Annapolis Day Trip from Washington DC: Sailing Capital, Blue Crabs & Colonial America

Annapolis, Maryland's state capital, sits 40 kilometres east of Washington DC — a drive of under an hour or 90 minutes by commuter bus — offering a day trip that is a complete change of pace from the capital. The historic district, one of the best-preserved colonial-era town centres in the US, centres on the Maryland State House (1779, the oldest state capitol still in continuous legislative use) and the US Naval Academy, open for public tours of its extraordinary grounds and museums.

Annapolis is fundamentally about Chesapeake Bay seafood. Blue crabs steamed with Old Bay seasoning, served on paper-covered tables with mallets as shells pile up around you, define the Annapolis dining experience in a way that's genuinely irreplaceable. The waterfront restaurants along Ego Alley, the seafood shacks at the city dock, and the more refined crab preparations at better restaurants all draw on a tradition of Chesapeake seafood that has defined Maryland's food culture for centuries. Annapolis also has a vibrant sailing culture — the US Sailboat Show in October is the largest in-water sailboat show in the country. This is the day trip DC residents make when they want to remember there's a world beyond the Beltway.