With one kid who attended college in DC and another who has lived in Baltimore for years, I’ve seen a lot of both cities. If at all possible, I’d stay the extra day in DC. There’s so much to see and do there. Baltimore has its charms (that’s a little joke–it’s called Charm City), but it pales in comparison.
However, if you’re determined to visit Baltimore, you may as well visit the Maryland Science Center, which is close by the aquarium. If art’s your thing, the Walters Museum has a lovely collection. Its Faberge and Russian Crafts exhibit, which runs through June, is stunning. If you love history, Fort McHenry is very interesting and the guides are great. The Charmery’s ice cream is sublime. Lexington Market is authentic and funky, and the crabcakes at Faidleys there (be sure to get the jumbo lump ones) are to die for, even though you have to eat them standing up!
@twoinanddone - yes, you are way off in price. The last time we had crabs out they were over $100 a dozen for big ones.
Since someone just mentioned museums in Baltimore, there is also the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Born and raised in DC, I still haven’t visited all the museums the city has to offer. Definitely a multi-day trip for DC. My family visited the AA museum in September (the day of it first anniversary). You won’t be able to tour the entire museum in just one day.
If you only have a day in DC and would like to see the outdoor monuments and attractions, I highly recommend doing the hop on/hop off bus tour. It will take you to all the highlights, including Arlington National Cemetery. On our first family trip to DC, we really appreciated the information and banter from the tour guides, and the ability to set our own pace but also cover a lot of ground in a short time. Also recommend seeing the monuments at night, so the Monuments at Night tour is also a good suggestion. We went to the National Gallery on our last trip because we had a 2-hour window of free time on a yucky day and were in that vicinity. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it, especially the President’s gallery - before the Obama portraits were hung. Would love to go back again now to see them in person!
On a nice day, you can’t beat walking around the Tidal Basin and just soaking it all in. I love DC! We are from Philadelphia, and while I very much enjoy visiting Baltimore, I agree with the suggestion to consider spending the whole time in DC, unless you have something really pressing you want to do in Baltimore (personally I would not pick the aquarium and Inner Harbor over all the wonderful museums and historical attractions in DC, but ymmv.)
You defintely can’t see the AA museum all in one day, especially if you get the 1:30 tickets. We did that last year after striking out at getting the same day tickets at 6:30am. Glad to hear it’s easier getting the 1:30 tickets; we waited in line for over 1.5 hours just to ensure we’d get those tickets last year. Well worth the effort though.
We are going to DC for my nieces graduation. Besides graduation my niece is planning a few things for us. One being the Capital and I think they are planning a night tour of the monuments. But I’ve planned to arrive early before the rest of family gets there and they have to leave early Sunday. So I was planning on spending the day in DC and driving to Baltimore Sunday evening. I thought about spending Sunday night in DC and driving to Baltimore Monday morning but with traffic, that didn’t seem a good idea. But I’m open to other ideas
Great ideas about the AA museum, it looks like there are other ways to see it that I didn’t know.
My H loves aquariums, and we’ve made it a mission to go to as many as we can. I thought maybe I was missing something about Baltimore but it looks like I wasn’t. He’s on board about going to the graduation (all about family) but has never been wild about DC. Don’t ask, he had a bad experience in 1976! So the aquarium is non negotiatable.
If you stay by the Inner Harbor, then the aquarium is an easy walk. Little Italy is a pretty easy walk,and Fell’s Point is farther. There are several places to eat by the aquarium if you don’t want to go far. Right in the Mall close by they have several restaurants, and There’s a place called Roy’s that’s Hawaiian fusion that’s supposed to e very good, I think there’s a high end seafood place called Oceanaire or something like that, McCormick and S (the one on the water, there may be multiple in Baltimore) is pretty close, and it’s nice to sit out by the harbor. We live about 30 minutes from Baltimore, and we sometimes have lunch, usually in Little Italy, and then do a several mile walk along the harbor when the weather is nice.
One day in DC I’d stick to the Mall, there are so many things around there. Art Galleries, newseum, check out if there are any special shows - we did a butterfly tour once at natural history that was really fabulous. If you’ve been before to do that my kids enjoyed Printing and Engraving as well. Holocaust - I think you really have to be mentally prepared for that one.
