Your Baltimore CME conference.

Baltimore after your study day

Study days finish at 2:00 PM Baltimore time. For an easy afternoon, pick one harbor outing: an hour among the Inner Harbor’s promenade and historic ships, a walk through Fells Point, or a visit to Fort McHenry. Allow time to get to the water and back, and check the National Park Service’s alerts page for the fort before you set out.

Travel, lodging and attraction entry are arranged separately by you. The harbor and its neighborhoods are simply the setting around whatever schedule you keep.

The Inner Harbor

Visit Baltimore lists the National Aquarium, home to about 20,000 animals, and the U.S.S. Constellation, built in 1854, among the Inner Harbor’s attractions. Three more historic ships and a lighthouse cover maritime history from the mid-1800s to the 1980s. The Maryland Science Center has hands-on exhibits across three floors, and Port Discovery Children’s Museum is also here.

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum covers African American history and culture. The waterfront promenade has benches with water views, and options on the water include the Water Trolley, dragon paddle boats and sightseeing cruises. Compare each attraction’s hours with your 2:00 PM finish, and pick one or two rather than all of them.

Federal Hill Park and the Top of the World Observation Level are listed for views over the harbor. Visit Baltimore has also listed a two-hour sail aboard Pride of Baltimore II, a reproduction of a War of 1812–era privateer, from Pier 1 on East Pratt Street. Its listing is dated, so check whether the sail is currently offered.

Fort McHenry and the Star-Spangled Banner

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine is a National Park Service site at 2400 East Fort Avenue. The National Park Service says the defense of the fort during the Battle of Baltimore on September 13–14, 1814, inspired Francis Scott Key to write the words that became the national anthem.

The grounds include the brick sallyport, a star-shaped fort, a flagpole and the one-mile Seawall Trail. The park invites visitors to help change the flag inside the star fort and lists programs happening throughout the year. Check the park’s hours and operating seasons page, because the schedule is not the same all year.

Fells Point, Federal Hill and Hampden

Fells Point is a historic waterfront district with old shipbuilding roots, ballast block streets, centuries-old buildings, restaurants, bars and shops. You can tour the Robert Long House and the Frederick Douglass–Isaac Myers Maritime Park Museum. Canton, with a village square and Canton Waterfront Park, is a waterfront neighborhood of classic rowhouses, restaurants and pubs.

Federal Hill has historic brick rowhomes, locally owned shops and restaurants, and views of the Inner Harbor, and it is home to the American Visionary Art Museum. Hampden is a former mill town with vintage shops, eclectic row homes and street art. Hampden is also known for holiday displays on 34th Street. Mount Vernon is a historic district of 19th-century mansions with museums and the Washington Monument. Choose one of these for a slow afternoon, and check museum opening days first.

Parks, trails and autumn color

For fall color, Visit Baltimore points to Patterson Park, where the Observatory looks across the city, and Druid Hill Park, home to the Maryland Zoo and Rawlings Conservatory. Visit Baltimore also describes a ten-mile wooded trail that follows the Jones Falls waterway from northern Baltimore to the Inner Harbor, and it suits a longer walk.

Autumn is also described as prime season for local seafood, including crabs and crab cakes. In October, Visit Baltimore lists the Great Baltimore Lantern Parade and Día de los Muertos Festival, with lantern making, an art market and an after-sunset procession, and Fiesta Baltimore around Patterson Park. Ghost tours run in Fells Point. Literary visitors can find Edgar Allan Poe’s grave at Westminster Hall and Burying Grounds, and tour the house where he lived from 1832 to 1835.

When to visit Baltimore

National Weather Service normals for BWI give a January high near 43 degrees Fahrenheit and low near 25, with about 6 inches of snow in the month. April highs average about 66, July highs about 89 and October highs about 68. July is the warmest month, with a low near 68.

Spring and fall sit between these extremes and are the milder seasons. Use the local forecast for outdoor plans, especially for harbor cruises and the Seawall Trail.

Getting to Baltimore and your study setting

Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) is the arrival point shown in this guide. The airport says it is 9 miles south of downtown Baltimore and 32 miles northeast of Washington, D.C. A separate MARC and Amtrak station on the Penn Line is linked to the terminal by a shuttle that the airport says runs around the clock. The airport’s MARC page lists Baltimore Penn Station and Washington Union Station as Penn Line boarding points, so the rail route also reaches Baltimore’s city center. Light rail is also listed as a transit option on the airport’s site, but check its current status with the transit agency before you rely on it. Choose your accommodation and ground transport with both your study setting and your plans outside study hours in mind.

The map shows straight-line distances from Shift’s designated center. These are orientation distances, not driving distances or travel-time estimates. Check your exact address against the conference’s check-in area before booking.