National Aquarium in Baltimore
 

The name sounds impressive. Is the National Aquarium in Baltimore a standout, or similar to other major aquariums?

Keith

It's a standout - Baltimore's best attraction, in fact. They recently added an Australian river gorge display with rocky cliffs and a 35-ft waterfall. They best time to go is during the winter, first thing in the morning on a weekday if you can manage it.

It is the best aquarium I have ever visited.

The Great and Powerful Thingorjus

I went to the National Aquarium a few years ago and was amazed. I'll be back in Baltimore next week and will visit it again.

Last fall I went to the Monterrey aquarium in CA and thought the National Aquarium was as good or better.

We took our kids there three years ago and they were thrilled by it. But it ain't cheap. Be prepared to open your wallet.

The Baltimore Aquarium is fantastic. GeorgeW is right, it's pricey but there are various discoutns available and during some times of the year they have a "Fridays After Five" option where you pay half price--we recently took advantage of that and enjoyed the uncrowded aquarium for a couple of hours.

It is an absolutely wonderful aquarium. Well presented, spectacular displays, excellent captions. My then ten-year-old is completely obsessed with marine life and was beside himself with delight when we went two years ago. Anytime we drive anywhere near Baltimore he begs to stop and visit. Which brings me to my only quibble. It is expensive. Do it only when you can spend most of the day. By the way, afterwards we went to the Phillips fast food outlet in the Inner Harbor so he could eat some marine life after admiring it all day, and the food was quite decent. There was also an Italian bakery counter a few steps away that was considerably more than decent, much to my surprise due to its location in a tourist mall.

Thanks for all the responses. Looks like I will spend a say in Baltimore, a week from Sunday.

Any suggestions for seafood?

I don't necessarily mind if the restaurant is pricey, just as long as it isn't a place for a long lingering meal.

Keith

Keith, I encourage you to buy a ticket for the aquarium in advance online to avoid wasting your time in long lines.

http://www.aqua.org/

As a volunteer at the NAIB, it is a pleasure to hear all of the positive responses to our wonderful facility. We try hard to make the price worth the experience.
We are very proud of the new Australian exhibit and have had very glowing remarks from native Aussies that visited us.We are currently working on upgrading our theater to a 4-D exhibit that will additionally enhance the visitors experience.

I live right across the Harbor from the aquarium (watch the blue neon"wave" come on each evening) and certainly enjoy going there with visiting family. It is expensive to visit, but is financially treading water (pun intended!) and they do lots of animal rescue work and education. A note to Persimmondeb, the bakery is a branch of a famous and wonderful Little Italy bakery, Vaccaros. Phillips Seafood is not visited much by locals.

Thanks for the name of the bakery, it was quite wonderful. I'm always deeply suspicious of the offerings in tourist malls, and chose Phillips only because it is a known quantity from Ocean City. I would think the locals would know about better places, and not bother with the merely decent. We were on a trip with the school and kind of trapped, and Phillips looked like a way better option than either Hooters or the ESPN cafe, which was where most of the other parents ended up. Of course, my kid eats everything, so I don't tailor my choices to kid food tastes.

Yes, it is an excellent aquarium. There can be a long line to get in.

schlegal - thanks for the Fridays After Five information! I checked the website and it is not readily apparent that this is available. I could only see it when I went to purchase admission tickets at various times and 5 pm and later on Friday was cheaper.

I went yesterday for The Polar Express Immersion, that was really cute. I haven't been to the aquarium since I was a kid so it was like seeing it for the first time. There was no line for will call and the line for tickets was pretty short, maybe 6 or 7 people at around 2:30 in the afternoon. Loved the rays and the sharks, I also did the dolphin show.
Is it wrong that I laughed at the videos of the dumb asses in that got bit by wild dolphins? Lol, idiots. :L

I think I was even more impressed with the National Aquarium in Baltimore than the one in Monterey, CA. The latter was fine but I might rank the one in Baltimore a notch higher. :)

Ditto on everything said about the aquarium. Legal Seafood is a short walk from the aquarium and quite good. Tio Pepe, although not primarily a seafood place (it is European Spanish food) has an extensive seafood menu and we love it. If you are looking for a crab feast, Obrickies is the place IMO. Save some room and go to the original Vaccaros in Little Italy for dessert. It is better than its branches and that is REALLY good.

I just returned this morning from a week in Baltimore. Although I did not have a chance to visit, many people mentioned that I should go to the aquarium. It was top of everyone's list of things to do.