Welcome to Baltimore!

You may not know where Baltimore is - or, worse, you might know it only as the crime-tastic setting of gritty TV drama The Wire. But this lively and welcoming city on the USA's east coast is more than worth a few days of your time.

A potted history

Baltimore is in central Maryland, about 40 miles northeast of the nation's capital, Washington, DC. The city rose to early prominence as a harbour where tobacco and sugar were traded in abundance. It then became a key player in the American Revolution before later suffering the devastation of a massive fire at the turn of last century.

Since the late 1990s, the city has seen something of a rennaissance; cash was pumped into revitalising the downtown area, especially the Inner Harbor area. Once ridden with rats, rotting piers and charmless warehouses, areas like Fells Point and Little Italy now offer a gentrified scene that stays truer to the historical roots of "Bawlmer" (that’s Baltimore to you).

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What can I do there?

Every city has one great cultural attraction you shouldn’t miss and Baltimore's is the American Visionary Art Museum. It’s impossible to pin a description or comparison onto the museum. Artworks here cover sculpture, painting, mosaics, writing, inscriptions, collages, woodcraft and more but all of them have one thing in common; it’s all created by untrained artists. Find out more at www.avam.org.

Ride the Ducks. If you need to keep kids entertained, this will be just the thing. These bus-boat hybrids are becoming popular in more and more cities and are the perfect way to take in everything Baltimore has to offer on land and water. Especially spectacular is the harbour by water. Adults may not enjoy the requirement to ‘blow your quacker’ at unsuspecting passers by during the trip, so best to leave that part to the kids and the guide... Get more info from www.baltimoreducks.com.

Enter a weird aquatic world: the world-famous National Aquarium informs on everything you need to know about life underwater. The exhibits show a huge range of marine life and are a great way to keep the kids entertained while they learn. Visit www.aqua.org for more.

Or how about doing the beehive, hon! Baltimore is famously the inspiration for the musical and film Hairspray. Honfest in June is an annual celebration packed with 60s-themed fun. It’s supposed to celebrate the working women of Baltimore and ‘Hon’ was coined after the local dialect (as in short for "honey").

If you happen to be there during the festival itself, it’s worth a look-in just to see some of the fabulous get-ups. You’ll see everything from women, to men, to poodles dressed in beehives, feather boas, animal prints and more 50s glam kit. Even if you can’t catch the festival, do head down to Hampden and check out the quirky boutiques, fascinating architecture and the Honfest diner itself for delicious malts and burgers.