The Top 5 Reasons to Visit Baltimore, Maryland Now
WRITTEN BY 5 REASONS TO VISIT® EDITORIAL STAFF
PUBLISHED JULY 2022 • 4 min read
Fueled by cultural tastemakers and creative entrepreneurs—today’s Baltimore is a vibrant community that honors the past while keeping a keen eye on the future. Explore the neighborhoods and cultural sites while renewing your spirit of exploration.
Image courtesy of Visit Baltimore
1. THE SHOPPING
Baltimore, in Vogue. Surrounded by monuments, museums, and historic and quirky neighborhoods, Harbor East celebrates the now. A favorite among locals and tourists alike, this shopping mall is home to many upscale shopping retailers, fine dining establishments, and exciting cultural and family-friendly entertainment attractions. Spend a day in Harbor East and you’ll find there’s no shortage of ways to indulge yourself.
In addition to Harbor East’s own attractions, take a short walk along the waterfront promenade to Batimore’s Inner Harbor. You’re also just a few blocks from Fell’s Point and Little Italy. Right next to Harbor East is an even newer neighborhood called Harbor Point. It’s home to Sandlot, a temporary beach oasis open during the summer. Here you’ll be transported to a tropical island with fruity drinks, live music and volleyball and bocce ball courts.
2. THE ART
Founded over 100 years ago, the Baltimore Museum of Art connects art to Baltimore and Baltimore to the world, embodying a commitment to artistic excellence and social equity in every decision from art presentation, interpretation, and collecting—creating a museum welcoming to all.
Bold, brave, and essential, it is the unwavering vision of the Baltimore Museum of Art to be the most relevant publicly engaged museum in the United States. In addition, take a stroll through the sculpture gardens where you’ll find 33 sculptures positioned across nearly 3 lush acres. Along the path, linger for an up-close look at both towering and smaller-scale examples of modern and contemporary sculpture created within the last 100 years.
As you’re walking the neighborhood streets, look for some of the most interesting murals in the city. Spanning the neighborhoods of Charles North, Greenmount West, Remington, and Barclay, Station North—you’ll discover a diverse collection of artist live-work spaces, art galleries, historic rowhomes, and most importantly, murals. Walk through Graffiti Alley, hear the stories of how these murals got painted and learn about newer murals in these districts!
3. THE COCKTAILS & CUISINE
Duck Duck Goose is a contemporary small plates brasserie with a focus on local, seasonal ingredients. Nestled in the historic Fells Point neighborhood, the brasserie adds approachable elegance into your daily life. For your artisanal cocktail fix, we recommend trying the Duck a l’orange—concocted with duck fat-washed Evan Williams bourbon, gooseberries, cardamom bitters, star anise and cinnamon.
Duck Duck Goose in Baltimore, Maryland
The ingredients are what sets Duck Duck Goose apart. You’ll savor each bite of our expertly prepared cuisine—spanning classical to modern Parisian influences. With a kitchen led by award-winning Chef Ashish Alfred—favorite dishes include Ratatouille with summer vegetables, frisée salad, Roasted Chicken with pomme purée, haricot vert, bacon sofrito, and chicken jus, as well as Parisian Gnocchi with pea purée, maitake mushrooms, summer corn, and parmesan crisp.
For those craving something sweet, end your experience with Strawberry Mille Feuille. We’ll let the image above explain this one. Hungry yet?
4. THE GARDENS
Dating back to 1907, Sherwood Gardens puts on a unique and glorious display of tulips of many varieties, all imported from Holland. The 80,000 tulips occupy over 28 beds spread throughout 6-acres of gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.
There are few better places to enjoy a warm day in Baltimore than by taking advantage of this hidden gem known as Sherwood Gardens. So, pack a lunch, spread out a blanket and relax. Admission is free and the grounds are also pet-friendly.
5. THE ARCHITECTURE
A National Historic Landmark, Homewood House Museum is one of the best-surviving examples of Federal-period Palladian architecture in the nation. Built circa 1801 for members of Maryland’s prominent Carroll family, the house also was home to at least 25 enslaved individuals, including William and Rebecca Ross and their 2 children, and Izadod and Cis Conner and 6 of their 13 children. The home is best experienced via an award-winning guided tour, which winds through the house’s 11 elaborately furnished rooms and tells the intertwined narratives of the Carroll, Conner, and Ross families.
Evergreen Museum & Library is housed in a Gilded Age mansion surrounded by 26-acres of gardens and woods. The museum is home to a renowned collection of fine and decorative arts, rare books, and manuscripts assembled by two generations of Baltimore’s civic-minded Garrett family (1878-1952). Though originally constructed in 1858, Evergreen was drastically expanded and altered by the Garretts to accommodate their eclectic collections, and today is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can experience the museum through guided tours that explore the Garretts, their extraordinary collections, and Evergreen’s transformation from a country villa to a hub for contemporary musicians, writers, and artists.
WHERE TO STAY IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Poised in the storied 1914 property on Baltimore’s historic Recreation Pier—Sagamore Pendry embodies the city’s rich history, vibrant personality and idyllic harbor setting with character, inspiration and style. Rooted in tradition but reimagined, the pier’s extensive renovation has honored the historic essence of the property and restored it to its former glory, reflecting a bygone era, impeccable service, unparalleled quality and travel that inspires, but with a modern-day sensibility and aesthetic that defines what’s old is new again.
