National Aquarium

The National Aquarium is the anchor attraction of Baltimore's Inner Harbor and one of the best aquariums in the United States. The building itself is dramatic — a glass and steel pyramid rising from Pier 3 — and the collection inside lives up to the architecture. The Atlantic coral reef exhibit, the Amazon rainforest, the dolphin shows, and the 225,000-gallon open ocean shark tank are the highlights.

Allow three to four hours to do it properly. Tickets are pricy but the quality is high — this is a serious scientific institution as well as a visitor attraction. Buy tickets in advance online to avoid the queues that form in summer. The aquarium is also home to a successful dolphin rescue and rehabilitation programme.

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The National Aquarium opened in 1981 with 1.5 million visitors in its first year — a number that exceeded all projections and is often credited with kick-starting the Inner Harbor redevelopment and, by extension, the urban renewal model that dozens of other American cities tried to imitate in the following decade. The aquarium paid for itself in terms of civic investment within its first five years.

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