Walking Tours
Free guided tours depart from the Inner Harbor Visitor Center. The Heritage Walk connects 20 historic sites and museums along the Inner Harbor (tel: (443) 514 5900; website: www.heritagewalk.org). Alternatively, try the Mount Vernon Cultural Walk, taking in 20 top sights - from the Basilica of the Assumption (the first cathedral in the United States) and the Washington Monument to the Walters Art Museum, the Peabody Institute and Mount Vernon Place (tel: (443) 984 3089; website: www.starspangledtrails.org). The Baltimore Waterfront Promenade offers 11km (7 miles) of paths to follow - with the advantage that you can always hop on a water taxi if your legs get tired!

The Preservation Society offers architecture, maritime, African-American and immigration history tours for a small fee, setting off from the Fells Point Visitors' Center, 812 South Ann Street (tel: (410) 675 6750; website: www.preservationsociety.com). Check for times.

Baltimore Tours (tel: 1 888 848 3822; website: www.baltimoretours.net) runs spookily silly haunted walking tours around the Mount Vernon and Fell's Point areas, for a fee.

All guided walks run from April to November, with brochures on sale for self-guided tours from each visitor centre. Visit local historian Wayne Schaumburg's website (home.earthlink.net/~wschaumburg) for more walking options.

For something rather different, opt for a Segway tour (motorised stand up two-wheelers). These are also run by Baltimore Tours - around Fell's Point and the Inner Harbor. You'll be accompanied by a guide with knowledge of local history as well as training to teach you how to master your new mode of transport.

Bus Tours
Visitors can explore the city aboard a Baltimore Duck - an amphibious vehicle. The tour covers land attractions and then takes a splash in the Inner Harbor for a watery view of the city (tel: 1 877 887 8225; website: www.baltimoreducks.com). Departs from the corner of Light Street Pavilion at Harborplace.

Water Tours
For cruises of the harbour area and Chesapeake Bay, a key tourist attraction in its own right, contact Baltimore Spirit Cruises (tel: 1 866 312 2469; website: www.spiritcruisesbaltimore.com) or Baltimore Tours (tel: 1 888 848 3822; website: www.baltimoretours.net). They each offer a range of lunch and dinner cruises, with the larger vessels accommodating up to 450. Inner Harbor Cruises (tel: (410) 800 4998; website: www.clippercity.com) offers private tours on all manner of ships - from a sailing vessel to a turn-of-the-century paddleboat. Though the water taxi (tel: (410) 563 3901 or 1 800 658 8947; website: www.thewatertaxi.com) is more of a shuttle, it's a cheap, convenient and enjoyable way of viewing the harbour.