My husband and I are looking to vacation in Maryland in the summer, we have never been there. Any suggestions on where to stay, what to do, where to eat, etc. Are there any beaches? Any input would be appreciated.

There is Ocean City Maryland. People from Maryland spend their summer vacations there. They have quite a few very nice places to stay. I would contact the Maryland Chamber of Commerce. Baltimore is very pretty but there is no beach and Annapolis is beautiful but again no beach. You could start out in Annapolis and then drive to Ocean City which is about 1 1/2 away.

A lot of us Marylanders go to the Delaware beaches (Rehobeth, esp)

St. Michaels is a beautiful quaint place.

Here's a second for St. Michael's.

St Michaels: Too cute for words; too pricey for me.

I don't know how much time you have but you could do all of the above. Baltmore and Annapolis are worth at least a day apiece. You could stay in Baltimore a couple nights, taking a day trip to Annapolis. Or vice versa. Then you could head toward the Eastern Shore, stopping in the St. Michael's area, and them perhaps heading for the shore.

Assateague (near Ocean City ) is wonderful. Check out their website.

The other responses are all good, but if you are not a beach person I would recommend heading west out to the mountains. You can see Antietam Battlefield on the way there. Deep Creek lake is a HUGE lake with lots of activities. There are wonderful cabins to rent and some smaller hotels. There is really good hiking at Swallow Falls and other parks. So, if you prefer the woods and cool breezes to the beach-head west.

St. Michaels is beautiful. HOWEVER, the town shuts down about 6pm. Nothing to do at night. Nothing reopens until 10am the next morning. Stay clear of the Five Gables Inn and Spa. Charges $210 a night - small room - rude innkeeper - view of a blue storage shed - the rooms have no insulation-could hear the neighboring rooms around and above. Couldn't even get a cup of coffee until 8:30am. The town is good for an afternoon, but next time, I'll stay in Annapolis.

From a guy's perspective, Norma, St. Michael's is way overrated.

I mean, how many cute-sy shops can you look at before you start banging your head against a wall. Lots of 'em, I guess, if you're a woman in St. Michael's. Truly, the 'charm' of St. Michael's escapes me (and my wife, too).

Ocean City? Sure, if you're looking for a crowded, noisy beach resort populated by lots of 20-somethings.

Annapolis is interesting; Western Md. (around Emmitsburg) is pretty; the Baltimore Inner Harbor is worth a visit. Beaches? Go to Rehobeth, Bethany or Lewes (named as one of Money magazine's top vacation spots).

I'm definitely biased, living in a wonderful neighborhood in downtown Baltimore, but we can keep our guests busy here for days on end. There is so much more to do than just the Inner Harbor. Interesting museums, great shopping, neighborhoods bursting with personality...and the waterfront! Check out www.baltimore.org to get the low down on what's going on in the city.

OC is a fantastic place, very lively etc. My recommendation is to stay anywhere but the Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel. We stayed there earlier this year and were extremely disappointed with the service we received and the false impressions we were given before the stay. We thought we had reserved a seaview hotel room but hadnt read the smallprint and stayed in a room with no view at all. The staff did not try to help us by finding a room more suitable. Take my advice and stay somewhere else and Im sure you will have a wonderful vacation

To our previous poster - I don't think that Fodor's wants people (us) to trash hotels. Many people have had various problems with the hotels they've stayed in but Fontainbleau - that's a nice place - and just because you didn't reserve oceanfront is NOT a reason to trash their name. You may wind up in business sometime and have someone trash your company's name and you'll hate it and the lost business that comes with it

Nikki: Cool off, Louise was expressing her personal opinion based on her own experience. She's entitled to do that; unless you're the owner of the Clarion
Resort Fontainebleau, what do you care?

Norma: If you have to ask whether or not Maryland has beaches, I'd suggest you increase the amount of effort you're putting into researching Maryland for this trip you're planning. I don't mean to sound harsh, but if you haven't figured out by now that a state on the eastern seaboard has beaches, nothing anyone says here is going to be of much help to you. Get up off your hind quarter and put a little effort into planning your vacation!

ttt

Another vote for Assateague - beautiful and wild.

If you like Italian food, don't forget to check out Baltimore's Little Italy. There are scores of great Italian restaurants (most require reservations), the portions are huge, and it makes for a wonderful evening!

just remember Maryland is the USA in minature. You can do it all in one state! Stay in Baltimore? You are 45 minutes from the nations capital. Enjoy the water? Consider a trip around the bay or on the bay renting a boat out of Annapolis. Want hills and valleys? Check out Western Maryland and Spend some time following early history of our country or the battles of the Civil war. What ever your pleasure- with the little research on the net can be yours in Maryland. Goodluck and hope you come and visit what I call home!
Berlin, Maryland