This list of things to do in Washington, DC is way too long to conquer in a weekend, or even a week!
Even if you lived in the nation’s capital, you’d take about a year to work your way through the best things to do and see: like world-class museums, the outdoor green spaces for hiking, ogling at the monuments – during the day and again spectacularly lit at night.
Then there’s the dining and bar scene, the live music venues, shopping in Georgetown and the live sport.
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I think DC is seriously underrated as a tourist destination. I’ve been so many times and find new things to every time I come. I even lived here for a year and went to high school in Potomac, MD.
So I put this post together to cover the main must-see heroes and highlights for first-timers to DC, including my picks for which Smithsonian Museums to visit – as you need to prioritise!
If you’ve been before, you might like to read about the 10 hidden gems in Washington DC you might not know about. Or if you’ve been a bunch of times, and you’re looking for somewhere nearby, I have this post over on my Day Tripping USA blog covering easy day trips from Washington, DC.
Because, yes, there is a lot more to DC than standing in front of the White House for the obligatory selfie!
Washington, DC is a great place for a weekend away or a full month-long vacation.
If you’re about to visit DC and want to know what are the absolute highlights – and more importantly, how to strategically get to them all so you’re not traipsing back and forth across the Mall because you didn’t realise how far apart everything was, start here.
The beautiful green space that is the 59-hectare National Mall runs right down the middle of the city surrounded by trees with the Capitol Building at Capitol Hill at one end and the Lincoln Memorial at the other.
Punctuated in the middle is the Washington Monument, a 555ft obelisk that you can take an elevator to the top of for great views. (You’ll need tickets, see below.)
Take a free DC walking tour
There are a few walking tours in Washington, DC but these FREE tours have been around since 2007 and the local guides are super knowledgable, and fun! They have hosted celebrities and the public, been featured in newspapers and magazines and would be a great place to start for first-timers to DC.
Choose from several of their walking tours like Historic Georgetown, ghost tours, Arlington Cemetery (which is so vast, doing this with a guide on your first visit would be an excellent idea). You could learn about the assassination of President Lincoln, take a tour of the Washington National Cathedral, and more.
Take a Monuments by Night cycle tour
I’ve always wanted to cycle around the famous monuments at night, and now I have! They are lit up and look so majestic, honouring various presidents, events (Vietnam War Memorial wall, WWII Memorial, Korean War), and great people like Martin Luther King Jnr.
We went to the Wharf (a great area to dine too with so many restaurants and bars to choose from) and picked up our tour. About 16 of us followed our guide Greg for about three hours on our bikes around the highlights of Washington DC’s famous monuments.
You stop at the Washington Monument (below) with the White House behind you to take photos and hear some facts and info.
Then on down the Mall to the WWII Memorial and then the Vietnam War Memorial wall where families where rubbing etchings of their loved one’s named from the more than 58,000 names of people who lost their lives engraved into the wall.
Then it was on to the Lincoln Memorial with stunning views of the Reflection Pool perfectly reflecting the Washington Monument.
Greg gave us free time for 10-15 minutes at each location, then we hit the paths again (never on the road) and headed via the Martin Luther King Jnr memorial and the vast Franklin D Roosevelt garden (which in some countries would have been turned into land for apartments, most probably) and finally the Thomas Jefferson Memorial across the tidal basin.
I loved it. The weather was a little chilly, but still and calm and perfect for a night on a bike. You can buy your Monuments by Night tickets online here.
Or if you don’t want to get on a bicycle, you can take a night tour by trolley bus and learn all about the history of these monuments, presidents and other historical events as you tour.
Stand at the top of the Washington Monument
There are incredible significant and famous landmarks in Washington DC and one of the best places to get some great photos is from the top of the Washington Monument, named for America’s first president.
It is the tallest building in Washington, DC, surrounded by 50 flags, one for each state, and was closed for three years for renovations, but reopened in 2021. You can buy tickets to ascend to the very top (you used to be able to climb the stairs).
The renos included adding an elevator which takes a full two minutes to get to the top, enough time for you to appreciate the internal architecture lined with stones commemorating George Washington. Tickets need to be booked online. Walk-ups not accepted. You can buy Skip the Line Washington Monument tickets here.
Look down the National Mall towards Abraham Lincoln sitting knowingly in his massive monument, the Lincoln Memorial, watching over the 2000 ft long Reflecting Pool, but first take a left and walk through the WWII Memorial.
