Lutherville to Roland Park

Begin your trip in the tree-lined community of Lutherville, and then head south into Towson. Briefly leaving Charles Street, Towson Town Center has a myriad of upscale stores sure to satisfy any shopper’s needs. Or sidetrack to the Hampton National Historic Site, featuring an 18th-century Georgian mansion, slave quarters and gardens.

Back on Charles Street, where pubs, restaurants and art museums offer many pleasant diversions, you enter an area famous for its educational institutions. First, there’s Friends School, which was founded in 1784, making it Baltimore’s oldest school. Immediately after, you drive past the nation’s first Catholic women’s college, Notre Dame of Maryland University, founded in 1895. In the same area is Loyola University Maryland, a Jesuit institution established in 1852.

Head east and you will discover Sherwood Gardens, a six-acre garden where thousands of tulips bloom every spring. And then comes Roland Park, a residential community with narrow, winding streets lined with elegant villas and mansions.

From here, you approach Johns Hopkins University, a 100-acre campus featuring more than 20 Georgian-style buildings and the Federal-style Homewood House Museum, which was built in 1801 and offers a look into the life of 18th- and 19th-century Baltimoreans. Residents and students alike appreciate the variety of nearby dining, shopping and entertainment.

Visit the admission-free Baltimore Museum of Art, which includes the world's largest collection of works by Henri Matisse among its 90,000 pieces of art.

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