The city of Baltimore, being a dynamic port city, has lots to offer for all types of student groups. More than just historic landmarks, the city is home to many sites and attractions that provide learners of all ages enriching educational adventures and life-long memories. With 30 years of experience in providing the best educational group tours in Washington D.C, we are now taking our quest to give the best group travel experience to Charm City.
The National Aquarium in Baltimore gives any visitor the experience to be awe-inspired and amazed by exhibits that take you through the wonders of nature. It not only offers displays on the colorful life under the sea, but visitors may also explore and learn more about wildlife from different habitats. Permanent exhibitions and shows include the Blacktip Reef featuring Blacktip and zebra sharks swimming along with colorful fishes and rays, the Tropical RainForest which simulates an Amazon rainforest with elevated platforms and a cave, the Atlantic Coral Reef which displays species found in the Atlantic Ocean from shallow shores to the deepest trenches, and the Animal Planet Australia exhibit that shows the rich wildlife of the Land Down under including 1,800 individual native animals such as freshwater crocodiles, turtles.
Port Discovery Children’s Museum is a place where kids of all ages can play and learn. It features three floors of exciting and engaging exhibits that spark children’s curiosity, encourages them to use their imagination, and discover how things work as they explore and play. This museum provides fun-filled and interactive activities for the young and young-at-heart to learn, interact, engage, and be curious. Their displays and experience offered to spark the curiosity of every child to discover themselves and their interest and help them develop life-long learning. Through interaction and communication, children (and adults alike) will be able to build connections and become more socially conscious children. With their various programs and fun activities, kids will be able to understand and learn more about the world they are part of.
B&O Railroad Museum in 901 West Pratt Street is home to one of the most significant collections of railroad treasures in the world. It is a haven for locomotive enthusiasts with a sprawling collection of 250 pieces of railroad rolling stock, 15,000 artifacts, and 5,000 cubic feet of archival material. The museum also boasts four important 19th-century buildings - including the old Mount Clare Station and historic roundhouse and a mile of rail track, considered the most historic mile of railroad track in the country as it is recognized as the birthplace of American railroading. The young ones will surely enjoy a tour of this place with its wooden model train for children to climb on. The museum hosts an annual Day Out with Thomas event, complete with a non-powered Thomas the Tank Engine replica that the kids and kids at heart will surely enjoy.
The Maryland Zoo, formerly known as Baltimore Zoo, is one of the oldest zoological parks in the United States. The zoo features an extensive display of animals from Maryland's native species to African wildlife to polar bears and penguins. More than just a regular zoo, the facility is also active in many conservation programs that aim to protect species and their habitats through its exceptional in-house husbandry, medical care, research, and education programs. Aside from viewing the animals, the zoo also offers varied interaction activities that give visitors the chance for close encounters with selected animals such as penguins, giraffes, chimpanzees, and goats. In addition to its regular guided tours, you and your group may also experience animals more up-close with their signature Behind-The-Scenes tour. Moreover, it helps students from various fields of interest - whether it's sketching animals, observing their behavior, designing structures for exhibits, or finding inspiration for literary works.
The Baltimore Art Museum is considered one of the country’s centers for modern art. It is home to the renowned Cone Collection, an extensive accumulation of art pieces and artifacts including works of art greats Matisse and Picasso donated by Baltimore natives Claribel and Etta Cone. Aside from the pieces from the Cone sisters, BMA also proudly displays on its halls works of European masters of modern art such as Paul Cezanne, Vincent van Gogh, Juan Gris, Joan Miro, Marc Chagall, Andre Masson, Matta, Yves Tanguy, Alberto Giacometti, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Max Pechstein. Furthermore, the museum boasts of its extensive collection of art from Africa, American contemporary art, ancient Antioch mosaics, art from Asia, textiles from around the world, and works of established and emerging modern artists. You and your group can feast your senses by touring BMA’s galleries of contemporary art from different corners of the globe.
