Baltimore Transportation

Like many cities on the eastern side of the United States, Baltimore is very accessible by road, rail and air. International travellers who are heading for Baltimore can easily use airports in Washington DC, Atlantic City, Pittsburgh or Philadelphia as well as Baltimore's own.

Arriving by Air

Baltimore-Washington International Airport is located just south of Baltimore, off Route 295, and around 48 kilometres (30 miles) north-east of Washington DC. It is Maryland's busiest airport with 20 million passengers annually using the airport.

Arriving by Car

All the major routes approaching the city of Baltimore meet the I-695, the Baltimore Beltway, a ring road that circles the city. The Jones Falls Expressway (I-83) from Harrisburg and the north will take you right into the central Inner Harbor district. The I-395 comes in from the south-east, with access to downtown Baltimore and to the Port of Baltimore. The Baltimore National Pike (I-40) comes in from Frederick and the west. The I-95 comes from Philadelphia, New York and the north-west. The I-95 continues south-west towards Washington DC, running parallel to the Baltimore-Washington Expressway.

Getting Around Baltimore

Once you've arrived in Baltimore, trams provide a novel way to travel around town, as do the boat cruises, which leave from the Inner Harbor. For more conventional journeys, Baltimore has a first-class public transport system. Visitors should avoid driving in downtown Baltimore if at all possible as the traffic can get very busy and frustrating.