Washington DC
THE AMERICAS · CITY · MUSEUMS
A capital designed by a Frenchman on a swamp, with the best free museums in the world running down a 3km lawn. Nineteen Smithsonians, none of which charge admission, plus monuments best seen at night and a food scene that stopped being a punchline a decade ago. The neighbourhoods off the Mall — Shaw, H Street, Georgetown — are where the city actually lives.
The plan
The National Mall museums
Air and Space, Natural History, and the National Gallery — all free, all enormous. Pick two a day, no more.
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Start in the basement at 1400 and walk up through five centuries. Free timed passes, book ahead.
Monuments at night
Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean and MLK are floodlit, open 24 hours and almost empty after ten.
Eastern Market and Capitol Hill
Saturday market on 7th, then the row houses and Barracks Row for dinner.
Cherry blossoms or Rock Creek Park
Late March for the Tidal Basin; year-round for 700 hectares of woodland in the middle of the city.
Book before you fly
Smithsonian museums
Free, and most need no ticket — but Air and Space and African American History use free timed passes released weeks and days ahead.
US Capitol & White House
Capitol tours through your representative's office; White House tours must be requested through a member of Congress months ahead.
Washington Monument
Free timed tickets released 30 days ahead at 10am and gone in minutes.
Getting there
Fly Reagan National (DCA)
Fifteen minutes from downtown on the Metro Blue and Yellow lines. Domestic only, and the approach up the Potomac is superb.
Fly Dulles (IAD) or Baltimore (BWI)
Dulles has the long-haul flights with the Silver Line Metro in about an hour; BWI is cheap and has a MARC train link.
Take Amtrak
Union Station is three hours from New York on the Acela, and a landmark in its own right.
When to go
Best time to go
Late March to May for cherry blossom and 20°C, or September to October for clear air and no humidity.
Cheapest months
January and February — cold, grey, and the cheapest hotel rates of the year by a wide margin.
Priciest & busiest
July and August, when it is 34°C and swampy, and cherry-blossom peak week, when rooms double.
If you've got one day
Morning
The National Mall museums
Late morning
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Lunch
Ben's Chili Bowl
Afternoon
Eastern Market and Capitol Hill
Evening
Dinner at Rose's Luxury, then Monuments at night
If you've got a week
Day 1
Arrive, settle in around The Jefferson, and take it slowly — Ben's Chili Bowl for dinner.
Day 2
The National Mall museums.
Day 3
National Museum of African American History and Culture. Dinner at Rose's Luxury.
Day 4
Day trip — Baltimore.
Day 5
Monuments at night. Le Diplomate at some point.
Day 6
Eastern Market and Capitol Hill.
Day 7
Cherry blossoms or Rock Creek Park. Finish with Das Ethiopian / Little Ethiopia.
Staying longer?
Nearby & day trips
Baltimore
An hour north by MARC train for the harbour, the Walters and a very good crab.
Shenandoah National Park
Ninety minutes west for Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge views.
Annapolis
Forty minutes east — the Naval Academy and a colonial sailing town.
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