Overview
For the town of North Baltimore, Ohio see Van Buren
North Baltimore is a large section of the city sprawling north towards Towson, and is home to Johns Hopkins University's Homewood campus.
5 sights · 6 things to do · 2 places to eat · 3 bars & cafés · 1 places to stay
Updated from Wikivoyage on 1 October 2026 · Something wrong or missing? Improve it on Wikivoyage
Best things about North Baltimore
Baltimore Museum of Art
Fantastic collection of 19th century, modern and contemporary art.
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University is a mammoth institution in Baltimore, and it is here that you will find its center on the Homewood Campus. The Homewood campus was a property purchased in 1800 by Charles Carroll, signer of the …
Homewood Museum
Evergreen Museum & Library
Miracle on 34th Street
Hampden's premiere attraction, bringing in suburbanites all throughout December, is the Miracle on 34th Street in Hampden—an out of control Christmas decorations bonanza, all just on one block of 34th. Strands of lights …
Negro League Baseball Museum
Free Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in the Owings Mills Library which is housed on 3 floors of the library and contains artifacts, photos and memorabilia from the Negro Leagues. It is open the same hours as the library.
Plan your trip
Best time to visit & weather
Most comfortable: Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct. Summer highs reach about 90°F; winter lows dip to about 30°F. Very hot (Jul) — plan outdoor time for mornings. Wettest: Jul and Sep. (climate data from nearby Baltimore)
Blue bars: average daily high and low (°F). Purple columns: average monthly rain and melted snow (inches).
Getting there
- From you: to see whether to drive or fly, and how long it takes.
- BWI Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Baltimore — 13 mi away (major hub). Directions
- DCA Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington — 41 mi away (major hub). Directions
Budget & where to stay
No prices are listed for this place yet. See the Sleep guide ↓ for options.
Sample 3-day itinerary
Day 1
- Morning Baltimore Museum of Art, Homewood Museum, Johns Hopkins University
- Lunch Papermoon Diner
- Afternoon Miracle on 34th Street, Honfest
- Dinner Golden West Cafe
- Evening Common Ground
Day 2
- Morning Everyman Theatre
- Afternoon Single Carrot Theatre
- Evening Carma's Cafe
Day 3
- Morning Negro League Baseball Museum
- Evening Artifact Coffee
Stops are grouped by area so each day needs little backtracking. Check opening hours before you go.
Food for you
Cuisine (tap to filter)
What to ask about, for your diet
Diet labels come from each listing's description and cuisine; “likely” means the cuisine usually has good choices, not a promise. Check with the restaurant. Open the food finder
Photos
Map
Every listing with a location. Tap a pin for its Google Maps link.
Understand
For visitors, chances are that all you will want to see is in two neighborhoods:
- Greater Charles Village is the collection of small neighborhoods along and around Charles St north of the Jones Falls Expressway, including the Homewood Campus of Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Charles St is lively, with lots of good dining options, bars, and other assorted shops and things to do.
- Hampden is Baltimore quirkiness at its most extreme. It is a singularly eclectic neighborhood, with an odd mix of gentrification, eccentric long-time residents, the occasional drunk, and hipster/artist arrivals dubbed locally as "Hampsters." What, exactly, is that distinctively quirky Baltimore element? Too eccentric to define, it is a weird combination of assorted beehive hairdos, offensive John Waters flicks, arcane local comic books, Bawlmerese, calling people "hon," assorted strange 1950s nicknacks, ice cream soda fountains, extremely gaudy glasses, and other assorted traditions one would not find elsewhere. If you would like to peer a little further into Hampden culture, John Waters' Pecker is basically a personal tribute to the neighborhood, and don't worry, it's one of his least-offensive flicks. The main commercial strip is on 36th St, known locally as The Avenue, and you will find virtually everything of interest here.
Get in
Train
Amtrak/MARC train
By metro
Go State Center/Cultural Center302 West Preston Street Station
The closest station to Charles Village on the Baltimore Metro is State Center, although it is a bit of a walk.
By light rail
By car
- The Jones Falls Expressway (I-83; locally called the JFX) enters the area from the northwest.
- N Charles St (Route 139) enters the area from the north.
- W North Ave enters the area from the west.
- Belaire Road (Route 1) to E North Ave enters the area from the east and northeast.
- Calvert St (Route 2) enters the area from the south.
