Advice on Planning Trip to Baltimore's Inner Harbor

Go on trip advisor and you will get some good feedback on the hotels in the Balto. area. And eat a lot of crab cakes and steamed crabs - they don't get any better than in Baltimore.

Baltimore has a fun science museum that is very kid-friendly and it is right there on the Inner Harbor area -- be sure to see it and find its web site for kids' demonstrations, planetarium show times, etc..

And yes, Fort McHenry is interesting if the kids are at all into history; it's a War of 1812 site and could give both kids and adults a chance to learn more about one of the country's largely forgotten wars. You can take a water taxi there but don't have to, if the water taxi expense or schedule doesn't work for you; it's only a few minutes' drive from the harbor area.

The Inner Harbor itself has some wonderful ships and submarines to visit! Be sure to see the Constellation sailing ship and the sub that is next to the National Aquarium.

The Inner Harbor to many folks just means the two rather outdated malls that sit right by the water. Frankly they're boring, loud and crowded, and the food is lousy. For a real Baltimore experience, walk just past the Harbor to Little Italy, an area with lots of small, local Italian restaurants (but read menus first; some are cheaper family places but others are more expensive despite being in a tiny, old residential area). It's full of tiny, classically Baltimore rowhouses with restaurants dotted among them.

Baltimore has lots of unusual museums -- the Museum of Public Works (called the "sewer museum" by our family) is easy walking distance from Inner Harbor. There is a fairly new museum of Maryland's African-American history, also very close. There's a small Civil War site at an old rail station just steps away from the sewer museum. There's a transportation museum, a Babe Ruth site of some sort (haven't been there)....do some more online research for Baltimore museums. If some in your party like art, the Walters museum is also close by; it has collections including arms and armor that might be of interest to the kids, and has some kids' programs at times.

If the kids like baseball, visit Orioles Park which is partly constructed using old warehouses that were on the site; however, with only a short time in town, you might not want to spend time on a long baseball game.

Be aware that Baltimore, like any large city, has areas that you just don't want to go into; you do need to take care when outside the tourist areas. Look at TripAdvisor for lodging ideas, but generally speaking, the farther out you stay, the longer and messier it'll be to get into the area you want. I would stay somewhere right at the Inner Harbor though it will be expensive. If you stay out the suburbs it's doable but will eat time as you drive in each day.

Baltimore is a fun town. We live in the DC suburbs and do day trips there sometimes. Enjoy yourselves. As for DC, it's so much easier to find out about what's on there that I'll leave that up to your research, but be certain to go to www.si.edu, which is the Smithsonian's web site. Remember -- "The Smithsonian" is not one museum but many museums, so take time to look carefully at the listings for all of them at the "museums and zoo" tab on the SI web site. The kids might like the natural history museum but also the American history museum, and the zoo has a new elephant house.... Again, it's a big city, so pay attention to where you stay -- the area around the Mall is fine but you pay for it.

By the way the Air and Space Museum another person mentioned is great, but she is referring to one of two different locations. She's talking about the Udvar-Hazy museum located a good 30 minutes outside DC, and it has a space shuttle (actually two now, I think), a Concorde plane, Enola Gay, etc. The Air and Space Museum right in Washington has plenty else (rockets, Imax theatre, Lindbergh's plane, etc.) but I wanted you to know that they're two different facilities quite a distance apart. If you intend to stay right in DC and drive as little as you can, you might want to think hard before making the trek to the Udvar-Hazy, but it is great if you or the kids really adore aircraft. Just wanted to be sure you knew there are two "Air and Space Museums" so you're not confused. There used to be a shuttle bus between them but alas, no more.

Ride the water taxi out to Ft. McHenry..... several years ago, we got on the water taxi in the morning at Fells Point, rode to Ft. McHenry, stayed there a couple of hours, then rode to Inner Harbor and wandered around, then took the water taxi back to Fells Point... you can get an all day pass, rather than pay each trip.

