The Best Areas to Stay in Baltimore for Any Budget

Baltimore is a city of neighborhoods. For the visitor, most of the attractions are clustered around the Inner Harbor.

The National Aquarium, the Maritime Museum, the U.S.S. Constellation, Top of the World, the Science Center IMAX and Harborplace are just a few of the attractions in the small Inner Harbor area and there are also restaurants and plenty of shopping.

Just west of the Inner Harbor is the Camden area which has both Oriole Park, the Babe Ruth Museum, the B&O Railroad Museum and the Raven's stadium. This is also where you would get the MARC train Camden Line to Union Station in D.C.

South of the harbor is Federal Hill, one of the city's oldest neighborhoods dating to the 18th century. This is where citizens watched the shelling of Ft. McHenry in 1812. You can walk down the cobblestone streets and stop in at the block-long Cross Street Market to shop for seafood or produce. You can also hop the free Banner Route Charm City Circulator to Fort McHenry

Just East of the Inner Harbor is the small section called Little Italy where you can eat at one of the family run restaurants.

Just north of Little Italy is Historic Jonestown where the Flag House and Star Spangled Banner Museum and the Carroll Mansion are located. Little Italy is on both the Green and Orange Charm City Circulator

East of Little Italy are the neighborhoods of Fell's Point and Canton. Fells Point is named for an English shipbuilder and has three blocks of classic taverns, plus ghost tours. Canton is another waterfront town named after the Chinese port. In the center is Patterson Park which actually has a pagoda. This is a good place to see the iconic Baltimore row houses with their white marble steps.

North of the Inner Harbor is the City Center (courthouses, City Hall, the Baltimore Arena and the Federal Building). The Green Line free Circulator can take you from the City Center out to Bayview - Johns Hopkins Hospital

North of the City Center is Mt Vernon. This is where the first monument to General Washington was built - it was put way out in the country so that if it fell, it wouldn't hurt anyone. Mt Vernon is an arts center - Enoch Pratt library, Peabody Institute, Walter's Art Museum, Antique Row, Center Stage, and more. You can access Mt Vernon on the Purple Route of the free Charm City Circulator. It is also where Penn Station is located and where you can get the MARC trains to BWI airport and D.C.

West of the City Center is the Bromo Arts District, named for the 1911 Bromo Seltzer clock tower. You must see the Lexington Market, the nation's oldest continually running public market, with goods from 130 merchants. Also there is the Hippodrome, Everyman Theatre and the National Museum of Dentistry. Edgar Allen Poe's grave is here in this area at Westminster Hall, This is also where you will want to stay if you are visiting the University of Maryland Medical Center.

There are many other neighborhoods in Baltimore - Hampton was memorialized in the John Waters film "Pecker" and known as the place where everyone calls you "hon." Brooklyn is a working class neighborhood on the south edge of the city. And there are places to stay in Baltimore County such as Towson, Owings Mills, and Hunt Valley. You can get into the city easily on the Light Rail or the Subway, but there are few attractions for the tourist in these areas.