Baltimore, USA (BWI) > Reviews > Bland and White Inside

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Is it worth visiting?
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Advantages:	Spacious, clean, easy to find where you should be !
Disadvantages:	Not very interesting

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

BWI (not Bland and White Inside, but Baltimore/Washington International) airport is a mid-sized airport approx. 15 miles from Baltimore, and about 30 miles from Washington. For Baltimore, it is your best choice, but if flying to D.C. fly to Dulles instead, it's nearer.

Having spent over 10 hours here, I guess I'm something of an authority. On entering the airport, you will reach one of five departure areas, letters A-E. That which you will enter depends on the airline you're flying with. National airlines are letters A-C, international ones are D-E. If terminal 'E' is anything to go by, it had 8 departure gates.

The central non-passenger area in each of the terminals is small, but is peppered with newsagents and gift shops, eager to remove you of the Monopoly-like US dollars. If you're hungry, head to terminals B&C as they have a couple of eateries, including a Burger King (all my budget would extend to at this time!) which I would rather have avoided. However, tummy rumbled since I hadn't eaten for days and when needs must...! It was clean and service was quick, most unlike other US fast-food outlets. I ate quickly and went off to keep moving (so my tired legs wouldn't seize up!).

The gift shops and newsagents were reasonably priced. However, the newsagents were clearly generating much of their trade from magazines of a rather specialised nature and were quite proud to do so. Perhaps averting young eyes from this area would be in your interests, lest you spend the rest of your trip answering awkward questions about "why that lady on that book wasn't cold"!

As airports go, this wasn't busy at all, even when the British Airways flight was called. It was spacious and clean, but had few distractions. One of these was in the form of a soft-play area for kids (I figured I was too big to try this one out in the name of consumer research) next to the observation area. As you could expect,you can watch the planes taking off and landing from here. I sat next to an American couple who were stuffing their faces with ice-cream (and me next to them, starving!). It wasn't the best observation point I've seen, but it passed the time for half an hour while I plotted in my mind to squash ice-cream into a couple of American's fat mouths!

On passing through security, I headed to the duty free. Which was shut. I was not impressed (I had visions of my Mum having a flaky 'cause I hadn't brought her ciggies). I sat on one of many leatherette chairs, which were quite comfy when I put my feet up on the chair opposite and read a book. I waited for an hour and a half until my bum fell asleep (yes, it is possible) and then took another wander. To my surprise, the duty free shop had re-opened, so my Mum could feed her habit for less moolah. The shop at this gate was small, with a limited range of products (both US and European ciggies, for example). I duly made a purchase and went to sit back down.

Getting to and from the airport is not so straightforward. If you're brave and heading to Baltimore, you could try the light rail system. Less than $6 for a one-way to Downtown, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are familiar with the area or travelling during the day. Your alternative is a taxi to the centre, which should cost around $30. Getting to D.C. isn't as straightforward, but you could book a shuttle bus for $30 (1-800-BLUE-VAN 24 hours in advance). A taxi costs around $60.... argh! I took the shuttle from D.C. to the airport which was eventful but was quick and cheap.

This airport was clean, spacious and well-laid out. The eateries were reasonably priced and staff efficient. Not the most interesting of places to spend half a day, but no airport is!