Central

Central Maryland covers the Baltimore metro and the surrounding country between the Patapsco and Susquehanna rivers, the densely populated heart of the state. The terrain runs gently rolling — Piedmont uplands in the northern counties giving way to the tidal Chesapeake Bay shoreline at Annapolis and the Patapsco at Baltimore. The Inner Harbor at Baltimore is the region’s most distinctive landmark. Six counties cover the region. Baltimore City and Baltimore County together hold Baltimore, the largest city; Anne Arundel holds Annapolis (the state capital and home of the United States Naval Academy); Howard holds Columbia and Ellicott City; Carroll holds Westminster; Harford holds Bel Air and Aberdeen. Major attractions include the Inner Harbor, the National Aquarium, Fort McHenry, the Walters Art Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, Camden Yards, and the United States Naval Academy. Most trips here split between Baltimore and Annapolis. Baltimore handles a dense urban itinerary — Inner Harbor, Fells Point, Federal Hill, Hampden, and the Charles Village museum corridor; Annapolis runs the colonial-and-naval itinerary along the harbor and the Naval Academy grounds; Ellicott City’s restored 19th-century mill town fills a day. Spring through fall is the strongest season.