Baltimore or DC with a five year old?

[egeiger]

We are attending a wedding between Baltimore and DC this spring, and are likely going to make a long weekend of it. Which do you think would be more fun with a 5 year old?  Suggestions for what to do while we are there?  Thanks!

[firedancer10288]

DC would be cheaper because all the museums are free. The aquarium is great, but it's also rather expensive. I like the DC zoo better than Baltimore.

[underwaterrhymes]

You can't go wrong with DC.

The Air and Space Museum and Museum of Natural History are both great for kids. (When I was little, I was especially enamored with the carousel of food in the cafeteria in the latter. I have no idea if it's still in use, but it made quite an impression on me as a child.) And the zoo is awesome. Plus there are a ton of free things to do.

Baltimore is also awesome. The aquarium is amazing and there are paddle boats, but neither are free.

[auntie]

DC. The thought of the Aquarium on a weekend makes me want to hurt myself.

[MDmomof2]

I live in between Baltimore and DC and have an 8 year old and a 5 year old. We find ourselves going into Baltimore more often because we enjoy walking around the Inner Harbor and I'm familiar with free/cheap places to park. The traffic is usually less crazy going into Baltimore. However, DC is awesome and traffic and parking are not bad on a weekend. The Smithsonian museums are all free and I agree that the Air and Space and Natural History ones are great for kids. If you go into Baltimore, I'd recommend the Science Center over the Aquarium. There's tons for kids to do there and it's cheaper - planetarium shows are included!

[cleo29]

We recently took the girls to American history museum which added more interactive exhibits. I say DC, you can easily walk to the free museums, monuments and memorials. Also, the zoo is always fun. YOu can look at the their website to see if there are any special events going on too.

[revolution]

I don't think you can go wrong with either.

Our most recent was to Baltimore. We did the aquarium, inner harbor fun and walking. There is a children's museum right near inner harbor that my kids absolutely love.

[Lucy Honeychurch]

Natural History museum!

[cleo29]

Just be warned that the dinosaur exhibit is closed for now. Just want to give you a heads up.

[auntie]

There are some pretty cool ships to tour in the Inner Harbor- the rest of the area seems to be a mecca for chain restaurants.

[cleo29]

Jan 25, 2016 18:47:56 GMT -5 @licia said:

We just did Alexandria/DC with a 2.5 year old. LOVED IT. We stayed in Alexandria, right off the metro, which was awesome. It was so easy to get around, see a lot of fun stuff with DD (she thought the White House was a castle, and was so excited to see the Ruby Slippers and Kermit at the American History Museum), we also got to do the zoo because the weather was so nice in November. Otherwise, we swam a lot at our hotel, enjoyed the trolleys in Alexandria, ate a ton, and played in some parks by the Potomac.

my girls love riding the trolley

[matildasun]

I think either would be fun. We live in Baltimore. There is a lot to do with kids here. I wrote a long description of things to do for another poster who was staying near the Inner Harrbor. I can pm it to you if you want.

[egeiger]

Jan 25, 2016 22:21:15 GMT -5 matildasun said:

I think either would be fun. We live in Baltimore. There is a lot to do with kids here. I wrote a long description of things to do for another poster who was staying near the Inner Harrbor. I can pm it to you if you want.

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