In Washington, DC, you’ll enjoy access to fascinating, FREE attractions and historic sights. Touch a moon rock, marvel at the Hope Diamond, view Dorothy’s Ruby Red slippers or explore Native American culture at the Smithsonian Institution’s fifteen area facilities. Discover treasures like the Gutenberg Bible at the Library of Congress, the only da Vinci painting in North America at the National Gallery of Art and historic documents like the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives.
Away from these celebrated federal sites, Washington, DC unwinds into a fascinating network of neighbourhoods where you will discover trendy boutiques, hip bars and restaurants, plus art galleries, historic homes and lush parks and gardens. Shoppers love the store-lined streets of Georgetown, while jazz music fans won’t want to miss a trip to U Street, where Duke Ellington played his first notes. The city’s international character shines through in its Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle neighbourhoods, two prime destinations for eclectic dining and nightlife and the historic centre of the city’s embassy community.
The arrival of several new eateries has made the nation’s capital a prime destination for dining out, with many of the city’s top tables located in the downtown Penn Quarter neighbourhood. DC is also earning new recognition as a thriving performing arts town, with 65 professional theatre companies based in the metropolitan area presenting edgy world premieres and celebrated Broadway musicals throughout the year.
And thanks to DC’s pedestrian-friendly streets and its safe, efficient public transportation system including Metrorail and the hip, new Circulator bus, it’s easy to get from your hotel to all the great Washington, DC attractions. You can event take a tour on bike or Segway.
- Climb on board a narrated sightseeing bus or trolley
- Visit the National Mall and Washington Monument
- Take a photo in front of the White House
- Stand in the spot where Martin Luther King delivered his famous words at the Lincoln Memorial
- Catch a baseball game at Nationals Stadium - America’s first ‘green’ sports facility
- Spend time in hip and historic Georgetown
- Ride to the top of the tower at the Old Post Office Pavilion or cross the Potomac River to Iwo Jima
- See the unparalleled collection at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Visit the US Holocaust Memorial Museum