If you’re starting to think about summer travel, January is often when it begins. Not with bookings or checklists, but with a feeling. The kind of trip you want. The pace you’re craving. How you want your days to unfold once the weather turns.
National Plan for Vacation Day is a reminder to start imagining what that could look like. For many travelers, Maryland’s Coast fits easily into that picture. It’s close enough to reach by car, familiar without feeling predictable, and flexible enough to shape around how you like to travel.
From classic beach days in Ocean City to the open shoreline of Assateague and the quieter roads that lead you here, this part of Maryland offers a summer that feels relaxed and lived in.
Ocean City: A Beach Town With Many Moods
In Ocean City, summer moves to a steady rhythm.
Early mornings bring wide stretches of sand and the sound of the ocean before the day fills in. As the hours pass, the beach comes alive, and so does the Boardwalk. Arcade games chime. Laughter carries from the pier. If you’re close enough, you might hear the rush of the Slingshot at Jolly Roger Amusement Park, followed by screams that echo out over the water.
Some visitors spend entire days on the beach. Others drift between the ocean and the Boardwalk, stopping for Thrasher’s Fries, drenched in vinegar, or catching live music as the sun sets over the bay.
Ocean City works because it doesn’t lock you into one kind of experience. You can stay busy or slow it down. Travel with family, friends, or just one other person. The town meets you where you are.
Assateague: Space to Slow Things Down
A short drive south, the pace changes almost immediately.
Assateague Island National Seashore feels open and unstructured. The beach stretches wide. Wild horses move through the dunes. The noise fades, replaced by wind, waves, and long views of the shoreline.
Many travelers pair Assateague with time in Ocean City. The energy of one balances the quiet of the other. It’s an easy way to add contrast to a beach trip, especially if you’re looking for moments that feel a little more removed and unrushed.
The Way You Get Here Matters Too
For most visitors, Maryland’s Coast is reached by car, and the drive itself becomes part of the experience.
Routes like 50, 113, and 1 gradually carry you east, where the landscape starts to change. Farmland gives way to wetlands. Rivers widen. Small towns appear just off the road, inviting a pause before you reach the beach.
Those same roads connect naturally with the Chesapeake Country Scenic Byways, which trace the Lower Shore through places like Snow Hill and Pocomoke. These are the kinds of towns where you can stretch your legs, grab a meal, or decide to linger longer than planned.
Even if the beach is your main destination, taking your time on the way in can shape the trip in quiet ways, and sometimes becomes the reason you return.
Start With a Plan, Leave Room for What Feels Right
A good summer trip doesn’t need to be overplanned. It helps to have a sense of what’s possible.
The Maryland’s Coast Visitors Guide brings together beach experiences, outdoor activities, scenic drives, and places to stay across the region. It’s meant to give you ideas and direction, while leaving space for the moments you didn’t schedule.
You can request your free Visitors Guide here:
https://visitmarylandscoast.org/request-a-visitors-guide
Whether your summer includes long beach days, quiet mornings on Assateague, or a drive that leads you somewhere unexpected, Maryland’s Coast offers room to make the trip your own, and a place worth returning to when the season comes around again.
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