We just got back from Baltimore a few weeks ago for my daughter's graduation.... we only had 1 day for "touristy" stuff, so we drove down to DC to see the National Air and Space museum at Dulles..... VERY neat place.... it has the Enola Gay, the Discovery space shuttle, and one of the SR-71 Blackbird planes. The museum itself is free, but parking is $15. You can often get in on a free tour of the museum... a really great way to visit. I think the tour itself took about 3 hours.

As far as where to stay, I can't really help you with that. When we visited DC in 2003, we stayed at a Comfort Suites (free breakfast... big bonus!) in Chantilly, and either drove into DC (our daughter was with an Americorps program in Anacostia), or drove to the nearest metro station and took the light rail into DC.

When we stay in Baltimore, it is usually at a Best Western associated with Johns Hopkins University, but I can't even tell you the name, sorry. Our daughter made the hotel arrangements. It isn't within walking distance of the harbor, but still close to that part of town. (Our daughter lives in the Canton area, near Patterson Park. They always did the driving there, thankfully!)

courtyard by marriotte was where we stayed in Baltimore it was right on the inner harbor and we could walk to the aquarium, very very cool aquarium. waterfront is really neat.

we did drive to dc and visit one of the smithonians and i remember the parking being a huge issue and i was freaking out about the subway but we were only there not even a full day and it was not enough time.

dhs is our planner so if i get the chance i'll ask him for tips.

The aquarium in Camden Nj has more sharks. the aquarium in Baltimore has a dolphin show love dolphins! We went to the Inner Harbor, got a nice suite by using Hotwire and just choosing something within walking distance to the harbor, we enjoyed Port Discovery, the science museum and the aquarium. We toured a submarine and another older ship, very interesting!
Loved the Native American museum in DC and the Museum of Natural History. There is a new children's museum across the river, I havent been there yet. As others said, the DC metro is easy and nice!

the aquarium is awesome. my kids LOVED the discovery museum when we were homeschooling.
i'm so glad you're going to the smithsonian. they are truly a great national resource.
sorry, don't know enough about the local hotels, but tripadvisor is your best friend.
have a great trip!
:) khairete
S.

L.:

What's your budget for hotels?

Please keep in mind that the National Aquarium is a "timed" entrance. Tickets for adults are $34.95 each and children are $21.95 each. The hours of operation are 9 - 5 Mon - Thursday...Friday - 9 to 8 PM

http://ev8.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetGroupList?l...

So plan your drive and timing accordingly. It would suck if you drove all day from Pittsburgh to Baltimore and could only spend an hour at the Aquarium. It should take about 4 to 5 hours to drive here.

I would STRONGLY suggest you stay at a hotel near a metro stop so you don't have to drive all over DC. As parking can be a pain in the rear. With that in mind - it opens a lot of options for you. Staying IN DC is more expensive, than staying at a hotel in Alexandria, Springfield, VA or Rockville, Silver Spring, MD.

There's great hotels at Woodley Park (Omni Shoreham Hotel)- which is walking distance to the metro - I don't know the cost - but this will put near the National Zoo and the metro...in a nice part of DC and it has parking - which is GREAT!!

What to do while in DC? On the National Mall that are "free".
* Smithsonian - Air & Space
* Capitol Hill - you can get a tour of the Capitol Building...I got to go and watch the 0bamacare debates. THAT was fun!
* World War II memorial
* Vietnam War memorial
* Korean War memorial

Take the metro to Arlington National Cemetery. It's on the other side of the bridge in VA.

Don't stress! Just start walking!!

Madame Toussaud's is north of Constitution Avenue. Not free.
Spy Museum - block over from Madame Toussaud's. NOT FREE.

There is much to do. If you would like me to help you - send me a message and I'll do what I can to help!

