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Port Discovery Children's Museum

3.7 (226 reviews)
Closed 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Updated 1 month ago

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Starr driving the big train
Denise J.

It was a lot of great activities for the kids to enjoy. We had a blast. It showed our children's some of father great things about Baltimore

Three story cargo net and slide
Dan E.

I'm just not convinced the value is there. Over $95 for a family of 4 to come plus downtown parking, and despite the large exterior of the building, the musuem itself is rather small in number of exhibits. In reality, I think it's a stretch to call it a museum, it is much more of a "play center" with mild facts sprinkled in that no children pay pay attention. The cargo ship is probably the only thing where everyone cab learn - from how the engine room works, to how the cargo is loaded, to the port security - it is all hands on fun. However, the rest of Port Discovery was trite and not well suited to the large crowds they admit - a "diner" (basically a large plastic Fisher Price kitchen), a library with some themed books, a agricultural area, and an Egyptian adventure that was difficult for even the adults in our party to understand the procedures. The main feature is truly just a giant slide accessible only be climbing an enclosed cargo net. Wait times can get rather long, but it was fun. Overall, I think Port Discovery would benefit by having timed entry tickets on their peak days and hours. Beyond that, I don't think I'd go back with the prices the way they are; it didn't provide enough value for me and my family.

Dakota M.

We took a day off work and came up as a family to baltimore. Drove two hours in car for kid to have an epic, family fille day! We registed way in advance and planned out to have it on a community day to maximize cost savings since we had to plan gas, snacks and resturants in that area. The parking was more than the tickets...And it seemed like 2/3 of the items were not for the kid's age group we brought or it was under construction (all of the top level and other attractions). Was a huge disappointment since we travled for it and never got an email saying the exhibits would be closed or that they would require an age level or height level to participate. The favorite activity was the ropes suspended "bridge". But the kids that were there pushed and kicked our kid off the suspended seat/circle and didn't let her participate, event though she waited her turn. There is not supervision it seems from staff and a lot of parents seem to be local /residents that were meeting other parents like at a park and didn't care what their kds were doing. This part was cool, that it was local, but not cool for out of towners that were expecting all parents be at the same level of supervision. Overall we had a terrible experience and I do not think we would go back to baltimore for this experience. It was miserable trip to get there and to get back due to time of travel and when the time we spent there was not memory inspiring.

Austin G.

After paying $65+ for my wife, five-year-old daughter, and I to visit Port Discovery, I was skeptical. After several hours wandering the space, I'm a convert. The building is tight hence why they build up. The first hour, my daughter and I climbed the giant rope course to the very large slide. It was a blast for both of us! Afterwards, we found the craft room and did a few paintings. Then we visited the kid-sized grocery store, diner, maze, ship, and so many exhibits. There are ample restrooms and kids my daughter's age could easily stay for hours. However, our friends that went with us didn't love it for their two-year-old. They were overwhelmed by the small space and crowds. If you go, keep your receipt. Kids eat free at nearby Phillips Seafood. Also, avoid the expensive parking garage and park on the street if you can.

Quiet play area
Carlyn M.

Came here with my bestie and niece. I love the fact they have different areas to rest. They also have sensory/quiet rooms. There was plenty of sanitizer stations. There is an area to eat for lunch/snacks. We came on a day when it was a field trip for a school. But surprisingly it wasn't over crowded. I parked in the garage that's adjacent to the Power Plant. You can also get your parking validated. Lol it didn't discount anything. *shrugs * Lol!

Gabrielle H.

THIS place is amazing. My children thoroughly enjoyed every single part of it except of course check in. Lol I even went down the big slide. I cried. I wish I could add an emoji so you can understand that I thought it was all over for me. Lol the only reason I went down the slide is because climbing back down those ropes was not an option for my toes. So adults be warned. Lol Each floor was filled with surprises. Each room was filled with entertainment. We ended up buying the family annual pass. How could you NOT buy the family pass? 1 thing I would say that was deceiving was the "Kids eat free at Phillips Seafood when you purchase port discovery tickets." That is a complete lie. Only 1 child per port discovery receipt was able to eat for free. ...and the food at Phillips was awful. When I say terrible...I mean terrible. The service was not bad, but the food was awful. So...why partner with them if you're 1. Going to lie about the kids eat free and 2. The food is despicable. All in all Port Discovery was theeee best. I took away 2 stars for the deceit about Phillips Seafood.