See
Johns Hopkins University
See Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University is a mammoth institution in Baltimore, and it is here that you will find its center on the Homewood Campus. The Homewood campus was a property purchased in 1800 by Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence, as a wedding present for his son, who designed and oversaw the building of the outstanding federal style country house. The Johns Hopkins University was the first research university in the United States. Tourists will enjoy the Homewood House, a historic home built by Charles Carrol for his son, now a history museum, and the Lacrosse Museum and National Hall of Fame.
Do
Performances
Honfest
Do Honfest
Hampden's big neighborhood celebration, which grew over the past 14 years from a little pageant created by a few eccentrics on a lark to a major city festival that draws even international visitors. The "hon" is a certain local style of lady that developed in the early 1960s, featuring dresses with flamboyant prints, very large and brightly colored horn-rimmed glasses, spandex pants, leopard pants, heavy eye-shadow, and as-tall-as-possible beehive hairdos. If you have seen Hairspray in any of its incarnations, you know what the Baltimore hon looks like.
- The name comes from a shortening of "honey", used as a friendly way of saying "ma'am". (This widespread usage reportedly came from desegregation, when white Baltimoreans wanted to evade calling black men and women a more formal "sir" and "ma'am".) Today, Honfest is full of hons in full costume (or just their everyday hon look), and features two main events—the crowning of "Miss Hon", success in which depends on your look, and your participation in the second event—the Running of the Hons. If you want to be a hon for the day, fret not, you can get your makeup and beehive do right on site during the festivities.
Miracle on 34th Street
Do Miracle on 34th Street
Hampden's premiere attraction, bringing in suburbanites all throughout December, is the Miracle on 34th Street in Hampden—an out of control Christmas decorations bonanza, all just on one block of 34th. Strands of lights are strewn across the street from house to house, plastic and inflatable reindeer wander the lawns, and the glare from the displays turns the night sky orange. Over the top or not, it really is magical and worth whatever difficulty you have in getting here. Traffic around this block in December approaches a stasis, in which cars may approach or leave, but the ones in the center may not ever move.
Do Baby New Years
New Years viewed through the warped lens of Baltimore's funkiest neighborhood approaches the bizarre in a way that any John Waters fan would recognize. The lights are still up on 34th St, and the block is packed with people waiting to see the ball drop and the "appearance" of Baby New Years. The ball is a lighted ball that someone somehow rigged up with a garage door opener to fall down a lamppost at midnight; "Baby New Years" is a large forty-something mustachioed man wearing nothing but a bonnet and a diaper, who comes out of his house to thunderous applause at the dawn of the new year.
Buy
Eat
Eat Golden West Cafe
The Golden West Cafe is very popular, and not without good reason. The atmosphere is casual and comfortable (and family-friendly), with almost beautifully tacky "golden western" decor. The "southwestern" food on offer is very good, even for the relatively high prices. The service is slow and inattentive—don't be shy about hollerin' at your server if he's ignoring you. The bar here is one of the better places in Hampden to enjoy a beer, and it's open Su-Th until 1AM, F Sa until 2AM.
Eat Papermoon Diner
A late night diner south of Johns Hopkins that can go head to head with any Baltimore establishment on funky decor—every non-food-related surface in and on this building is plastered with elaborate and brightly painted found/trash art (if you have been diagnosed with OCD, never come here). The colors of the place alone are worth a visit just to cheer up your mood. The food is basically what you would expect from large-serving diner-style comfort food, perhaps a bit more, and is served until late (despite that the management, in a fit of idiocy, decided the place would no longer be open 24 hours). Ultimately though, you come here because you can't find a place this authentically funky outside of Baltimore.
Drink
Drink Artifact Coffee
Coffee shop with nice atmosphere and a light food menu.
Drink Carma's Cafe
Well-known for their sandwiches and excellent coffee, Carma's offers indoor and outdoor seating just blocks away from Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Drink Common Ground
Coffee shop on The Avenue (36th St) in Hampden.
Sleep
Go next
- Towson and Cockeysville - Satellite cities of Baltimore on opposite sides of the Beltway, just north of Baltimore on route 45.
Nearby
Towson
City / town · 13 listings · 4 mi away
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Timonium
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Cockeysville
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Owings Mills
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White Marsh
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Ellicott City
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My experience
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