Your first week in Baltimore
Four stops that teach you Baltimore in a week: the view that explains the harbor, a boat instead of a car, the market Fells Point has eaten at since 1786, and a world-class museum that never charges admission.
Updated Sep 28, 2026 · each stop says the day its sources were read, and what they left unconfirmed
Baltimore makes sense from the water. The city grew up around its harbor, and most of what you will want in your first week sits on it or just above it: Federal Hill on the south side, Fells Point to the east, Mount Vernon up Charles Street to the north. Get that map in your head and everything else on this site falls into place.
This is the order a friend would walk you through it. Start high to see the shape of the place, cross the water the way the city was built to be crossed, eat where Fells Point has eaten for more than two centuries, and finish in a great museum that costs nothing. Two of the four are free, and none of them needs a car.
Before you go
- The Water Trolley, the $20 day ticket, runs April to October only, and mostly Friday to Sunday. On weekdays the free Harbor Connector crosses much of the same water.
- Federal Hill Park closes at sunset, like every city park. Go in daylight, and for the skyline at its best, in the last hour of it.
- The Walters is closed Monday and Tuesday. Thursday is its late night, open until 8pm.
- Driving to Federal Hill anyway? The meters at the foot of the hill on Key Highway and Covington Street run around the clock.
- 1
Federal Hill · Outdoor · Free
Federal Hill Park
Start here, because it explains everything else. From the top of the hill the neighborhood is named for, the whole Inner Harbor lays out below you: the skyline, the water, and the neighborhoods wrapped around it. Under your feet are 1800s tunnels where brewers once kept their beer, and the lawns are looked after by South Harbor Renaissance, a local nonprofit that puts on free events here in summer. Come in the late afternoon and you will know which way is which for the rest of the week.
Sources read Sep 17, 2026
Not confirmed: Any hours posted at the park itself beyond the city's rule
Hours: City parks closed sunset to sunrise except lit fields and permitted activities · full listing
- 2
Departs Inner Harbor · On the water · $
Baltimore Water Taxi
Then cross the water, because that is how this city was built to be crossed, and it is the best-value way to see the harbor. The Water Trolley's $20 day ticket covers two routes and eight stops, on and off as you like, and drops you in Fells Point without a car or a parking space. On a weekday the city runs the free Harbor Connector across much of the same water for people going to work, which is about as local as a boat ride gets.
Sources read Sep 28, 2026
Not confirmed: The operator publishes no hours or fares for the on-demand taxi and points to the app instead; the daily 11am to 7pm window and the ten docks come from press, not from Harbor Boating. Trade press has reported the ticketed Trolley may be phased out in favour of the on-demand boats, which the operator does not say anywhere, so treat the Trolley's future as unsettled. The access answer covers the whole fleet rather than any one boat or dock, and the street addresses of the landings are not published.
Hours: Trolley: Inner Harbor route 11am to 7:10pm from Harborplace; Outer Harbor route 11:15am to 7:44pm from Fells Point, Fort McHenry stop ends 4:47pm Fri and 5pm Sat-Sun. Harbor Connector: weekdays only, HC1 6am-8pm, HC2 7:15-11:25am and 3:50-8pm, HC3 7am-8pm. On-demand: daily, reported as 11am-7pm. · full listing
- 3
Fells Point · Food · $
Broadway Market
Eat where Fells Point has eaten since 1786. Baltimore's oldest public market has stood on this square for more than two centuries, and the 2019 renovation made it more food hall than market, which suits a first visit. Head for the north shed and graze: a Polish deli serving since 1985, seafood, Thai, smoked barbecue and whatever the pop-up stall is doing. It is cheap, it runs to 10pm, and it is the natural start to an evening on Thames Street.
Sources read Sep 17, 2026
Not confirmed: Per-stall hours
Hours: 7am-10pm Mon-Sat; 8am-10pm Sun · full listing
- 4
Mount Vernon · Arts · Free
The Walters Art Museum
Finish at the Walters: a world-class collection in three connected historic buildings, a block from the Washington Monument, and free every day it is open. On Thursdays it stays open until 8pm, which makes it the rare museum you can do after work and still make dinner on Charles Street. Take the long way in through the square outside; it is worth the walk on its own, and it costs nothing either.
Sources read Sep 17, 2026
Not confirmed: Cafe hours; parking
Hours: Wed 10-5; Thu 1-8; Fri-Sun 10-5; closed Mon-Tue · full listing
On at these places soon
- Bmoreflea at Broadway Market · Broadway Market, Sat 24 Oct, 10am to 4pm
- The Walters Gala & Party · The Walters Art Museum, Sat 24 Oct, Party 9pm to midnight; VIP Party from 8pm; Gala from 6pm