Exploring Baltimore with Kids

The Howard Peters Rawlings Conservatory and Botanic Gardens of Baltimore is located in Druid Hill Park in northwest Baltimore, Maryland. It was designed by George A. Frederick and opened to the public in 1888 with the Victorian Palm House and Orchid House.

The conservatory today contains five areas: the Palm House, Mediterranean House, the Orchid Room, Tropical House, and Desert House. There are 35 flowerbeds growing in the surrounding 1.5 acres within Druid Hill Park. The conservatory gives visitors an opportunity to see plants from different parts of the world in conditions near their natural environments. For example, the Mediterranean greenhouse copies dry summers and foggy winters of the Mediterranean and southern California. The Orchid Room is home to over 30,000 species and over 100,000 registered hybrids.

3100 Swann Dr, Baltimore, MD 21217, Map

Opened in 1876, the Maryland Zoo is one of oldest zoos in the country, providing home to more than 2,000 animals. This wonderful 135-acre animal sanctuary is located in Maryland’s historic Druid Hill Park. It offers a unique chance for urban kids to see polar bears, elephants, penguins, and much more.

The zoo is well known for its efforts in conservation of animals in danger of extinction and for its penguin breeding programs. Besides a fascinating African safari exhibit, the zoo also has an area with the animals living in Maryland. The area includes artificial streams, life-size caves and submerged archways, housing bog turtles, snakes, river otters, and bats. The zoo also has a farmyard where kids can pet domestic animals and some rare animals such as Cotswold sheep African pygmy goats.

Maryland Zoo, 1 Safari Pl, Baltimore, MD 21217, Phone: 410-396-7102

The National Aquarium , or the Baltimore Aquarium as it was called when it opened in 1981, is a public aquarium located on Pier 3 of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Spread over two hectares, the Aquarium provides home to more than 17,000 animals from 750 species living in tanks that hold over 2,200,000 US gallons of water.

The National Aquarium's goal is to promote conservation of aquatic habitats and species through conservation, science, and educational programs. The aquarium is divided into a number of exhibitions such as the Upland Tropical Rain Forest, the Atlantic Coral Reef, an open shark tank, and a popular Australia: Wild Extremes. The aquarium also provides movies and videos in a 4D Immersion Theater.

National Aquarium, 501 E Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21202

Port Discovery is a fascinating Children’s Museum located in the historic Fish Market building in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. With three floors of interactive, hands-on educational exhibits and constantly changing programs for children, Port Discovery is considered one of the best kids’ museums in the country.

There are areas like Tot Trails where toddlers can crawl through, while Kick It Up is the exhibit where children can learn how to get healthy. In Wonders of Water they can splash and swim and at the Royal Farms Convenience Store and Fill’er Up Station they can pretend to shop and pump gas. In Tiny’s Diner they can cook and serve food and in KidWorks, a 3-story tree house, they can climb and slide through.

Port Discovery, 35 Market Pl, Baltimore, MD 21202, Phone: 410-727-8120

The Walter Art Museumis a public museum located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere neighborhood of Baltimore, opened in 1934. Most of the museum's collection was amassed by major American art collectors, a father and son William Thompson Walters and Henry Walters. Henry Walters occasionally allowed the Baltimore public to visit his father's and his collection at his West Mount Vernon Place mansion in the late 1800s, and in the early 20th century he built nearby a lavish stone palazzo to store his growing collection. The collection includes priceless artworks from ancient Egypt, large Greek sculptures, Roman sarcophagi, Renaissance bronzes, illuminated manuscripts, Old Masters and 19th-century European paintings, and Chinese bronzes and ceramics. Upon his death in 1931, Henry Walters bequeathed his entire collection of over 22,000 works of art and the buildings that housed them to the city of Baltimore.

600 N Charles St, Baltimore, MD 21201

Baltimore Ghost Tours is a locally operated walking tour of the city’s spooky and haunted spots. Established in 2001, Ghost Tours has entertained thousands of thrill-seekers with spellbinding tales of Baltimore’s haunted history. The most popular of a number of available tours is the original Fell’s Point Ghost Walk Tour. Imagine Fell’s Point as a rowdy seaport town, with streets full of foreign sailors and adventurers, anxious immigrants, and painted ladies. They left a few ghosts behind, and the Ghost Tours take its guests through haunted taverns, shops, and residences searching for them.

Sidewalk Outside Max's Sidebar, 731 South Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21231, Phone: 877-293-1571

The Charmery is a homestyle ice cream parlor in Baltimore's trendy Hampden neighborhood, opened in 2013 by married duo Laura and David Alima. The parlor is known for its super-premium ice cream flavors, crafted from ingredients sourced from local farmers whenever possible. An ever-changing seasonal ice cream menu combines traditional favorites like malted vanilla or chocolate mint chip with Baltimore-specific concoctions such as Old Bay caramel, Maryland Mud, and Otterbein sugar cookie. Visitors can enjoy flavors in classic sundaes, oversized cone scoops, hand-spun milkshakes, or house specialties like chocolate egg cream sodas. Additional stores are also open in Towson and at the Union Collective.

801 W 36th St, Baltimore, MD 21211, Phone: 410-814-0493

Located in Baltimore's historic southwest neighborhoods at the site of the historic Mt. Clare Shops, the oldest railroad station in the country, the 40-acre B&O Railroad Museum showcases the development of trains in America. This National Historic Landmark and the birthplace of American railroad travel contains almost 200 locomotives, a display of model trains, a huge collection of railroad memorabilia, a mini model railroad, and a fully operating replica of the Tom Thumb, the America’s first locomotive, built on the site.

The museum offers tours through seven of its buildings and train platforms and seasonal train rides. The museum’s Kids’ Zone is located in the roundhouse and offers weekend Story & Activity times, a chance to hear a real railroad story and take part in a fun educational activity.

901 W Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21223, Map

Baltimore Museum of Industry is located in an old cannery in Baltimore and features exhibits on industry and manufacturing in the early 20th century. There are also hands-on sections where visitors can try to use various tools, working equipment, and other artifacts. A series of galleries recreate sections of a cannery, a garment shop and machine shop from 1900, a print shop, Dr. Bunting's Pharmacy, and interesting exhibits on the Baltimore food industry. The Milestone wall In the Decker Gallery features inventions and important processes discovered in Baltimore and Maryland. The museum’s library contains more than 5,000 rare and historic books. There is also a collection of manuscripts as well as a collection of photographs. The museum offers guided tours and hands-on activities for children. Kids can become workers in a garment loft and in the cannery to experience life at the end of the 19th century.

1415 Key Hwy, Baltimore, MD 21230

The Black Cherry Puppet Theater is a charming nonprofit community-based association of artists and performers located next to Hollins Market in southwest Baltimore. For the last 27 years Black Cherry has presented thousands of puppet-making workshops and performances for kids and adults all over the Mid-Atlantic region. Puppeteers use a marionette stage and pre-recorded soundtrack indoors or outside, depending on weather, to tell a story. Kids love the handmade puppets the puppeteers bring out after the show for a close viewing. The theater also offers workshops for children in classrooms as well as live music evenings hosting local musicians.

1115 Hollins St, Baltimore, MD 21223, Phone: 410-752-7272