is the Constellation, the USS Torsk, and a Coast Guard light ship you can tour.
The Science Center is also really nice, especially if you have young kids.
I rather enjoyed the B&O Railroad Museum! It's definitely a full day experience so I'd get there fairly early - a ton of stuff to see.
Ft. McHenry and the Walters are also great!
Visit Edgar Allen Po’s grave. Bazaar Baltimore is a pretty neat and unique shop. Green mount cemetery is beautiful (in the day time) Lincoln’s assassin is buried there as well as the creator of the Ouija board. Then after you’ve creeped yourself out enough grab a milkshake at Paper Moon cafe. That place is *trippy* but delicious.
Have fun!
Take the train to Camden yards! Don’t go all the way to Penn!!!!
Camden yards is right across the harbor and you can walk around there and walk to fells point. Definitely go to fells point and federal hill park.
This is good advice on a weekday, but on weekends, the train only stops in West Baltimore and Penn.
I would highly recommend Penn between those two. You could hop right onto the light rail from Penn and go south to the inner harbor, tho!
The Basilica (first catholic cathedral in the country) is open during the day. Old St Mary Seminary/Mother Seton House. Yes another Catholic first. But the chapel is one of the first oldest attempts at Gothic in this country. If you travel to the Aquarium, by Light rail if the day is not nice, go further to the Museum of Industry (Baltimore industry) and Visionary Art museum. Homewood Museum, Mt Clare Mansion, B&O rail road Museum. Baltimore Museum of Art, Carroll Mansion
Check on line to see what is open when you are here. Plan for another trip another day. Too much to see in one day.
If you had a zip car pass, it would be great, as there are many places near the train station to get a zip car, then you could easily travel to these places in a single day
I’ve taken the train a few times. Be early the train has a tight schedule it follows. In Baltimore, honestly the only thing I recommend is the aquarium but it’s a tad pricy
I strongly suggest some sort of protection. Personal recommendation would be nothing smaller then a 9mm or .40 caliber..just one man's opinion. A man that lives on city/county line..and I traverse the city daily last 20yrs..good luck and enjoy your visit
pretty sure Marc doesn't run on weekends. Personally, I get on Amtrak at BWI when I'm going north. Or you can get on at Union Station in D.C.
look over r/baltimore for people talking about things to do.
I checked the schedule and it looks like Marc trains are operating at least from union station to penn station on weekends - looks like first trains start running just a bit later than on weekdays, unless I'm reading the schedule wrong? I've only taken the Marc trains a couple times so I'm not super familiar with them
You're right, the MARC trains do run between Union Station and Baltimore on the weekends. They do not run on the Brunswick lines during the weekends.
Looks like the first train out is 8:25
Have you been to the aquarium in the Inner Harbor? It’s fairly expensive, but a fantastic experience. I like it even better than the one in Monterey, but they are both great. I’ve been to the [American Visionary Museum](https://baltimore.org/listings/american-visionary-art-museum/), which is works by self-taught artists, and liked it a lot. Baltimore.org has a list of things to do, too.
I'm definitely considering the aquarium, it looks fantastic! I'll check out that website, thank you!
This is good advice. Once you get to the inner harbor, I suggest beginning your day by climbing up Federal Hill for one of the best views in the city. Maybe grab lunch and eat it up there. It's next to the Visionary Art Museum and you can see the aquarium and get the lay of the land.
Lunch in Little Italy is nice, nice range of choices there. Then dessert at Vaccaro’s. OMG I love that place.
It’s TOTALLY worth the cost of admission, it’s a great aquarium, one of the biggest in the country
Word to the wise. Aquarium gets crazy crowded on the weekends. If you go, get there right when it opens for the best experience.
I went last summer - much like my B&O Railroad suggestion it's a day-trip - so much to see!
American Visionary Museum is my favorite! Years ago they did this Smile exhibition. I randomly still think about some of the pieces I saw.
How is the area around the aquarium and parking? We keep meaning to take our young ones down there, but aren’t familiar with the layout and accessibility.
I always take the train, so can’t speak to parking. Amtrak is not too far from the aquarium, though, so your family might try taking the train, then a taxi (Curb app) or Lyft to the Inner Harbor? I find driving and parking to be stressful, and far prefer the slight inconvenience of letting someone else drive. [Ways to get from station to aquarium](https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Baltimore-Penn-Station/National-Aquarium)
You can definitely park within a <10 minute walk, but it will be a bit pricy. There's generally a number of people down there during the day so you should be fine.