Baltimore - stick to the Inner Harbor. I live here, trust me, even that’s getting a bit dicey. I like Capitol Grille right across from the Inner Harbor. McCormick and Schmick is what a previous poster talked about, it’s just okay to me. Crabs and crab cakes - everyone definitely has their opinion on that in MD, but I’d go to Hard Rock before I’d go to Phillips.
Or you can do what my daughter did when she was 16 and had friends visiting from camp - sneak out in the middle of the night and go see the monuments then with no crowds. Yes, I found out the next morning when I got up and no one was there.
We did a trip to DC last year with adult kids. I don’t know how many are in your group, but we split up with each family member choosing the museum of most individual interest. Sometimes small groups met up for lunch - the Native American Museum has a good cafeteria for something convenient. I don’t know if anyone has mentioned the Library of Congress. Stunning building, tour was helpful although our guide was not as good as others I overheard. Others have also recommended the NewsMuseum. I almost skipped it - was stunned at how much I enjoyed and wish I’d had more time. It is a private enterprise, so unlike the Mall museums, there is a charge. Arlington Cemetery with the guard changing ceremony is moving.
I can’t imagine having only one day - so much to see! You will be spoiled for choice! This wasn’t our first trip and I still have a list of places to return to. I would pick one or two special places that interest you. There is a free shuttle on the Mall, but we took cabs, easy to hail on the street, to save time. I’d recommend that approach if you want to go from say the Mall or Capital to the Lincoln or VietNam War Memorial. It won’t break the bank.
I was recently in Baltimore on a business trip, and ate at some wonderful restaurants.
I recommend Miss Shirley’s Café for breakfast/brunch. I went to the one in Roland Park, but they also have one in the Inner Harbor. I had the Southern Slammer Sandwich, which was voted Best Breakfast Sandwich in America by Restaurant Hospitality Magazine. It was amazing.
I had crab cakes a couple of times, and can recommend Kocos Pub and Pappas. I was told Oprah has crab cakes sent to her from Pappas.
@eyemamom - OMG! The first trip I ever had to DC, my travel companion and I went to see the Washington Memorial after dark, but still during opening hours. We encountered “an incident” with gunfire, police helicopter and perpetrator killed. My friend ended up on a local news station as an eyewitness. I understand that things have cleaned up since then (1980s) and the area is safer. Nonetheless, I would have turned five shades of purple if my child had sneaked out for a sightseeing tour!
Yeah, we STILL talk about it to this day. Her decision making skills have given me many sleepless nights. She does not believe bad things can happen to her.
Native MDer here. You’ve already gotten enough great suggestions for places to visit in both Baltimore and DC so I won’t add to that. However, if you are planning to have crabs in Baltimore (or any seafood for that matter) absolutely do not go to Phillips. It’s a total tourist trap that imports its crab from Asia. Faidley’s is the most popular recommendation if you want great crab cakes, but I’m not sure I’d advise that without doing your research first about the area around Lexington Market. Is there a specific type of cuisine you are looking for - that would help to narrow down types of restaurants to recommend. Steak? Seafood? Little Italy/Italian?
The National Mall is very big, and you should plan your trip well ahead, or you would likely wandering around or wait in line a lot. If you will visit the Capital Hill, I suggest you also go to the Air and Space museum, and the US Botanical Garden at this location (100 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, DC 20001) the same day (as they all within the few blocks around each other), and plan other days with different museums and activities again all within the general walking distance.
I recommend the National Portrait Gallery and the tour of the Library of Congress. They are wonderful museums and tend be a little quieter and less-crowded. Some of the more famous museums in the Mall such as Air and Space, US History, and Natural History are usually overrun with bus loads of boisterous school kids on field trips,which can seriously detract from the experience.
For pizza I recommend Pi Pizzeria on F street in DC.
Visited DC a few months ago and was there for about four days or so. Was lucky enough to score same-day AA museum tickets online. It is definitely worth an all-day visit so I would probably save that for another trip. I also second seeing the monuments at night via the moonlight memorial tour. Much less walking and the monuments are stunning when lit. My husband and I did that more than ten years ago and still talk about the experience as a highlight of our many DC trips.
Visited Ford’s theatre last trip and found it very interesting. They ranger’s presentation was almost like a dramatic interpretation of Lincoln’s asasination.
Also, if you are there on a Sunday, the brunch at the Rooftop Terrace restaurant atop the Kennedy Center is fabulous. They have fantastic food (I saw a tiny woman eat her weight in crab legs) with an amazing view. Reservations are recommended.
