Port Discovery launches free passport program for Baltimore museums

Port Discovery has rolled out Discovery Quest, a free booklet that turns 14 Baltimore museums and cultural institutions into one citywide route for families. The passport gives children a way to collect stamps, reflect on each stop and work toward up to four collectible charms, with a completion prize waiting for those who visit all 14 sites by Dec. 31.

The participating lineup includes the American Visionary Art Museum, B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Industry, Jewish Museum of Maryland, Maryland Center for History and Culture, Maryland Science Center, Maryland Zoo, National Aquarium, Port Discovery Children’s Museum, Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Star-Spangled Banner Flag House & Museum, the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum and the Walters Art Museum. Port Discovery said the point is to extend learning beyond one building and push children to connect what they see in one place with what they can explore in another.

The free passport does not erase the cost of getting in the door. Port Discovery said Discovery Quest is free to join, but admission prices vary by institution and standard admission applies where sites charge entry; Port Discovery’s regular non-member price is $25.95, while the June 5 kickoff at the museum was discounted to $5 per person. Families who came out for the launch could pick up the booklet, take a passport photo and meet partner institutions in one place.

Accessibility matters as much as price. Port Discovery is at 35 Market Place and says it is a short walk from public transportation, and WBAL reported the participating sites sit within about a five-mile radius. That makes the program easiest for Baltimore households that already move through the Inner Harbor, downtown and nearby museum corridors, even as the passport is pitched citywide.

The museum’s refreshed Dockside Diner adds to that pitch inside Port Discovery itself. Carter Polakoff, the museum’s president and CEO, said the revamped space leaned into the building’s old fish market theme, with dual-language features that let children measure and weigh fish. For Port Discovery, Discovery Quest is more than a summer activity: it is a way to knit Baltimore’s museums into one repeatable learning circuit that can keep families moving across the city through the end of the year.