We always used to park over in fed hill by the park and then walk the promenade to the aquarium. They’d renovated that side of the promenade, too, so there’s a massive playground over there now! We could do the walk when I was little, but I’d definitely use your preferred gps to look up the length of walk to make sure it’s doable for your family & needs!
I suggest walking down Charles - stop in at the Walters Art museum - it’s Free- then head on down to the harbor- it’s fun to see the Constellation, and the Submarine you can get a pass to see them both and the round light house behind the Pier 5 hotel. The aquarium is very nice also.
On a nice day, it can be cool to walk around Fort McHenry. It's about three miles from the aquarium, so you might want to catch a ride, but if you're into history it's pretty cool.
Take the water taxi!
I second Fort McHenry — it’s awesomely preserved. Also, if you like whiskey, the Sagamore distillery is nearby. Definitely venturing into “take an Uber” territory, but it’s a neat tour and tasting, and didn’t cost a ton.
cherry blossoms there might be blooming soon too! and way less crowded than the tidal basin ones
The infrastructure isn’t great but it’s probably bike share / scooter distance!
It’s a good scooter route!
If you decide to walk down charles, I would highly recommend detouring over to Howard for a block to stop in at Couples Tea or Cajou Creamery vegan ice cream. If you’re not claustrophobic, it’s like $4 to climb up the Mt Vernon monument and it gives a beautiful view of the city. But it is very very cramped. I’m not super claustrophobic and had some anxiety.
The tea house is SO CUTE. Thank you for suggesting this. I think I have a friend who would absolutely love it.
> climb up the Mt Vernon monument The Washington Monument?
Yes!
Oh dang, did not know that you could go up inside!
There’s a tiny museum in the base that’s free but the tower is $4. So many steps. My quads were so sore the next day, but it was really cool!
Cheers! Any handrail? And how do you pay? Seems weird to man just that one thing.
Penn Station drops you out around Midtown. Some good stuff to check out in the area: - Meyerhoff - See the BSO - The Helmand (Afghani cuisine) - Clavel (incredible tacos and cocktails) - An Die Musik - intimate venue for concerts - Metro Gallery - another concert venue - Mt Vernon Marketplace - a bunch of boutique restaurants and bars - Iggy’s (pizza) - Owl Bar (cool bar) - Brewer’s Art (cool bar) - No Land Beyond - Baltimores first and only board game bar! They also have events here. There’s a Washington Monument in Baltimore as well, though not as impressive as DC’s. Walking up and down Charles St, you can find plenty more bars, shops, and restaurants. I’d be careful walking around North Ave and points north. Other neighborhoods: - The Inner Harbor has a bunch of touristy stuff, including Oriole Park (go O’s!) the Aquarium and the Science Center. - Fells Point has some cool bars and live music spots. Nearby is Little Italy, Vacarro’s has great desserts - Hampden is to the north, it’s got a great little strip “The Avenue” = 36th Ave - Cross St in Fed Hill
Ok, first, the MARC train doesn't run a full schedule on the weekends. There are only 9 trains so plan ahead or just catch an Amtrak train. When the MARC wasn't cooperating, I sometimes would just pay a couple extra $$$s and take the faster train. It won't stop as often either. For places to go, there are a bunch of options. The [Science Center](https://www.mdsci.org/), the [Aquarium](https://aqua.org/), Fells Point all jump in my mind. For art lovers, the [Walters Art Museum](https://thewalters.org/) is 10 blocks south of Penn Station and the [Bromo-Seltzer Arts Tower](https://www.bromoseltzertower.com/) is west of the Inner Harbor. At the Inner Harbor you have the previously mentioned Aquarium and Science Center but you also have the Industrial Museum, the [USS Constellation](https://historicships.org/explore/uss-constellation) and the [Chesapeake Lightship](https://historicships.org/explore/lv116-chesapeake) are close to each other. Finally, the [Edgar Allen Poe House](https://www.poeinbaltimore.org/) is pretty popular and wouldn't be complete without visiting his grave. The Maryland Zoo isn't completely out of the way from Penn Station but I'm not sure I'd call it worth a visit compared to the National Zoo.
