Weekend Guide To Washington D.C.
Looking to get a quick beginner’s guide to Washington D.C.? Maybe you only have a day or two to hit some of the main spots and if so, this post is for you. There’s so much to see in this city and you won’t be able to see everything in a weekend, but you can get to a lot! Especially if you know what’s worth seeing and what’s nearby other attractions. So let’s get to it.
Think of this as your 5 minute travel guide to get started planning your trip.
This article will give you an overview of some things that we really liked seeing on our weekend visits and also took our family to as well!
In this blog:
Washington D.C. is located between the states of Virginia and Maryland and on the shore of the Potomac River. Depending on when you go to the capital city, you will probably have different photos every time you visit! This is because the seasons change so beautifully here and the plants around the city were one of my favourite parts to see.
Museums
I was amazed by how many museums there are in D.C. and what’s great about most of them is that they are within walking distance of each other. Plan to spend the day at one or two or take some time to go museum hopping during your trip.
A few memorable ones were…
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (free admission)
International Spy Museum (Adults $22.95/Youths & Seniors $16.95/Under 6 are free)
National Museum of Women in the Arts (Adults $10/Students & Seniors $8/Under 18 are free)
National Gallery of Art (free admission)
National Air and Space Museum (free admission) The museum is at two locations - the hanger (Udvar-Hazy Air Center) is better but further from downtown and parking is $15/day)
Monuments
This list covers more of the architectural highlights or significant buildings to see in D.C. as well as memorials that we found more interesting.
Those include…
United States Capitol (First St SE, Washington, D.C. 20004)
The White House (1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW)
Lincoln Memorial (2 Lincoln Memorial Cir NW)
Washington Monument (obelisk) (2 15th St NW)
Thomas Jefferson Memorial (16 E Basin Dr SW)
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial (1964 Independence Ave SW)
Korean War Veterans Memorial (900 Ohio Dr SW)
& More
Food
We love food and Washington has a great variety of foods from all over the world! The selection in downtown includes Ethiopian food, English pubs, Italian restaurants, Afghani food and French cafés to name a few.
My two recommendations for lunch or dinner are Founding Farmers DC and Farmers Fishers Bakers. They have a good menu and source ingredients locally.
Walking Tour
Whether you join a guided tour of the city or choose to do a ‘self-guided’ walking tour like we did, you’ll get the best experience of D.C. this way.
Our favourite walk: Start at the Supreme Court or U.S. Capitol then walk passed White House to Lincoln Memorial on the Potomac River.
We walked around as the sun was going down and felt safe walking this area. Taking advantage of going around here at night will get you some cool shots of the buildings and less crowds!
Last tip: To see the cherry blossoms in Spring, head to West Potomac Park
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