Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is a manicured, safe, and family-friendly area of an otherwise hardscrabble city. It’s a world apart from the rough and tumble city portrayed in The Wire.
Adjacent to downtown and rimming an inlet of the waterfront, Inner Harbor includes restaurants, tourist shopping, and the excellent National Aquarium. Camden Yards, the historic baseball stadium and home to the Baltimore Orioles, is right next to it. And the whole area has been designed to be pretty much self-contained so that visitors to Baltimore never need step outside this little bubble of visitor-friendliness. Hotels, large chain shopping, lots of eateries, and entertainment is all within a short stroll. It may be a tourist-friendly haven and a far cry from the “real” Baltimore, but it’s a fun place to visit for a day trip or overnight stay.
The nearby Federal Hill, an historic site in its own right, offers a panoramic view of Baltimore’s city skyline. At its base is a fun art museum, the American Visionary Art Museum.
Baltimore’s National Aquarium, including the pyramid at right, is one of the main attractions of the revitalized waterfront. The USS Constellation, dating to the 1850s and the last of the Civil War-era naval tall ships, has been restored and forms a floating museum for tourists to visit on board.
Photos of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor
BALTIMORE, Maryland — Four steel smokestacks rise above the brick Pratt Street Power Plant along the Inner Harbor waterfront. Architects Baldwin & Pennington designed the structure in 1900 for the United Railways and Electric Company. The repurposed site originally generated electricity for the municipal streetcar network. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
BALTIMORE, Maryland — The USS Constellation displays its complex rigging and painted hull at its Inner Harbor berth. The Gosport Navy Yard constructed the sloop-of-war in 1854. It remains the last sail-only warship designed and built by the United States Navy. License this image at:DirectlyAlamyPhoto by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
BALTIMORE, Maryland — Pedestrians walk the brick promenade of the Inner Harbor, anchored by the docked USS Constellation and the Baltimore World Trade Center. The US Navy launched the sloop-of-war Constellation in 1854 as its final sail-only warship. Architect I.M. Pei designed the adjacent 31-story pentagonal tower in 1977. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
BALTIMORE, Maryland — The sloop-of-war USS Constellation docks at Pier 1 in the Inner Harbor beside the downtown skyline. The US Navy launched the vessel in 1854 as its final sail-only warship. I.M. Pei & Partners designed the adjacent 1977 Baltimore World Trade Center as the world’s tallest regular pentagonal building. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
BALTIMORE, Maryland — A cannon on Federal Hill overlooks the Inner Harbor marina and downtown skyline. Union General Benjamin Butler fortified this elevated park in 1861 to secure the city during the Civil War. Architect Peter Chermayeff designed the National Aquarium, opening the geometric glass structure on Pier 3 in 1981. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
BALTIMORE, Maryland — The Baltimore World Trade Center and the National Aquarium anchor the Inner Harbor along the Patapsco River. Architect I.M. Pei completed the 31-story concrete World Trade Center in 1977 as the world’s tallest regular pentagonal building. Peter Chermayeff designed the 1981 aquarium with a rooftop glass pyramid enclosing a neotropical rainforest habitat. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
BALTIMORE, Maryland — Pedestrians navigate the brick promenade of the Inner Harbor past the moored USS Constellation and the Baltimore World Trade Center. The 1854-launched USS Constellation is the last sail-only warship built by the United States Navy. Architect Henry N. Cobb completed the adjacent 31-story pentagonal concrete tower in 1977. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
BALTIMORE, Maryland — The Civil War-era USS Constellation sits moored to wooden pilings in the Inner Harbor. The 1854 sloop-of-war operated as the African Squadron flagship intercepting the transatlantic slave trade. The vessel stands as the last sail-only warship designed and built by the United States Navy. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
BALTIMORE, Maryland — The USS Constellation and the Baltimore World Trade Center anchor the Inner Harbor waterfront promenade. Henry N. Cobb designed the 1977 tower as the world’s tallest regular pentagonal building. The US Navy launched the adjacent sloop-of-war in 1854 as its last sail-only warship. Photo by David Coleman / Have Camera Will Travel
Baltimore, MD
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