Start from 20 curated places around Havre de Grace, MD, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Water Street Seafood
A waterside seafood restaurant on Water Street that has become Havre de Grace's most praised dining destination — the approach is classy-casual with the bay visible from the deck, the seafood sourced directly from Chesapeake watermen, and a cocktail program that's more sophisticated than the surrounding ambiance might suggest. The crab dishes — cream of crab soup, crab dip, full plates — are consistently cited as the reason to go.
Tidewater Grille
The most dramatically sited restaurant in Havre de Grace — floor-to-ceiling windows looking directly over the lower Susquehanna and the bay, with the waterbird traffic visible throughout dinner. The kitchen runs a dependable American-seafood menu; the views and the cocktail bar are the main event, and they deliver reliably on warm evenings when the patio is open.
Trails & outdoors
Havre de Grace Promenade Walk
A 0.75-mile flat waterfront walk along the head of the Chesapeake Bay between Tydings Park and Concord Point Lighthouse — the most scenic easy walk in the city and the best introduction to Havre de Grace for first-time visitors. The walk passes fishing docks, memorial gardens, and bay overlooks. Completely flat and paved throughout.
Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway Trail
A 2.2-mile multi-use trail that runs along the Susquehanna River between the downtown dam area and Susquehanna State Park, suitable for hiking and cycling. The trail passes through the river's transition zone from freshwater above the dam to brackish tidal water below it — a stretch used by spawning shad, migratory birds, and the ospreys that nest on channel markers.
Things to do
Havre de Grace Decoy Museum
The Decoy Museum functions as both a gallery and a living craft center — beyond the historic collection, it hosts working carvers in residence, demonstration sessions, and the annual carving competition and auction that draws specialists from the mid-Atlantic. It's the best reason to spend a few hours in Havre de Grace on a rainy day and one of the most distinctive museums in Maryland.
Cultural Center at the Opera House
The restored Havre de Grace Opera House — a Victorian-era performing arts venue that now hosts professional plays, live music, dance performances, and arts education events as the community's primary cultural anchor. The building's restoration preserved its original stage and tiered seating arrangement; it's an intimate space where every seat is a good one.
Landmarks & sights
Concord Point Lighthouse
Built in 1827, the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay stands at the exact point where the Susquehanna River meets the Bay — a location that made it essential to 19th-century commercial navigation. The stone tower is open for climbing on limited weekends, and the Keeper's House Museum adjacent to it tells the story of the Donahoo family, who tended the light for four consecutive generations. The setting is one of the most historically resonant spots on the upper Chesapeake.
Havre de Grace Decoy Museum
Havre de Grace earned the title 'Decoy Capital of the World' for a reason — a community tradition of hand-carving wooden duck and goose decoys reached its apex here in the early 20th century, and this museum preserves the finest examples alongside the tools and stories of the master carvers. The collection is legitimately extraordinary for a small museum, and the annual decoy show and auction draws collectors from across the country.