Raleigh NC to Baltimore road trip: Distance, time & best stops
The best road trip stops on the Raleigh NC to Baltimore drive are Richmond VA, Washington DC and Baltimore. The distance from Raleigh NC to Baltimore by car is 318 miles, with a 5h driving time.
Planning a Raleigh NC to Baltimore road trip itinerary
The Raleigh NC to Baltimore drive takes you from the capital of North Carolina to the biggest city in Maryland.
Raleigh NC offers a series of high quality museums. The North Carolina Museum of History, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina Museum of Art are the three big-hitters. Meanwhile, the Mordecai Historic Park is where you’ll find Raleigh’s oldest house and the William B Umstead State Park is the top spot for outdoorsy pursuits.
Top Raleigh activities include trolley pub tours and ghost tours.
For Raleigh accommodation, the Marriott is the prime address downtown and the Store is a gorgeous guesthouse.
Baltimore is a character-packed port city that has spruced itself up in recent years and has a wealth of attractions to explore. The National Aquarium and the Fort McHenry National Monument are arguably the biggest two sights, but there’s an excellent range of Baltimore experiences to tackle.
Top choices include historical sightseeing tours, sailing on Inner Harbor and ghost tours in the Fell’s Point neighbourhood.
For other options, try brewery-hopping tours, helicopter rides and Fell’s Point food tours.
Waterfront Baltimore accommodation options include the Canopy at Harbor Point and the Sagamore Pendry in Fell’s Point.
Raleigh NC to Baltimore distance and driving time
By car, the distance from Raleigh NC to Baltimore is 318 miles. That makes for a driving time of around five hours. The quickest route is mostly along the I-95.
The best stops to add to a Raleigh NC to Baltimore road trip itinerary are Richmond VA, Washington DC and Baltimore.
For more suggestions, see the guides to the individual legs of the journey.
Raleigh NC to Richmond VA road trip attractions: Petersburg VA
The Petersburg National Battlefield is the primary attraction in Petersburg VA. The site commemorates the nine-and-a-half month Siege of Petersburg during the Civil War. There were 70,000 casualties in the longest military event of the war. The hiking and biking trails pass a series of outdoor exhibits, while the Poplar Grove National Cemetery shows the scale of the bloodshed.
Otherwise, hang out in Old Towne Petersburg, which offers a mix of indie shops, restaurants and antiques galleries.
Best stops between Raleigh NC and Baltimore: Richmond VA
Once the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond VA is not entirely weighed down by its history. The surprisingly wild James River runs through it, and the west end feels energetic and more of the North than the South.
The top attraction, though, is the huge American Civil War Museum at the historic Tredegar Ironworks. After that, walk the suspension bridge to Belle Isle in the middle of the James River, see the dubious Confederate monuments on Monument Avenue, or see the grandiose tombs of the Hollywood Cemetery.
Other good Richmond experiences include food tours of the Arts District or Church Hill, Segway tours of the city landmarks, nighttime ghost walks and guided hikes along the James River.
For Richmond accommodation, the Moxy Richmond Downtown brims with fun, youthful energy. The Residence Inn by Marriott, meanwhile, is a short walk from the lively Shockoe Bottom neighbourhood.
Raleigh NC to Baltimore drive: Washington DC
Washington DC has an enormous range of tours, experiences and attractions available. You could happily spend weeks in the Smithsonian Museums alone. Top choices, however, include the nighttime monuments and memorials tour, small group guided visits to the Capitol and National Library of Congress and Lincoln assassination tours that visit Fords Theatre.
Memorable Washington DC accommodation options include the Willard, where Martin Luther King Jr wrote his I Have A Dream speech. There’s also the Watergate Hotel, a luxurious conversion of the offices from the Watergate scandal.
More Raleigh NC road trips
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