Edrika G.

If I were a kid THIS is where I would want to come! My niece is in town with my 'grand-niece'. To give them something to do we came to check things out and I must say....... I'M IMPRESSED! First of all..... there's a ship in here! Well, not a real ship, but it looks close enough. It's got a horn, the steering wheel and all that. Then, there is a climbing net the kids can enter on the ground floor to climb ALL the way to the top floor! AWESOME! They can also enter at the second or third level. Once at the top they can ride a slide all the way down. Tell me that's not the coolest thing ever. For an indoor spot, that's COOL! A lot of the things were for older kids as my niece was only 14 months, but there are things for all ages. Texture walls, a 'water room', soft blocks they can put together to build a fort...... a whole lot of thought was put into this place! As the day went on more kids arrived, but I never felt like it was 'packed'. There's a grocery store, a car you can put gas in and fill up the tires, a diner where kids can pretend to cook, an ancient tomb with things to decrypt, and much more. You could stay here for hours. I think I tapped out before the baby did. It's a lot! But it's a fun spot. Parking is convenient in the garage next door and they will validate your ticket. Purchase your tickets on-line for easy access. Now I'm thinking of who else will visit that I can bring.

Valerie G.

We were visiting from out of town, and this was one of our stops to bring our three year old. The prices for the tickets were a little expensive, but then actually getting inside you realize why. There are so many activities for kids of all ages, you can literally spend hours in there. He had so much fun.

Toys area
Ana M.

Overall: Great place and about an hr in we decent to become members. Covid protocols : Masked staff and kids required and corrections made Lots of hand sanitizer stations. A+ and the reason we signed up as members on that visit. Additionally they close down and clean during the 2 visit times. Parking: Lot right next to the front. They validate it for $15 flat fee. Lockers: Free available to drop your stuff and stroller storage too. Value: so much to do for kids mostly grade age. There is stuff for littles under 2 as well and a 3 floor slide you have to climb a rope..tower to get to sand shoes. Not to parents if you need to help your little one, its a beast on your knees and feet. 3 hrs per visit is not enough so we came 2x in a week and could come back again to get through everything. It's not cheap but it is worth it. Military discount is honored too Food: vending machines one with more healthy option, one with regular junk food. Note: buy your membership same day to apply the full cost towards a membership.

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9 months ago

Incredible children's museum , lots to see and do for the little ones. Definitely worth a stop while in Baltimore.

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8 months ago

Best kids place ever.... Been going there for more than 10 years and it's always a hit!!

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Port Discovery Children's Museum Reviews in Other Languages

Ask the Community - Port Discovery Children's Museum

Is it better to buy tickets online when planning to go there? I have a kid and a baby.

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Review Highlights - Port Discovery Children's Museum

Staff are still wearing mask in case you worry about covid, sanatizer are available through out the station.

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National Children's Museum

National Children's Museum

3.8(106 reviews)
35.5 miFederal Triangle
Not-for-profit
Wheelchair accessible

My inner 12 year old enjoyed visiting the museum. It is located in the Ronald Reagan Building…read more Metro is close by. The museum has a few play/learning areas outside of the building. It is one of the few museums that charges a fee (just like The Bible Museum, Spy Museum & Museum of Illusions). All are worth a visit for different reasons. There are interactive exhibits and fun displays.

Luckily the two times we have visited we haven't had to pay for tickets (free museum days). I'm…read morebaffled as to how this can be the children's museum of DC!! For starters this place is so unkept, it's so incredibly dirty and the bathrooms are gross. I truly wonder if they ever clean this place? We visited 2 years ago and again this weekend, and I can tell they haven't updated a single thing. Including the nasty pom poms that have clearly seen better days and cost 2 cents a piece. This is the weirdest children's museum I have ever been to. Not even sure what the target age group is. They have like half of an exhibition appropriate for each different age group. The exhibitions are not cool, barely entertaining, half of them are broke or barely work, they are all dirty as can be. And the museum overall is tiny! I feel bad for the people that pay to visit this place. This was definitely the last time we visited, even with free tickets. Every single Smithsonian museum is 100000x better than this, and they are all free. So save your time and money and visit any of them, I'm sure your kids will be more entertained there and at least they won't catch a nasty virus from playing in this dirty place.

