Editor's picks
A local's shortlist — the places worth your time first, each with a tip.
The National Mall & Smithsonian museums
Culture · Central
Nineteen museums and the National Zoo, essentially all free, strung along two miles between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial.
Local tip: Free admission is genuinely unlimited — treat them as places to drop into for forty minutes rather than day trips. The National Museum of African American History and Culture still needs a timed pass in peak season.
Rock Creek Park
Nature · North-west
1,750 acres of forested valley running through the middle of the city, twice the size of Central Park.
Local tip: Beach Drive is closed to cars permanently on several sections now, which transformed it for cyclists and runners. The Boulder Bridge stretch feels like Appalachia twenty minutes from the White House.
Eastern Market & Capitol Hill
Food · Capitol Hill SE
An 1873 brick market hall with a weekend flea market, surrounded by rowhouses and the city's best-preserved residential streets.
Local tip: Saturday for the farmers, Sunday for the flea market. Get the blueberry buckwheat pancakes at Market Lunch inside, and go early — the queue is real.
U Street & Shaw
Neighborhood · North-west
Historically 'Black Broadway' — Duke Ellington's neighbourhood, now the city's densest nightlife and restaurant strip.
Local tip: Ben's Chili Bowl for a half-smoke is the obligatory stop, but the better eating is on 9th Street and along Florida Avenue. The African American Civil War Memorial is at the Metro exit and most people walk past it.
Georgetown & the C&O Canal
Landmark · North-west
Federal-era rowhouses, cobbled streets and a 19th-century canal towpath running 184 miles west to Cumberland.
Local tip: Georgetown has no Metro station, which is why it feels separate. Walk or cycle the towpath out past Fletcher's Cove and the crowds vanish within a mile.
Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens
Hidden gemNature · North-east
The only national park dedicated to aquatic plants — ponds of lotus and water lilies on the Anacostia, with marsh boardwalks.
Local tip: Go in July at dawn when the lotuses are open and the herons are out. It is free, it is a National Park Service site, and almost nobody who lives in north-west DC has ever been.
Explore 119 places across Washington DC
Museums, landmarks, monuments, heritage sites and parks — mapped, with photos. The most notable spots first.
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Museums & galleries
(30)
MuseumSmithsonian Institution
Group of museums and research centers administered by the United States government
MuseumUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museum
United States' official memorial to the Holocaust in Washington, D.C.
Museum
MuseumNational Museum of the American Indian
Museum in Washington, D.C., a division of the Smithsonian Institution
MuseumNational Museum of African Art
Museum about African Art located in Washington, D.C., a division of the Smithsonian Institution
MuseumNational Portrait Gallery
Art museum in Washington, D.C., a division of the Smithsonian Institution
MuseumDumbarton Oaks
Research institution concerning Byzantine and Pre-Columbian studies and garden and landscape studies
Museum
MuseumHirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Art museum in Washington, D.C., a division of the Smithsonian Institution
Museum
Museum
Museum
MuseumCorcoran Gallery of Art
Former museum in D.C., part of whose collection moved to the National Gallery of Art in 2014
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
Museum
MuseumHoward University Museum
Museum.
Diplomatic Reception Rooms Museum
Museum.
B'Nai B'Rith Klutznick Museum
Museum.
Landmarks & architecture
(5)
Landmark
Landmark
LandmarkL'Enfant Plaza
Complex of four commercial buildings grouped around a plaza in Washington, D.C., United States
LandmarkNational World War I Memorial (Washington, D.C.)
Washington, D.C., memorial commemorating the U.S. armed forces involved in the First World War
LandmarkMonuments & memorials
(34)
Monument
Monument
Monument
Monument
MonumentMonumentAfrican American Civil War Memorial
Wall of honor and sculpture honors the American Civil War service of African American soldiers and sailors
Monument
Monument
Monument
Monument
Monument
MonumentHolodomor Memorial to Victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide of 1932–1933
Monument in Washington, D.C., United States
Monument
Monument
Monument
Monument
MonumentNetherlands Carillon
Carillon gifted to the people of the United States from the people of the Netherlands
Monument
Monument
Monument
Monument
MonumentMajor General John A. Logan
Equestrian statue monument centered in Washington, D.C.'s Logan Circle, NW
Monument
Monument
Monument
Monument
Monument
MonumentEast Corner Boundary Stone
Historic site.
North Corner Boundary Marker of the Original District of Columbia
Historic site.
Capitol Hill
Historic site.
Testudo (McKeldin)
Public artwork.
Places of worship
(10)
Religious
ReligiousMount St. Sepulchre Franciscan Monastery
The religious community, a representative of the Custody of the Holy Land
Religious
ReligiousImani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation
Founded 1989 by George Augustus Stallings, Jr.
ReligiousLillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum
Synagogue in Washington, D.C., United States of America
ReligiousLuther Place Memorial Church
Church building and congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, in Washington, D.C.
Meade Memorial Episcopal Church
Place of worship.
Saint Pauls Episcopal Church
Place of worship.
Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church
Place of worship.
Saint Ignatius Church
Place of worship.
Heritage & archaeology
(3)Bay-Eva Castle
Historic ruins.
Charles Stewart School (historic)
Historic ruins.
Ruins of Worker's Houses for Nearby Quarries
Historic ruins.
Parks & nature
(34)
Park
Park
Park
Park
Park
ParkUnited States National Arboretum
National arboretum and research institution in Washington, D.C., US
Park
Park
ParkPark
ParkEast Potomac Park
Park located on a man-made island in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.
Park
Park
Park
Park
Park
Park
Park
ParkSewall-Belmont House and Museum
Historic house and museum of the U.S. women's suffrage and equal rights movements located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Park
Park
Park
Park
Park
Park
Park
Park
ParkWestmoreland Circle
Traffic circle and park on the border between Washington, D.C. and Maryland, United States
Park
ParkGreenbelt Park
Park in Greenbelt, Maryland, managed by the United States National Park Service
Park
ParkLiberty Bell Memorial
Public park.
More to explore
(3)Scott's Run Falls
Viewpoint.
All Hallows Guild Traveling Carousel
Visitor attraction.
Twin Oaks
Visitor attraction.
Data from Wikidata (CC0) & OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Images via Wikimedia Commons — see each credit. Listings are community-maintained and may be incomplete or out of date — verify hours and access before visiting.
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