Chesapeake Marine Tours

City Dock at the foot of Main Street

410-268-7600

Reservations required

A variety of cruises are offered, weather permitting, aboard one of five vessels.

Day on the Bay Cruise

A 7.5 hour tour on the Annapolis II, passes local landmarks including the Naval Academy, a Victorian lighthouse and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum across the bay in the restored fishing village of St. Michaels.  There is a 3 hour stop for lunch and sightseeing.

Annapolis Harbor Tour

A 40 minute cruise of Annapolis Harbor and the Severn River. 

Spa Creek Tour

A 40 minute cruise of Annapolis harbor, past the US Naval Academy, and the residential areas of Spa Creek. 

90 Minute Cruises

Tour the Severn River, Chesapeake Bay bridges, or Thomas Point Lighthouse.

Discover Annapolis Tours

26 West Street

410-626-6000

Daily:  April-Nov.; Rest of the year:  Sat., Sun.

Telephone for departure hours

Closed Jan. 1, Thanksgiving Day, and Dec. 25.

A one hour narrated bus tour which introduces passengers to three centuries of local history, architecture, folklore, etc.  The tours pass through residential areas, the waterfront, a section of the US Naval Academy, and  around the State House and the governor’s house.

Hammond-Harwood House

two blocks west of the State House at 19 Maryland Ave, off King George Street

410/263-4683 

Mon–Sat 10–4, Sun noon–4. Closed Jan 1, Thanksgiving, and Dec 25

Admission Charged

Built in 1774, this house is one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the United States. The warm redbrick Palladian villa, which consists of two symmetrical wings connected by a central hall, was built in 1774 to the designs of William Buckland. It is  an outstanding example of the Maryland five-part plan that connects the central main section of the house by hyphens to semioctagonal wings. Famous for its center doorway of tall Ionic columns, the interior is a showcase of decorative arts and paintings, as well as ornamentation and wood carvings. The house is named for its original owners: Mathias Hammond, a Maryland member of the Provincial Assembly, and the Harwood family, who owned the house before it became a museum. A photo exhibit documents various aspects of the house from the 1920s to the present.

Helen Avalynne Tawes Garden

580 Taylor Street  at the Tawes State Office Building across from Navy Stadium

Access on weekdays is through the State Office Building.  Holiday access is between the Court of Appeals and the Department of Natural Resources buildings.

410-260-8189

Guided tours by reservation.  A booklet is available for self-guided tours.

Daily dawn-dusk.

Free Admission.

A  five acre, barrier free botanical garden featuring representations of the state’s natural environmental communities, from the forested mountains of western Maryland to the sand dunes of the Eastern Shore.  Shallow ponds support wildlife such as bullfrogs, ducks, fish, songbirds, and turtles.

Maryland State House

State Circle  

410/974-3400

Mon-Fri 9-5, Sat-Sun 10-4; tours daily 11am and 3pm 

Closed Jan 1, Thanksgiving, and Dec 25 

Free admission

Located in the center of Annapolis, this is the oldest U.S. capitol in continuous legislative use.  It was built between 1772 and 1779. The building also served as the U.S. capitol from November 26, 1783, to August 13, 1784. Inside the Old Senate Chamber,  George Washington resigned his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental armies at the end of the Revolutionary War.   This was also the place in which the Treaty of Paris was signed in which England acknowledged the independence of their former colonies in this country.

The dome of the building is made of cypress beams and is held together by wooden pegs. The  State House contains exhibits that depict life in Annapolis in colonial times.  There are  free 30-minute guided tours at 11am and 3pm that emanate  from the visitor center on the first floor.