Ozzidoc

I'm accompanying other half who will be at a conference, so I need suggestions as to what Baltimore and surrounds has to offer.

kingfisher241049

Baltimore harbor is good, with malls, water trips, and other stuff. We were there last year, for a day, and quite enjoyed it. Try a google search for baltimore tourism, and see what else is on offer. We only had time for the harbor.

http://www.baltimore.org/

NC Penguin

If you're going to be there that long, why not visit DC for the day?


NC Penguin

mdyoung

Depends on how much time you have. If you just have the day the Inner Harbor area is safest place to hang out. Have Hard Rock Cafe, ESPN Zone, couple shopping and eating pavilions.

If you want to shop the Arundel Mills mall up I-295 is huge. Take you about 20/25 minutes to get there from downtown Baltimore.

If you like baseball and the Orioles are in town you could catch a game in the evening.

If you have more than one day heading down to DC is an option.

Kate2112

There's not a great deal to do in Baltimore apart from the harbour area and many areas are frankly not that safe to walk around.

Definitely get to DC as you have a few days. The National Mall and the Smithsonian museums (practically all free) are excellent.

Annapolis is close to both and is quite pretty. 1/2 a day there will be more than ample.

mdyoung

Annapolis is safer than Baltimore, but not much there either.

DC is the place the go if you have the time. If you go don't drive into DC. Take the Metro in from either Greenbelt or New Carrolton.

Ozzidoc

Thanks everyone - really appreciate it.

We're going to DC on Thursday, so that's one day sorted at least.

Looks like I'll be pottering about a bit in the daytime then.....thought that might be the case.

Cheers

Warrington Wolf

Fort McHenry is in Baltimore. It's where the national anthem words were penned after the British bombardment of Baltimore during the 1812 war (although the score is from a former British drinking song).

It's well worth a visit although it'll only take up about 2 hours. Just make sure that you stand when the national anthem is played during the presentation - we didn't and got scowled at.

Baltimore is much safer than it used to be but just take care, as in any city.

I'll second that about Annapolis - the only thing there is the Navy Academy and a couple of 'olde worlde' streets. Worth a look if you've nothing else to do.

kingfisher241049

Might be a good idea to leave your car in Alexandria, VA and get the Metro over to DC. Parking in DC is a challenge at the best of times and the DC police actively enforce parking regs.

Getting around DC is pretty easy, maybe try the tour bus, which takes you all around Arlington Cemetery and all around DC. You can get on and off the bus as much as you like. (http://www.tourmobile.com/index.php) A river cruise might be nice too, we went on the Capitol Cruises boat and had a pretty nice 30 minutes or so seeing the sights of DC by boat ( http://www.capitolrivercruises.com/)

Just a couple of suggestions for you.

suzimc

The harbour is nice, and the aquarium is very good, I would highly recommend it. If it's busy they will sell tickets in advance so it might be worth checking out early. My aunt took me to Lexington mrket in Baltimore some years ago. From vague memory it wasn't in the best part of town, and probably not the place to hang about in alone, but it was an eye opening experience. Baltimore is supposed to have got safer in the last few years, but personally I only felt completely ok in the inner harbour area.

There is so much to do in DC that it might be worth making a couple of day trips there if you have time to spare, I am sure you wouldn't run out of things to do.

suzimc

Alexandria is probably worth a half day visit too. The metro is 5 - 6 stops into DC from here.

kingfisher241049

Absolutely, we stayed at the Hilton Hotel in Alexandria, just across from the metro. If you use the metro, use the BLUE LINE to go to DC from Alexandria.

Ray

Homicide .Life on the Street ..said it all ........

mdyoung

If coming from Baltimore it makes more sense to pick up the Green Line in Greenbelt or the Orange Line in New Carrolton.

mdyoung

Lexington Market in the daytime is probably OK, since a lot of people go there for lunch, just don't be around when it gets dark. You would want to take the Lightrail. In fact you might want to take the Lightrail to the end at Hunt Valley and checkout Wegmans grocery store. I think they have a U.K. food section, so you might be able to score your favorite cookie. LOL

I live just outside of Baltimore and hardly ever go far into the city, since anything I want can be found in a much safer area outside of the city.