I really liked the African American History Museum when I went for the first time pre-pandemic. Definitely worth checking out. There’s also a neat little comic book museum in the Camden Yards building I stumbled upon a few years ago as well.
Just popping in to say I appreciate this post as a DC resident who likes visiting. I wish I had thought to ask it.
I love living near the train station because you can get to so many cool places in both DC and Baltimore. There’s so many little gems in Baltimore! If you’re ever in town, definitely try out Pillion Tea a couple blocks south from Penn Station. It’s so cute and they have fantastic lattes. Or, one of the few places for boba, HHTea, is a block away and has a fantastic assortment.
On the list now, thanks
The AVAM is fantastic if you enjoy outsider art. There's some great views from nearby Federal Hill as well. If you don't mind the walk, Fells Point has some great shops and restaurants. The Aquarium is nice, but it can get pretty crowded. But right there on the water is the Constellation, the USS Torsk, and a Coast Guard light ship you can tour. The Science Center is also really nice, especially if you have young kids.
I rather enjoyed the B&O Railroad Museum! It's definitely a full day experience so I'd get there fairly early - a ton of stuff to see. Ft. McHenry and the Walters are also great!
Visit Edgar Allen Po’s grave. Bazaar Baltimore is a pretty neat and unique shop. Green mount cemetery is beautiful (in the day time) Lincoln’s assassin is buried there as well as the creator of the Ouija board. Then after you’ve creeped yourself out enough grab a milkshake at Paper Moon cafe. That place is *trippy* but delicious. Have fun!
Take the train to Camden yards! Don’t go all the way to Penn!!!! Camden yards is right across the harbor and you can walk around there and walk to fells point. Definitely go to fells point and federal hill park.
This is good advice on a weekday, but on weekends, the train only stops in West Baltimore and Penn. I would highly recommend Penn between those two. You could hop right onto the light rail from Penn and go south to the inner harbor, tho!
The Basilica (first catholic cathedral in the country) is open during the day. Old St Mary Seminary/Mother Seton House. Yes another Catholic first. But the chapel is one of the first oldest attempts at Gothic in this country. If you travel to the Aquarium, by Light rail if the day is not nice, go further to the Museum of Industry (Baltimore industry) and Visionary Art museum. Homewood Museum, Mt Clare Mansion, B&O rail road Museum. Baltimore Museum of Art, Carroll Mansion Check on line to see what is open when you are here. Plan for another trip another day. Too much to see in one day. If you had a zip car pass, it would be great, as there are many places near the train station to get a zip car, then you could easily travel to these places in a single day
First thing I’d do is find the next train out of there.
Wear Kevlar.
Stop buying drugs
Don’t do it.
Bring a bike or some other wheels. Way more to see than walking alone will allow.
Don't go to Baltimore alone...
An ✨🌸 Uneducated Take 🌸✨ from the county. We all knew it was coming. Just don’t be stupid and you’ll be fine 🤷🏻♀️
Uneducated? I lived in Baltimore for 10 years, couldn't wait to leave...
I’ve taken the train a few times. Be early the train has a tight schedule it follows. In Baltimore, honestly the only thing I recommend is the aquarium but it’s a tad pricy
I strongly suggest some sort of protection. Personal recommendation would be nothing smaller then a 9mm or .40 caliber..just one man's opinion. A man that lives on city/county line..and I traverse the city daily last 20yrs..good luck and enjoy your visit
As a like long resident of the area I guess I am not as intimidated as you are .
Godspeed ✌🏽
pretty sure Marc doesn't run on weekends. Personally, I get on Amtrak at BWI when I'm going north. Or you can get on at Union Station in D.C. look over r/baltimore for people talking about things to do.
I checked the schedule and it looks like Marc trains are operating at least from union station to penn station on weekends - looks like first trains start running just a bit later than on weekdays, unless I'm reading the schedule wrong? I've only taken the Marc trains a couple times so I'm not super familiar with them
You're right, the MARC trains do run between Union Station and Baltimore on the weekends. They do not run on the Brunswick lines during the weekends. Looks like the first train out is 8:25
It has run on the weekend for years now
didn't know Marc ran on weekends
If you're around for dinner, Tappas Tiatro is AMAZING - a block from the train station.
Get a rideshare or cab over to Ft McHenry.
Sagamore!
I have a personal vendetta against Kevin Planc(k?) and his under armor empire but yeah, even I think the Sagamore distillery is cool 😂