74 | Stories from Charm City


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STORIES FROM CHARM CITY


July/August 2026


Inner Harbor. Its location made it easy for me to explore a lot of the city on foot before returning each evening to watch the harbour lights flicker across the water, and see the area fill with people enjoying its seafood restaurants, fantastic views and the


cruise with the Watermark Tours company provided an excellent introduction to a city whose fortunes have always been tied to the water. I saw where shipbuilding and steel


45-minute


afternoon, the guide on my harbour sightseeing


One gloriously sunny


that now serve as floating museums. It couldn’t have been better located, just a short walk from the National Aquarium, and I even took most of my evening meals in the hotel, amidst the globally-inspired décor of its Explorers restaurant.


historic ships


mills once stood as I learned about the history of the waterfront’s renaissance, and passed luxury apartments as well as the historic Fort McHenry, best known for its role defending the harbour from British attacks during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814.


WALKING THROUGH HISTORY Yet Baltimore’s real personality emerges away from the main tourist sights, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Fells Point, the historic waterfront district founded in the Eighteenth century that still features preserved Eighteenth and Nineteenth century architecture.


“That’s the spirit of the Baltimore that I encountered - impromptu chats, a wry modesty and spontaneous generosity.”


BY ANDREA MCVEIGH in plain sight.


FORGET what you think you know many


Maryland’s largest city has been shaped by violent crime thrillers, yet after four


of us, our image of neighbourhoods, days exploring and independent


scene, I discovered that the city is both misunderstood and underexplored, and nothing like The Wire! Baltimore doesn’t New


have


swagger or Boston’s self-confidence, but what it does have is character. Lots of it! It’s a city of storytellers.


stories of the sailors and merchants who built it.


The


of gothic horror writer Edgar Allen Poe and the gloriously eccentric filmmaker John Waters.


The stories


The stories shared on art tours, at neighbourhood bars and in independent bookshops. It’s historic but not precious, artistic but not pretentious, quirky without trying too hard, and urban, while feeling surprisingly intimate. After less than a week there I left with a good few stories of my own, and the feeling that Baltimore is one of America’s most distinctive cities hiding


York’s


historic streets cultural


its waterfront


about Baltimore, especially if you were a fan of gritty TV drama, The Wire. For


As a visitor from Belfast, I also recognised something familiar. Baltimore is also often viewed through a lens created by outsiders, while the reality is far more complex, creative and welcoming.


Its Colonial-era streets lead to world-class museums,


are swapped over crab cakes and beer, and locals embrace the unusual and celebrate individuality. Just an hour’s drive from Washington D.C.


ghost stories


hours by car from Philadelphia, it’s also easy to get to by train or bus, making it the perfect side-trip as part of a multi-city holiday, as well as a destination in its own right.


and two


officially known as ‘Charm City’, a nickname created in the 1970s to promote its unique character. But as a city of around half a million people, it also feels surprisingly intimate.


SMALLTIMORE Baltimore is


City Circulator, a free bus service that covers the downtown area across five routes and more than 100 stops. My base for four nights was the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court overlooking the


Established in 1763 by the Fell family, Quakers who hailed from Lancashire in England, Fells Point predates much of the rest of the city, and walking its cobbled streets feels a little like stepping into another century. These cobbled pathways witnessed Colonial America, the American Revolution, the age of sail and the rise of Baltimore as a trading powerhouse.


Street names such as Thames Street, Shakespeare Street and Fleet Street are reminders that Baltimore was once part of Britain’s Empire, long before it became American.


why locals affectionately call it by a different nickname - ‘Smalltimore’. And that’s great for tourists, because nothing is more than a walk, a taxi or a bus ride away, especially if your chosen attraction lies on the path of the Charm


That’s


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