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National Children's Museum
National Children's Museum
National Children's Museum

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Play Street Museum - Severna Park

Play Street Museum - Severna Park

5.0(6 reviews)
15.1 mi
Locally owned & operated
Kid friendly

Play Street Museum is a franchise that specializes in kids' play areas that encourages imaginative…read moreplay and fun settings. The one in Severna Park is one of my favorites to take the kiddos because it has a great mix of interactive toys and buildings. Just to name a few: - an area for crafts - one of those motorized air funnels that you can put a scarf in - ice cream store - grocery store - doctor's office - vets office - a recycling truck with slots to sort different recyclables - a play house with kitchen stuff - pretend firetruck and firehouse with hose and slide You can also opt into extra add ons that allow you to participate in crafts you can take home (think DIY activities like slime). I like that there's only a finite number of spaces for time slots so it never gets too crowded. You should check their website before going just in case they're sold out (I believe they do allow walk ins though). They also have punch cards for a slightly discounted rate. It's usually around $18 for a single visit, but comes out to like $15 a visit with a punch card at the time of this post. I would totally recommend for little ones, but they may start to get bored for any ages 5 or older.

We had an amazing time at Play Street Museum for our triple play date! We reserved our spot online…read morethe night before for a 10:30 AM to 12 PM session. When we arrived, we were greeted with an easy check-in process. If you haven't signed the waiver online, you can quickly scan and sign it on-site. The staff was friendly and explained how everything worked. The space itself is fantastic! It's an open playground where kids can freely explore and play to their hearts' content. There are fun zones for every interest--a craft area near the cubbies, a science section by the check-in counter, and a little shop filled with books and small activities at the entrance. There's even a food token system: you drop the token off when you leave, and each kid gets a free snack, which is such a thoughtful touch. The restrooms are conveniently located at the back near the slide area, so everything you need is nearby. Overall, this is a well-organized, kid-friendly spot that offers so much for little ones to enjoy. We'll definitely be back!

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Play Street Museum - Severna Park
Play Street Museum - Severna Park
Play Street Museum - Severna Park

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Maryland Science Center

Maryland Science Center

3.8(181 reviews)
0.6 miInner Harbor

There's fun kids' activities in the Maryland Science Center downtown Baltimore. We're members, so…read moreit's free to go as often as we like! With that, we can stay with any one thing we're in the mood for, and next time see other stuff. This time, (Apr 2026), it was all the color-panel floor! No, I dont know what the official name is. The kids with us just ran and danced and played across the changing shapes and colors, and sometime just lay there as the colors and shapes changed around them, while other kids of all ages joined in for longer or shorter times. I don't think they have free days, but there are some inexpensive entry categories, and you can bring a friend in with anything but the most basic membership.

Overall, I really enjoy the center and think that it can be a wonderful place for families…read more Pros: it's a big facility and plenty for kids to see and do. My favorite location at the moment is the new Space Center which was just opened this year. It has some fun interactive exhibits and encourages kids to think about the universe around them. Also, there's a Kid's Rook filled with all sorts of in doors interactive activities including a giant water take, and many manipulatives. The live shows and science demonstrations are varied and incredibly well scripted and interactive. We've seen about 5-6 different shows this year and both my kids (ages 5 and 8) have loved and been engaged for every one. Staff are overall super friendly and they keep the facility super clean with the exception of the men's bathrooms. There's also a room where kids can conduct their own supervised experiments which is wonderful. And there's a new maker area that opened a few weeks ago where the kids are challenged to design all sorts of contraptions using recycled material (my kids spend 90 minutes there this morning!) Cons: no refreshments except for a really poorly designed self check out for frozen burgers and soft drinks and chips. This place could do with an actual eatery. Some areas are feeling and looking old. The dinosaur exhibit feels ancient and several of the areas, like the interactive screens do not work properly. It needs an upgrade (and so do a couple of other areas). Summer field trips can be unpleasant. At times, hundreds of unsupervised children can be in the facility and staff do not know how to force chaperones to be watching their children instead of being on their phones. I've seen kids shove other kids, steel toys from them, or simply be completely unsupervised at times and it makes me worry for their own safety. This was a repeated problem over the summer. The men's bathrooms especially on the second floor smell awful and are disgusting. Overall: my family and I have a membership and we do come a lot (probably 20 times a year). I feel like you can get a ton of use for it and kids have fun and can learn quite a bit while they are at it.