Fort McHenry is a great place to relive the United States’ early years as a nation. It is known as the site that inspired the words for the country’s national anthem. This pentagonal bastion by the coast of the Chesapeake Bay played an important part in US history. Its successful defense contributed to the success of the Battle of Baltimore against the attacking British Navy during the War of 1812. During the war, an American storm flag was flown over the fort while it was being bombarded by the British Navy. It was later replaced by a larger US garrison flag which flew gloriously until the victory of the fort's defense. The sight of this enduring symbol inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem 'Defense of Fort M'Henry' that was later set to the tune 'To Anacreon in Heaven' and became known as 'The Star-Spangled Banner.' Visitors of the fort are taken back in time with its well-preserved artifacts, period-dressed rangers, and enriching tours and exhibits.
The Baltimore Museum Industry, located in a historic waterfront building of an old oyster 19th-century cannery, celebrates the industrial legacy of Maryland. It shows how the industries contribute to the states’ on-going development. Inside its campus, the museum recreates parts of the old cannery, a 1900 garment loft, and the pharmacy where Noxzema was invented. It also contains exhibits of Baltimore’s food industry. The museum also houses a library with over 5,000 volumes of rare and historic books and manuscripts covering all major trades in Baltimore - including canning, manufacturing, the cloth industries, violin making, and the steel industry. BMI offers interactive displays, live demonstrations, enriching tours, and hands-on activities that engage visitors with the stories of the people who built Baltimore and the industries that are shaping Maryland’s future.
This humble brick house in 203 Amity Street is the birthplace and home of one of the most prominent figures of literature, Edgar Allan Poe. He was a poet, writer, editor, and literary critic who was famous for his poems and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and grim. His landmark works earned his the time as the father of modern short stories. The house, where Poe grew up in, was preserved and still retains most of the original structure from the 19th-century. It presently contains exhibits that celebrate his life, works, and death. The museum displays some of the important artifacts owned by the great writer - including his portable writing desk and chair, and a telescope, china, and glassware used by Edgar when living with his family in Richmond, Virginia. The museum, through its numerous events and lectures, continues to influence writers and poets of all ages by keeping his spirit and legacy alive.
The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture located in the center of downtown Baltimore, being a Smithsonian-affiliate, is distinguished as the best resource for knowledge and inspiration about the lives of African Americans of Maryland. It was named after one of the wealthiest African American lawyers in the 1980s, Reginald F Lewis. In addition to its terrific exhibitions, the museum uses a range of appealing activities to its visitors. These include workshops for kids, musical productions, and lectures. Researchers can likewise take advantage of their comprehensive resources on genealogy. It even has a soul cafe on-site for that extra gastronomic experience.
The American Visionary Arts Museum was designated by Congress as America’s national museum for visionary arts to promote artists for their unique creative vision and intuitive approach. Its permanent exhibition includes more than 4000 pieces from self-taught visionary artists of varying backgrounds. AVAM’s collections and displays honor the "process and consciousness" of the artist, rather than being a "mere artifact.” The museum's art pieces were all made and inspired by the artists' passion within. Truly one of its kind, this museum celebrates creativity in all its form.
Learning science has never been so much fun and interactive than that of the Maryland Science Center. The center offers three floors of engaging exhibits that make kids of all ages explore different subjects such as anatomy, physics, paleontology, and astronomy. The Maryland Science Center, located conveniently at the Inner Harbor, offers live lectures and demonstrations, the Davis Planetarium, an IMAX theater, and a rooftop observatory where you can watch the night sky. The dinosaur exhibit features a full-scale replica of dinosaur skeletons including a tyrannosaurus rex. The planetarium allows guests to explore the solar system and deep space. The Newton gallery hands-on physics-related experiments - including a "Bernoulli blower," "inertia table," and other things. Also, visitors can learn more about the human body through their extensive anatomy exhibits. Students of all ages, families, and groups can ignite the inner scientist in them through their hands-on experience that sparks curiosity and drive the quest for knowledge.
Here are some other equally notable place of interests that can be included when your visit Baltimore for your next educational tour.