Baltimore’s Best Arts & Leisure

Best Theater [1]: For more than four decades, Center Stage [1] has produced thoughtful, powerful performances — with a range of classic, re-imagined, and contemporary shows.

Best Venue for a Broadway Show [2]: It’s now the jewel of the west side of downtown, and the immaculately restored Hippodrome Theatre [2] is once again a city landmark.

Best Independent Cinema [3]: The fare at The Charles Theatre [3] can include foreign films, classics, and even a minor Hollywood hit or two.

Best Strange Fund-Raising Event [4]: It’s actually over two nights, and there aren’t 100 performers, but The Night of 100 Elvises [4] in December is one of the most unexpectedly wonderful ways to spend an evening in Baltimore.

Best Huge Festival [5]: It’s the festival that eats Baltimore every steamy July, but the performers, artists, and culinary delights at Artscape [5] make the imposition worthwhile.

Best Woodland Estate Stroll [6]: The beautiful trees, well-manicured lawns and gardens, and the gorgeous Cylburn Mansion make a jaunt through the two-and-a-half miles of trails at the 200-acre Cylburn Arboretum [6] a bucolic joy.

Best Serious Bike Ride [7]: Get to BWI Airport (the Dixon Observation Area, to be specific) with your bike, and you can cruise down the (relatively) flat 25 miles from there to beautiful downtown Annapolis along the Baltimore-Annapolis Trail [7]; the way back is uphill, but not dauntingly so.

Best Baltimore Tour Guide [8]: It’s not just that Zippy Tours with Zippy Larson [8] knows things about Baltimore that almost no one else does, it’s that her quirky, unstoppable personality can get her tour groups into places no one else can go.

Best Urban Golf Course [9]: The drive into Clifton Park [9] may not be like rolling into Augusta or Pebble Beach, but the golf at this historic course is darn good, and the views of downtown from the last holes on the back nine are regal.

Best Yoga Studio [10]: Need a break from the hectic pace of sightseeing and fine dining? Try the bright, airy Fell’s Point location of Charm City Yoga [10]— and get out on the roof deck if the weather’s nice.