Kids Fun In Baltimore

Discover the various attractions in this vibrant city by the sea.

Is this your first trip to Baltimore, or have you visited many times? Either way, your ideal first stop is at the Baltimore Visitor Center conveniently located in the heart of the Inner Harbor near the Maryland Science Center. This new 8,000-square-foot glass building offers incredible views of the city, and information about everything you want to see and do. The state-of-the-art center, open daily from 9am to 6pm, is a resource through which you can purchase tickets for major attractions and shows, including Baltimore Harbor Pass, a value-added combination pass to many of the attractions listed below, make hotel and dinner reservations, and plan your itinerary conveniently and easily. Call the center at (410/659-7300). For more details and other information about Baltimore, you can also visit www.baltimore.org.

Harborplace
200 East Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
410/332-4191
At the heart of Baltimore's Renaissance is the shopping and restaurant complex housed in two glass structures, Pratt Street Pavilion and Light Street Pavilion. Browse in over 120 venues for gourmet food, crafts and indigenous gifts, as well as in popular national retail stores. And, when hunger pangs strike, there are restaurants and snack bars representing many international cuisines, including local seafood, pizza, burgers etc.

Maryland Science Center
601 Light Street
Baltimore, MD 21230
410/685-5225
A great place to explore all aspects of science from paleontology to marine biology to physics, including lots of demonstrations and hands-on activities for budding scientists to investigate. Recently, the Davis Planetarium, the Crosby Ramsey Memorial Observatory, an IMAX Theatre and other popular areas of the museum were joined by major renovations and additions. In "TerraLink," the Earth Sciences exhibit, a weather station with a replica of a TV newsroom set enables kids to play meteorologists as they monitor earthquakes, and in the "Dinosaur Mysteries" Hall, little explorers can unearth prehistoric evidence in interactive dig pits, and see examples of over 30 pre-historic creatures. The expansion also allows plenty of room so that Baltimore can host the nation's best touring exhibits. Additionally, the National Visitors' Center for the Hubble Space Telescope continues to offer visitors the opportunity to come face to face with space while learning about the birth and death of stars, the meaning of galaxies and black holes, as well as observing fascinating details of the solar system.

Baltimore Museum of Industry
1415 Key Highway
Baltimore, MD  21230
410/727-4808
Enjoy exhibits, video presentations, interactive computers and more to learn about Baltimore's industrial history.  Baltimoreans had a hand in many kinds of manufacturing inlcludng canning, printing, metalwork and the garment industry.  Don't miss Streetscape, an outdoor maze of drains, conduits and pipes for all to explore.

American Visionary Museum
800 Key Highway
Baltimore, MD  21230
410/244-1900
This museum offer quite a different experience from most art museums.  Here, all of the works are created by self-taught, intuitive artists including ordinary working people, the disabled, the homeless and the mentally ill.  The works range from the whimsical, to the unusual, celebrating, for example, the amazing work by people who suffer from OCD.  The museum had been called "a treasure house, full of the most outstanding creations born of intuition and self-style imagination, all inspired by the fire within."

Baltimore Museum of Art
10 Art Museum Drive
Baltimore, MD 21218
443/573-1700
The repository of the Cone Collection, the largest collection of works by Pierre Matisse in the world, as well as works by Picasso and Cezanne, and many treasures of the 19th century, modern and contemporary art.  There is also an outdoor sculpture garden.

Walters Art Museum
600 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410/547-9000
The collection of William and Henry Walters spans 55 centuries and includes Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Islamic, Medieval, Renaissance and 18th-and 19th-century European and American art, East Asian bronzes, Asian ceramics and a collection of manuscripts and rare books. In October, 2005, the Renaissance and Baroque galleries were re-installed in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the completion of the museum's original Palazzo Building.