We used to go to DC every year before my son was born. We went last month for the first time since. We went to the Baltimore Aquarium (like prior post, it's pricey for admission, you have to commit to an entry time for your ticket purchase, AND parking was $26). The dolphin show was less than 10mins, and while it was great, that was the only thing the aquarium had that our Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium doesn't have (for free parking and 1/4 the admission if not a member). The weather was 40 and sleet, so we didn't get to really enjoy the inner harbor. Since we stayed in DC, we had to drive to the aquarium - to use the metro, would have taken 2hrs35mins and involved the DC Metro, a bus and the Baltimore metro.
After over a dozen trips, we know that staying in Arlington is the best for us. You will almost always get free parking and wi-fi ($40/day savings from staying in town) and have more conveniences. Last month we stayed at the Renaissance Inn Arlington Courthouse. The elevator to the Metro station was only 2 buildings away. The stay included a full breakfast, the room was a suite with a full kitchen, they have indoor pool (which was great to come back to after the aquarium), they have a water play area behind the hotel, they have a great restaurant attached (offering everything on their menu gluten-free if needed), were blocks from shopping/banks/playgrounds.
We went to the Museum of Natural History specifically to see the dinosaurs. It was fun, but comparing it to our museum here, not as good. It was good to walk around for an hour, but our museum has more dinos, has tons of interactive play and a room specifically for kids. The DC museum had a similar room but it is only open 10am-2pm and we missed it.
The Metro is great to take - plastic cards save you money over the paper cards. But expect tons of walking. You will have to walk to the station, take escalators undergrown, walk thru the station, take more escalators, then get to the train. Some stops have 4 sets of escalators to get you out, and the escalators don't always work (we ran into this 3x). Just going to the Air & Space Museum took over an hour to get there (another place that was cool to see, but nothing interactive - their tiny 'play area' only had 2 things working and all else were broken) - they have a flight similator ride, for $20 and there are limits for size/age). Then after walking around for over an hour, there's another hour to get back.
We went to the zoo, which is free, but they charge for everything ($3 for a map, for example). It is very large. After 4 hours of walking, we only covered half and barely saw any animals. Again, our zoo is much better. To see the pandas, we had to wait 30mins for them to get the pandas indoors, then wait in single file line to slowly walk thru the indoor exhibit to take a picture and leave. We met several families who live in DC and they say they visit the zoo every month and still have only seen a few animals. This can be too much walking for some if you take the metro - the closest stop is 1/2 mile from the entrance. Parking is convenient, but the folks we met paid $16 for 2 hours.
The Cemetery is amazing - but I'm biased since my father is buried there. The White House is a quick stop and close to a metro location. Maybe try a bike tour of the big monuments. Or a Segway (they have a weight minimum, I forget what), which is great fun! Depending on the kids, the Holocaust Museum is something that will stick with you forever, truly moving. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing was fun pre-kids. The I Spy museum was really fun pre-kids and may work for your kids. It is not free, though.
ENJOY!!!!!!

The DC metro has a website to help with planning.
www.wmata.com. You can put in the dates of travel and location and it will tell you the cost per trip, if there are any planned stations closing, etc.

For your trip to DC, if you stay in Crystal City, VA, the cost may be a bit less. There are several hotels right near the Metro.

Washington Plaza Hotel in NW is nice. It is about 6 blocks from the White House, and 3 blocks from Metro, on the edge of Georgetown.

Use maps.google.com to map out the places you want to visit and find a hotel that is close to where they are.

Ex. I would NOT stay in a hotel near Chinatown / Verizon Center.

When arranging a hotel, check the parking. Some hotels charge extra for parking.

The aquarium is great, but it's pricey. Make sure you allow a lot of time to see everything. My kids LOVED Port Discovery when they were your son's age. It's about a 5 minute walk from the aquarium. They also enjoy the Maryland Science Center, which is also about a 5 minute walk from the aquarium. If you are a member of the Carnegie Museum, the MD Science Center is one of their reciprocal ones and you can get in for free. If you have time, Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a great place to take in a baseball game.

SO much to see in DC. My kids always enjoy the zoo and the Smithsonian Museums, which are both free. One likes the Museum of American History and the other likes the Musuem of Natural History. I just depends on what you're into. It's also very cool to see the changing of the guards at Arlington Cemetary and we're always moved by the Wall (Vietnam memorial). We have stayed in downtown DC and have stayed in Arlington. I would suggest Arlington because of the savings on the parking. The metro stops are close. Also, from Arlington, it's just a short walk across the bridge to Georgetown. Don't visit Washington without stopping for Georgetown Cupcakes. They're to die for!