Baltimore

Baltimore is Maryland's largest city and a working port on the Chesapeake Bay — an honest, hardworking, complex city best known to outsiders through The Wire (the HBO series set largely here) but better understood through its extraordinary seafood, its distinctive row-house neighbourhoods, its excellent museums and its deep harbour history. The Inner Harbor, developed into a waterfront attraction in the 1970s and 1980s, anchors tourist Baltimore: the National Aquarium (one of America's finest, with a rain forest pavilion and dolphin shows), the Maryland Science Center and the historic ships (the constellation frigate and the submarine Torsk) are all here. The Baltimore Museum of Art holds the largest collection of works by Henri Matisse in the world. The Walters Art Museum, with its exceptional medieval and Byzantine collections, is also free. The Lexington Market, founded in 1782, is one of America's oldest continuously operating markets. Federal Hill Park above the south harbour gives excellent views. Fells Point and Canton, the brick-row-house neighbourhoods east of the harbour, are the most characterful for bars and restaurants. The Chesapeake Bay crab — particularly steamed blue crabs with Old Bay seasoning, eaten at communal tables covered in newspaper — is one of America's great regional food experiences. Day trips to Annapolis (35 minutes), Washington DC (45 minutes) and the Chesapeake Bay Eastern Shore are excellent.