- 1. Annapolis (about 40 minutes)
- 2. Washington, DC (about 1 hour)
- 3. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (about 1 hour 20 minutes)
- 4. Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (about 1 hour 20 minutes)
- 5. Shenandoah National Park (about 2 hours 15 minutes)
- 6. Philadelphia (about 2 hours)
- 7. Rehoboth Beach, Delaware (about 2 hours 30 minutes)
- 8. Ocean City, Maryland (about 2 hours 45 minutes)
- 9. Chincoteague and Assateague (about 3 hours)
- 10. Cape May, New Jersey (about 3 hours)
- 11. Deep Creek Lake (about 3 hours)
- 12. New York City (about 3 hours 30 minutes)
- Getting out of Baltimore without a car
- Cheap weekend getaways from Baltimore by car
- Last-minute weekend getaways from Baltimore
Baltimore sits within a comfortable drive of more variety than most people give it credit for, and the twelve below are ordered by how long it takes to get there. Drive times are for clear roads, so add to them for a Friday evening start.
1. Annapolis (about 40 minutes)
A colonial capital that still works as one, with the Maryland State House, the Naval Academy and a harbour full of sailing boats. Crab houses on the water are why most people come.
2. Washington, DC (about 1 hour)
Close enough that the MARC train makes more sense than driving. The Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery are free, which is what turns a DC weekend from expensive into reasonable.
3. Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (about 1 hour 20 minutes)
The battlefield is enormous and the auto tour takes half a day if you do it properly. A licensed battlefield guide riding in your own car is the upgrade worth paying for.
4. Harpers Ferry, West Virginia (about 1 hour 20 minutes)
Where two rivers and three states meet, with the lower town preserved as a national historical park and the Appalachian Trail running straight through. Maryland Heights gives you the view from the postcards.
5. Shenandoah National Park (about 2 hours 15 minutes)
Skyline Drive runs 105 miles along the ridge with overlooks the whole way. Old Rag is the famous scramble and now needs a day-use ticket in the busy months.
6. Philadelphia (about 2 hours)
Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Barnes Foundation and a genuinely good restaurant scene. Easy by train if you would rather not park in Center City.
7. Rehoboth Beach, Delaware (about 2 hours 30 minutes)
Quieter than Ocean City, with tax-free shopping, a good boardwalk and Cape Henlopen State Park out at the point. Dogfish Head brews in nearby Milton.
8. Ocean City, Maryland (about 2 hours 45 minutes)
Three miles of boardwalk, Thrasher’s fries and a beach that fills from June. Assateague is twenty minutes south if you want the version with wild ponies and no arcades.
9. Chincoteague and Assateague (about 3 hours)
Barrier islands with wild ponies, a working fishing town and a national wildlife refuge. The pony swim in late July is the busiest the island gets all year.
10. Cape May, New Jersey (about 3 hours)
A whole town of Victorian houses at the southern tip of New Jersey, plus one of the best bird migration sites on the east coast in spring and autumn.
11. Deep Creek Lake (about 3 hours)
Western Maryland’s mountain lake, with Wisp for skiing in winter and Swallow Falls State Park and its old-growth hemlock the rest of the year.
12. New York City (about 3 hours 30 minutes)
Drivable but rarely worth driving. The train from Baltimore gets you there in well under three hours and removes the parking problem entirely.
Getting out of Baltimore without a car
This is the strongest rail city on the list by some distance. MARC commuter trains and Amtrak both reach Washington in under an hour, and Amtrak runs frequently to Philadelphia and New York, which makes three of the trips above genuinely car-free. Ocean City, Deep Creek Lake and the Eastern Shore have no rail at all.
Cheap weekend getaways from Baltimore by car
- Washington, DC: the Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery are free
- Annapolis: walking the historic district and the waterfront costs nothing
- Harpers Ferry: one park fee covers the whole lower town
- Assateague: cheaper than Ocean City and the ponies are the attraction
Last-minute weekend getaways from Baltimore
- Annapolis, forty minutes and walkable on arrival
- Washington, DC, where the free museums need no tickets
- Gettysburg, where the battlefield itself is always open
- Philadelphia, big enough for a late room
If you are deciding on the day, work backwards from the drive rather than the destination: anything under two hours leaves you a genuine Saturday, and anything past four is really a three-day trip wearing a weekend label.
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Written by
John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.
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