University of Maryland Guide (2026): Where to Eat, Drink & Stay

Whether you’re a Terp who has already rubbed Testudo’s nose before an exam, a first-year moving into a dorm off Campus Drive, a parent in town for graduation, an alum back for a Saturday at SECU Stadium, or a visitor doing the campus tour, this guide pulls together the restaurants, bars, hotels, and campus landmarks worth knowing near the University of Maryland.

College Park runs on one street. Baltimore Avenue, better known as Route 1, carries almost everything in this guide, from the late-night gyro counter across from the main gate to the hotels a mile north. Knox Road holds the student bar cluster, and the good stuff for parents and alumni tends to sit a few minutes south in Hyattsville and Riverdale Park, where the breweries and the bigger kitchens are. Washington, DC is close enough to change the shape of a weekend, but everything below is organized so you can plan around campus first.

College Park eating splits into three tiers: the Route 1 and Knox Road counters students rotate through all week, the hotel-adjacent rooms parents book, and the Hyattsville and Riverdale Park kitchens worth the ten-minute drive. The corridor has lost a lot of independents to chains over the last few years, which is why the survivors below carry so much weight with alumni. Coffee and bagel stops are folded in here too, since most of them double as breakfast.

Maryland nightlife is compact and clearly stratified. Knox Road and the Route 1 blocks by the main gate hold the student bars, and there’s a well-understood progression from one to the next by class year. The breweries south in Riverdale Park and Hyattsville are where the crowd skews older, quieter, and considerably more interested in the beer.

Hotel options near Maryland are limited and stack up along Route 1 by distance from the main gate. One property is a genuine walk to campus, two more are a mile or so north, and the Marriott sits southeast with a free shuttle that solves the problem for anyone driving in. Commencement in May and marquee football Saturdays draw thousands of families at once, so book as early as your dates allow and treat Greenbelt, Hyattsville, and Beltsville as the overflow.

Maryland’s landmarks cluster tightly around McKeldin Mall, and you can walk the whole list in under an hour without crossing Route 1 more than once. Two of the six are traditions rather than buildings, and both are worth understanding before you go.