Baltimore without a car, and without a parking app
Getting around Baltimore without a car: the free Circulator bus, the light rail that stops at Camden Yards, the one-line Metro, and Penn Station for the train in from Washington and out along the northeast corridor.
Updated Sep 28, 2026 · each stop says the day its sources were read, and what they left unconfirmed
This is for the weekend visitor who came in by train, the new arrival who has not bought a car yet, and anyone planning a night around somewhere with no parking, or a game day. Transit here is run partly by the city and partly by the state, and it helps to know which piece does what. These four are the pieces that matter, and one of them is free.
They are in the order you will use them most. The Circulator first, because it costs nothing and covers the middle of the city until midnight at the weekend. The light rail next, because it is the one that reaches Camden Yards. Then the Metro, fast but on a single line. Penn Station last, which you may only use twice: once to arrive and once to leave.
Before you go
- The Circulator stops at 8pm Monday to Thursday and 7pm on Sunday; only Friday and Saturday run to midnight. It does not run on Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's Day.
- The light rail does not start until 10:35am on Sundays and holidays, so a Sunday morning plan needs another way in.
- Light rail and Metro are both $2.00 one way and $4.60 for a day pass, paid in the CharmPass app; light rail platforms also have a ticket machine.
- The light rail's last train times are for the line as a whole rather than your stop, so leave yourself a margin at the end of the night.
- Penn Station's redevelopment is paused mid-works, and no step-free route through the construction is published. If you need one, allow extra time.
- 1
Inner Harbor · Getting around · Free
Charm City Circulator
Start with the free one, and the one you will use most. Twenty-four buses on five routes through the middle of the city, run by Baltimore City rather than the state, and free on all of them. The Purple is the one to learn: 33rd Street down to Federal Hill every 13 minutes, the north-south spine of everything in between. The Orange crosses from Hollins Market to Harbor East every 10, and the Banner goes down to Fort McHenry every 40. It runs to midnight on Friday and Saturday, which is the part that matters after a night out.
Sources read Sep 18, 2026
Not confirmed: The city publishes one set of hours for the whole system and per-route frequencies, but not first and last departure times for individual stops. Accessibility is not addressed on the route page.
Hours: Mon-Thu 7am-8pm; Fri 7am-midnight; Sat 9am-midnight; Sun 9am-7pm. No service on Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's Day · full listing
- 2
Inner Harbor · Getting around · $
Light RailLink
The one that reaches a ball game. The state's north-south line stops at Camden Yards and the Convention Center, so you can get to a game or a show without parking anywhere near either, and its stops run from Hunt Valley all the way to BWI. The usual game-day move is to leave the car at a park and ride lot at an outer station and ride in. It is $2.00 one way or $4.60 for the day. Weekdays it starts before five, but on Sundays and holidays nothing runs until 10:35am, so plan a Sunday around it.
Sources read Sep 18, 2026
Not confirmed: First and last times are system-wide rather than per station, so the last train from any given platform is earlier than the figure above. Which park and ride lots are free is not confirmed here.
Hours: Mon-Fri first arrival 4:45am, final departure 12:40am; Sat first 5:05am, final 12:45am; Sun and holidays first 10:35am · full listing
- 3
Inner Harbor · Getting around · $
Metro SubwayLink
One line, fourteen stations and 15.4 miles, running under downtown from Owings Mills out to Johns Hopkins Hospital. It is the fastest way across town when it is going your way and no use when it is not, which is the honest summary of a single-line metro. If you are in town for the hospital, it is your line; downtown, Charles Center is the station to know. Same $2.00 fare and the same CharmPass app as the bus and the light rail, with a train every eight minutes at the daytime peak and every fifteen late and at weekends.
Sources read Sep 18, 2026
Not confirmed: MTA's own Metro SubwayLink page currently returns a page under construction, so the hours and headways here come from a source citing MTA rather than from MTA directly. Worth re-checking once that page is back.
Hours: Weekdays 5am to midnight; weekends 6am to midnight. Every 8 minutes at daytime peak, 15 minutes late and at weekends · full listing
- 4
Mount Vernon · Getting around · $
Baltimore Penn Station
How you arrive and how you leave. The 1911 Beaux-Arts head house at the top of Charles Street is the eighth busiest station in the country, and MARC's Penn Line and Amtrak both run from it, which makes it the way in from Washington and the way out to anywhere on the northeast corridor. The light rail stops outside, so you can go from the platform to Camden Yards without a car. The exterior restoration is done, but the larger redevelopment, including a new concourse, was paused in June 2026, so what is open inside changes.
Sources read Sep 26, 2026
Not confirmed: Because the redevelopment is mid-pause, what is open inside the station changes. Step-free routes during the works are not published in a form we can quote, so check before relying on them.
Hours: Waiting room open every day except 2am to 3am; Amtrak ticket office 5:10am to 9:30pm daily. MARC Penn Line and Amtrak both call here · full listing
