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Five Campuses, One Metro Map: A College Visit Itinerary for Washington, D.C. and Baltimore

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Aerial view of the Lincoln Memorial, Reflecting Pool, and National Mall in Washington, DC

Few regions let you see five very different universities in one long weekend without renting a car. Georgetown, George Washington, American, the University of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins sit within about 40 miles of each other, with Metro or commuter rail covering much of the route and a bus, shuttle, walk, or rideshare needed for some final connections. Together they cover a lot of ground: a Jesuit university with a historic hilltop campus, an urban campus a few blocks from the White House, a residential campus in a quiet corner of Northwest D.C., a 40,000-student public flagship, and a research powerhouse in Baltimore. Early December can work before exams, but Thanksgiving week and winter break often mean reduced tours and fewer students on campus. Check each academic calendar rather than assuming classes are in session. This guide covers how to plan the loop, what each campus is really like, and where to stay and eat. SchoolScoops currently lists published student-guide profiles at Georgetown, GW, and Maryland. Check the school directory for current coverage at Johns Hopkins and American, and confirm a guide's availability for your dates.

Before You Go

Register for official tours early — information sessions at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins fill up fast around holidays. Check each school's academic calendar before you book: a campus during finals or right after students leave for break feels nothing like a normal Tuesday. Plan for two schools a day at most. D.C. traffic is unpredictable, and you'll get more out of a slower afternoon on campus than a rushed third stop.

The Schools, Honestly

Georgetown University

Georgetown's campus sits on a hill above the Potomac at the edge of one of D.C.'s oldest neighborhoods, and it looks the part: Gothic spires, brick rowhouses, and cobblestone streets. Students choose Georgetown for international affairs, government, and business, and the proximity to federal agencies and embassies shapes internship culture from the first year. The tradeoff most students mention is that the campus has no Metro stop, so getting around the city means buses, shuttles, rideshares, or a long walk. Ask how students actually balance a heavy internship culture with campus life.

George Washington University

GW doesn't have a traditional enclosed campus — its Foggy Bottom campus is woven into city blocks a short walk from the White House, the State Department, and the Kennedy Center. That's the whole pitch: if you want D.C. as your classroom, GW puts you in it, with the Foggy Bottom–GWU Metro station on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines right on campus. The flip side is that there's no big central quad, and students who want a classic campus feel sometimes find it too urban. Ask how first-years build community without a traditional quad.

American University

American sits in residential Northwest D.C., with a leafy, self-contained campus that feels more like a classic college than GW, while still being a free shuttle ride from the Tenleytown–AU Metro stop on the Red Line. It's known for international service, public affairs, and communications, and it attracts a politically engaged student body. American's admissions profile differs from Georgetown's and GW's; consult its current Common Data Set rather than treating an earlier admit rate as your personal odds. Early Decision is binding, so compare affordability before choosing it.

University of Maryland, College Park

Maryland is the big-school option in the loop: a large public flagship with strong engineering, computer science, business, and journalism programs, plus Big Ten athletics. The College Park–U of Md station on the Metro Green Line gets you there from downtown D.C. in roughly half an hour of train travel, plus the walk or shuttle from the station to your campus destination. One handy detail: UMD's admissions visitor center is inside The Hotel at the University of Maryland, so you can stay steps from where your tour begins. The honest tradeoff is scale — ask how students get into the classes they need and how easy it is to find a smaller community.

Johns Hopkins University

Hopkins' Homewood campus in north Baltimore is a red-brick, green-quad campus that feels more traditional than most people expect from a research university. It's the most selective school in this loop and a magnet for pre-med, public health, biomedical engineering, and international studies (its SAIS graduate school is in D.C.). Students are candid that the workload is intense, and that Baltimore is a city you have to choose to engage with. Ask how much undergraduate research access really depends on initiative, and what students do on weekends.

Getting Around

Inside D.C., the Metro system is the backbone of this trip: Foggy Bottom–GWU for GW, Tenleytown–AU plus the free AU shuttle for American, and College Park–U of Md for Maryland. Georgetown is the exception — use a bus, a rideshare, or the walk from Foggy Bottom, which takes roughly 30–40 minutes to Georgetown's main campus, depending on your route and pace. For Baltimore, the MARC Penn Line runs from Union Station to Baltimore's Penn Station, with Amtrak as a faster, pricier option; check weekend schedules before you plan around MARC. From Penn Station, Homewood is a short rideshare. If you're driving to Baltimore instead, leave D.C. before 7 a.m. or after 9:30 a.m. to avoid the worst of I-95 and the Baltimore–Washington Parkway.

Where to Stay

  • Budget: Hotel Hive in Foggy Bottom offers tiny, well-designed rooms about three blocks from the Foggy Bottom–GWU Metro — practical for a family willing to trade space for location.
  • Mid-range: The Hotel at the University of Maryland is right at the edge of campus and houses the admissions visitor center, which makes it a smart base if Maryland is a priority.
  • Upscale: The Graham Georgetown is a 57-room boutique hotel a short walk from Georgetown's campus, with a rooftop lounge looking toward the Washington Monument.

Where to Eat

Around Georgetown, Wisconsin Avenue and M Street are full of quick options, and a bagel from Call Your Mother is a near-mandatory student breakfast. Near GW, Foggy Bottom has plenty of lunch spots for between tours. If you have an evening free, Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street has been a D.C. institution since 1958. In College Park, Route 1 is the student strip. In Baltimore, pair your Hopkins visit with lunch in Hampden or Fells Point, two neighborhoods students actually use.

A Sample Itinerary

Day 1: Georgetown and GW

  • Morning: Georgetown information session and tour; walk the waterfront and the C&O Canal towpath afterward.
  • Afternoon: walk to GW, tour Foggy Bottom, and swing past the State Department and Kennedy Center to see how close the city really is.

Day 2: American and Maryland

  • Morning: Red Line to Tenleytown–AU, shuttle to campus, tour American.
  • Afternoon: Green Line to College Park for Maryland; overnight at The Hotel at UMD if you want an easy start.

Day 3: Johns Hopkins

  • Morning: MARC or Amtrak to Baltimore, then tour Homewood.
  • Afternoon: lunch in Hampden, then head home or back to D.C.

Nearby Attractions

D.C. makes downtime easy. The Smithsonian museums on the National Mall are free, and a late afternoon at the Air and Space or Natural History museum is a good reset between campus visits. Check opening hours and reserve required timed-entry passes, including for Air and Space. The monuments are best after dark, when crowds thin out. In Baltimore, the Inner Harbor and the National Aquarium are a quick ride from Penn Station.

Questions Worth Asking in D.C.

  • How many students have internships during the school year, and does that pull people away from campus life?
  • How do students get around the city without a car, and what does it cost?
  • How political is the campus, and how comfortable are students who disagree with the majority view?
  • What does housing look like after the first year, especially at GW and Georgetown where city rent is high?

Final Thoughts

A D.C. loop is one of the most efficient college trips in the country, and the contrast between these five schools — urban versus enclosed, public versus private, D.C. versus Baltimore — will tell you a lot about what you want, even if none of them makes your final list. If you'd like to hear from a current student at any of these schools, see how SchoolScoops works.

→ Browse all available schools or visit SchoolScoops.com to plan your trip.

Photo credits: Mariordo (Mario Roberto Durán Ortiz) / CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped and converted to WebP. The adapted hero and card photographs retain the linked source license; this license applies to the photographs, not the article.