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Maryland Science Center
Maryland Science Center - Interior

Interior

Maryland Science Center - Kids loved this museum

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Kids loved this museum

B&O Railroad Museum - Fantastic viewpoints everywhere

B&O Railroad Museum

4.2(154 reviews)
1.4 miPigtown/Washington Village

Overall: great museum, super inclusive restrooms, lots to do and learn for all ages, lots of indoor…read moreand outdoor spaces, worth the price, kind employees My 1 year old was free. We went on a day with a Lego event and paid $20 per adult and $12 for our 4 year old and I found there was plenty to do for a morning and it felt worth the cost. We had been to a Trolley Museum and the B&O Museum in old Ellicott City and this was way better than either of those. There was plenty to explore for at least half of a day. For super young kids there was a kids indoor area and a small outdoor playground. There were tons of model trains, small and medium, indoor and outdoor. I would definitely go to this museum on days where it isn't raining because there is just as much to do outside as there is inside. They have tons of full size trains. You can explore the inside of some of them and they have different themes and things you can learn about. The Lego event we went to was super simple and run really well. All the kids were being super creative and persistent and having a blast building cars and racing them down a large ramp. We will definitely be back at some point.

Very interesting museum and great train display! Enjoyed visiting and learning about the history of…read moretrains and how they shaped the American economy, social and business practices.

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B&O Railroad Museum - Fantastic viewpoints everywhere

Fantastic viewpoints everywhere

B&O Railroad Museum - Fantastic viewpoints everywhere

Fantastic viewpoints everywhere

B&O Railroad Museum - Fantastic viewpoints everywhere

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Fantastic viewpoints everywhere

Baltimore Museum of Art - The Cone Collection is stunning

Baltimore Museum of Art

4.6(231 reviews)
2.6 miJohns Hopkins Homewood

WHAT A TREAT, to have caught the entire Amy Sherald exhibit and BAM! I loved this museum, and this…read moreexhibit specifically! My college campus and myself took a trip here for this, and 5/5 would recommend! So enlightening, so thought-provoking, so CHROME. ;) I'm also especially thankful for the guides that walked our group through Amy's pieces, who then were able to describe and confirm the emotions and response she wanted her audience to receive! Love love love this museum, and thank you to my campus for coordinating this.

My very first visit to the BMA will definitely not be the last. The collection in the museum is…read morehuge! It's definitely a great way to spend your day. I came here specifically for the Amy Sherald collection and was not disappointed. There is plenty of street parking and it doesn't cost much. They also have parking lots in case street parking is hard to find (I'm pretty sure it's hard to find street parking during weekdays because its in the JHU area). Check in was super easy. I was lucky enough to secure a free Thursday ticket, otherwise, there is an admission fee for the exhibit. Finding it was super easy because the staff gave great directions. It was crowded but the flow of the space made it not so overwhelming. All of her paintings were beautiful and meaningful. I loved that they included information about the pieces, what made her choose certain colors, how she chose what height the paintings should be placed and a short video of how she started her career and her process of creating. After leaving her exhibit, I wandered off to see other portions of the museum. The collections were beautiful. I didn't get to see everything because it was getting late but I look forward to visiting again soon.

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Baltimore Museum of Art - The band @candlelightconcert @Whitney #veryhappychic

The band @candlelightconcert @Whitney #veryhappychic

Baltimore Museum of Art - Michelle Obama portrait by Amy Sherald !

Michelle Obama portrait by Amy Sherald !

Baltimore Museum of Art - The variety of art created by women from the 15th through 18th centuries is amazing

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The variety of art created by women from the 15th through 18th centuries is amazing

Port Discovery Children's Museum - childrensmuseums - Updated May 2026

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