Washington D.C. Attractions
Type
Access
Price
The National Mall
Two miles of open ground from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, lined with monuments and museums, and free and open at all hours. Best at dawn or after dark.
The Smithsonian museums
Nineteen museums and a zoo, all free, most of them on or beside the Mall. Air and Space and Natural History are the busiest; the smaller ones are often better.
The National Gallery of Art
Also free, with a European collection that would be a national museum in most countries, and a sculpture garden beside it.
The Capitol and the Library of Congress
Both visitable by tour, the Library being the more surprising of the two — the reading room is one of the great interiors in the country.
Arlington National Cemetery
Across the river and technically in Virginia, with the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The Tidal Basin
The cherry trees, the Jefferson and the Martin Luther King Jr memorials, and a three-mile walk around the water.
