Visiting Maryland on a Budget
Maryland concentrates more free history per mile than almost any state — colonial capitals, Civil War battlefields, maritime America, the Atlantic coast, and the science-and-space corridor near Washington all intersect here. Annapolis, the oldest continuously used state capital, packs the free State House, the Naval Academy, and a dozen colonial mansions into six blocks. Baltimore punches above its weight with two free world-class art museums (the Walters and the BMA), a free harbor promenade, and the historic Lexington Market. On the Eastern Shore, St. Michaels centers on the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and free harbor strolling, while Ocean City delivers 10 miles of free beach, a 3-mile Boardwalk, and Assateague's wild ponies. Inland, Frederick pairs a free creekside park with Civil War history, and College Park anchors a free cluster of NASA Goddard, the world's oldest airport, and New Deal Greenbelt. South of Annapolis, Solomons opens Calvert County's marine museum, lighthouses, and Calvert Cliffs fossil beaches. April through October is the sweet spot.
Cities in Maryland
Pick a city to see free attractions, cheap activities, and budget travel tips.
Annapolis, Maryland
Maryland's colonial capital sits where the Severn River meets the Chesapeake Bay — the oldest US state capital still in use, with 300-year-old brick streetscapes and one of the most walkable historic waterfronts on the East Coast. The free State House, the US Naval Academy Visitor Center, the Banneker-Douglass-Tubman Museum, William Paca House gardens, the Charles Carroll House, the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial, and a dozen colonial brick mansions are all packed into a 6-block radius. Add the $7 Maritime Museum, $8 Quiet Waters Park, and Saturday Farmers' Market, and a Chesapeake weekend barely tips $30.
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Ocean City, Maryland
Ocean City MD is Maryland's Atlantic-coast resort town — and one of the East Coast's most genuinely affordable beach destinations. The 3-mile Ocean City Boardwalk (free), 10 miles of public Atlantic beach (free, no beach tags), Northside Park's 58 bayside acres (free), and Sunset Park's free Thursday concerts handle the warm-weather days; Trimper's Rides on the south end keeps the family fun classic since 1890; the $6 Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum anchors the rainy-day cultural pick; and the Assateague Island National Seashore (free on foot or bike) hosts the famous wild ponies just south of town.
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Frederick, Maryland
Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains between Washington DC and the Appalachians, Frederick's beautifully intact Victorian downtown is anchored by the free 1.3-mile Carroll Creek Linear Park, the $9.50 National Museum of Civil War Medicine, and the eccentric Sky Stage outdoor art venue. The free Monocacy National Battlefield (Civil War turning point), Mount Olivet Cemetery (Francis Scott Key's grave), and Catoctin Mountain Park's hiking round out the outdoor picks. The donation-based 1758 Schifferstadt Architectural Museum is Maryland's oldest German Colonial home, and Wonder Book sells used books from $1. The Common Market co-op adds a free, walkable food stop downtown.
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Baltimore, Maryland
Charm City punches above its weight on free attractions — the Walters and the Baltimore Museum of Art are two world-class free art museums, the 2.5-mile Inner Harbor promenade is free to walk, and Federal Hill Park offers Baltimore's best free skyline view. The 1829 Washington Monument (the original, 50 years older than DC's), America's first Catholic cathedral, the Fells Point waterfront, and Lexington Market (oldest continuously operating public market in the country since 1782) are all free. Fort McHenry National Monument's grounds are free; the $20 American Visionary Art Museum is the marquee paid pick.
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College Park, Maryland
College Park, home to the University of Maryland just outside Washington, anchors a cluster of free science, aviation, and New Deal history. The free NASA Goddard Visitor Center in neighboring Greenbelt puts real rockets and a moon rock within reach, while College Park Airport — the world's oldest, where the Wright brothers trained Army pilots — sits beside its small aviation museum. Old Greenbelt is a National Historic Landmark New Deal town with an Art Deco center, and the free University of Maryland Art Gallery, 1,100-acre Greenbelt Park, and the birding trails of Lake Artemesia round out an easy, education-rich budget day near the capital.
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St. Michaels, Maryland
St. Michaels is the Eastern Shore's marquee harbor town — the 'town that fooled the British' in the War of 1812 — and an easy budget base for Talbot County. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and its 1879 lighthouse anchor the waterfront, while free Talbot Street strolling, Muskrat Park's harbor cannons, the 1.3-mile Nature Trail, and the free St. Michaels Museum fill an in-town day. Ten miles east in Easton, the free Academy Art Museum, the 1684 Third Haven Meeting House, and the 400-acre Pickering Creek Audubon Center add depth, with the 1683 Oxford-Bellevue Ferry and watermen's Tilghman Island rounding out the region.
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Solomons, Maryland
Solomons is a small island town where the Patuxent River meets the Chesapeake, the budget gateway to Southern Maryland's Calvert County. The Calvert Marine Museum and its screwpile Drum Point Lighthouse anchor the waterfront, alongside the free Riverwalk boardwalk, the free Chesapeake Biological Laboratory aquarium, and the pay-what-you-wish Annmarie Sculpture Garden. Nearby, fossil hunters comb the beaches at Calvert Cliffs State Park and Flag Ponds, the free Jefferson Patterson archaeology park lines the Patuxent, and a quarter-mile boardwalk crosses the bald-cypress swamp at Battle Creek — with the historic Cove Point Lighthouse open for free summer tours.
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More on Maryland from TravelCheapUS
In-depth budget travel guides from our companion blog that mention Maryland.