10 Best Museums in Baltimore

A collection of 4 historically significant ships is found at Baltimore’s lovely Inner Harbor. Here, you can step aboard each of the vessels, learning about life on the high seas over a 200-year period. There is also a 19th-century lighthouse that's open for visits. 

The boats form a hugely important part of Baltimore's maritime history. The display is headed up by the impressive USS Constellation, which is the only remaining ship from the Civil War. You can explore a guide boat called the LV116 Chesapeake, and the USS Torsk, a submarine which served during WWII.

The American Visionary Art Museum is a notable Baltimore landmark sandwiched between the banks of the Patapsco River and historic Federal Hill Park. It’s filled with all kinds of art, but what makes this museum unique is that every piece is created by an artist with no formal training.

You’ll find paintings, innovative textile art, sculptures, and even a family of robots. What you won’t find is anything boring, traditional, or cliche. And the stories of self-taught artists are often just as interesting as the art itself. 

The Baltimore Museum of Art was built on the belief that art is essential for Baltimore’s residents to thrive. Inside an imposing column-fronted building on the aptly named Art Museum Drive, you can check out a wide range of contemporary and historic artworks that appeals to the everyman.

The museum exhibits the art of local and international artists, with a regularly changing program. There are over 95,000 pieces in the museum’s collection, including a large number of Henri Matisse paintings and Egyptian artifacts, alongside pieces from each of the world’s continents. 

The B&O Railroad Museum will be an essential stop for you in Baltimore if trains are your thing. It is housed in an attractive redbrick and domed building, where the first mile of America’s railroad was built back in 1827.

Today, the museum celebrates everything railroading-related, with some of the world's oldest steam and diesel locomotives as well as historic carriages and rolling stock displayed inside. There is a wide range of interactive exhibits and activities aimed at keeping kids engaged, making this a great option for a family day out in Baltimore.

The Walters Art Museum was founded when local resident, Henry Walters, donated his huge art collection to the City of Baltimore on his death in 1934. Since then, the museum’s priority has been connecting locals and visitors with art from all over the world.

Located in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon district, the museum is free to enter year-round. It has thousands of art pieces on display across its 5 buildings. The original collection was largely made up of European sculptures and Asian decorative arts, but the collection has been diversified in recent years, now representing a true worldview of art.

The Baltimore Museum of Industry is located in Baltimore’s beautiful Inner Harbor, in what was once an oyster cannery. The museum provides a fascinating insight into Maryland’s industrial past, showing how regional industry developed and how that has helped shape the proudly working-class Baltimore of today.

Highlights include a 5,000-volume library collection, a prototype of the 1937 Mini-Mariner, a working 1936 Linotype machine, and a circa-1929 garment loft. A visit to the Baltimore Museum of Industry is a great way to deepen your understanding of the city in a fun, interactive and educational way. 

The Port Discovery Children’s Museum is a must-visit for families in Baltimore, especially those with young kids in tow. Not so much a museum in the traditional sense, its focus is on getting the little ones to interact with exhibits and pick up some knowledge along the way. 

The action takes place over 3 floors with activities suitable for babies and children between 5 and 10 years old. Many of the permanent zones within the Port Discovery Children’s Museum were designed by Walt Disney Imagineers.