This impressive World War II memorial site includes towering stone walls commemorating not just every State, but also other nations who served alongside the Americans. A must for every war history buff.
Another very moving memorial located on the National Mall is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This is a giant wall that has every name of every American lost in that war etched into it. You’ll see family members taking rubbings with paper and pencil over their ancestors names.
Then located on the left of the Mall as you continue towards the Lincoln Memorial, is the Korean War Veterans Memorial. The 19 stainless steel statues, each seven feet tall, have been made to represent the 5.8 million Americans who fought in the 3-year war. Their faces are just so life-like.
If you’d like to see all these things on a tour with transport to get around and include skip-the-line entry tickets into the Washington Monument, I like this half day tour.
Visit the White House
Remarkably, tours of the White House are still available, although it is quite the rigmarole to make it happen!
You need to make your request via your Member of Congress up to three months in advance. International visitors need to request via their country’s embassy in Washington, DC. They’re filled on a first-come first-served basis and numbers are limited. Tours are free.
Note: if you’re not a US resident it’s not likely you’ll get on a tour as residents take priority. I enquired of the New Zealand Embassy for my recent visit but they said they can’t get allocations.
Your tour of the White House, on Pennsylvania Avenue, includes the public rooms in the East Wing, which includes the Blue Room, Red Room and Green Room; the State Dining Room; the China Room; and a view of the White House Rose Garden.
Secret Service members are stationed in each room and are available to answer questions about the history and architecture of each room.
Visit some of the Smithsonian Museums
The Smithsonian Institute is a collection of the best museums in the world. There are 17 museums, galleries, and the National Zoo, that make up the Smithsonian Institute. So don’t be fooled into thinking you can see them all in a week – or even in a month!
There are also other museums that are not part of the Smithsonian that you’ll want on your list too. Plus monuments and even more historical sites, like Ford’s Theater where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
The brilliant thing is most of Washington, DC’s museums are free to enter!
To help you decide which museums to tackle on your first visit to DC, here are the top 7 museums as rated by TripAdvisor, which clearly means they’ll be busy – but there’s a good reason for that. They’re amazing.
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is one the whole family will enjoy. And it’s free.
Not only are there fun interactive exhibits and fossils, but there’s also a live insect “zoo” where you can see tarantula, hissing cockroaches, stroll among live butterflies and more. I remember the time I went I couldn’t take my eyes off the bird-eating spider. It was massive! (And no, I did not witness it eating a bird. Lord help me!)
The Natural History Museum is also home to the Hope Diamond, one of the most famous pieces of jewellery in the world. The stone originated in the Kallur Mine in India and was purchased in 1666 by a French gem merchant who cut it and sold it to King Louis XIV.
It was then stolen in 1791 and recut to 45.52-carats. What we see today is the “Hope” diamond that popped up in 1839, owned by a London family.
In 1949 New York gem merchant Harry Winston bought it and donated it to the Natural History Museum in 1958, where it has been on display ever since. (Much to his descendants chagrin I’m sure!)
National Museum of African American History and Culture
“A people’s journey, a nation’s story”, the National Museum of African American History opened in 2016 and its architecture is unlike any other building you’ll find in DC. It’s covered in bronze coloured aluminium lattice which filters light into the building, symbolizing light coming into the dialogue about race and to promote healing and reconciliation.
Inside you’ll find more than 36,000 artefacts and see how history and culture has shaped America. Admission is free.
National Gallery of Art
You’ll find more than 150,000 paintings, photographs, drawings, sculpture that spans the history of Western art. Again, it’s all free, including special exhibitions.
The building itself is breathtaking. Admission is free.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The Holocaust Museum is not part of the Smithsonian Institute of museums but it is well worth visiting. Beware that it is harrowing. However I’m of the firm belief that these memorials, tributes and historical museums like this are essential.
Lest we forget. I would allow at least 2 hours here.
Admission is free. You need to book timed entry tickets online.
Air and Space Museum
Newly refurbished, recreated and opened after a two-year hiatus, the most popular of the Smithsonian Museums, the National Air and Space Museum is open again.
It has stepped into the 21st century with more interactive exhibits and is not just truly fascinating for the aviation fans among us, but anyone who wants to see the evolution of man and speed – on land, sea and air.
It’s quite extraordinary to see the first capsule that was created to land on the moon. It honestly looks like something the kids would cobble together in school! Admission is free.
National Portrait Gallery
Art lovers should set aside a good couple of hours here. Opened in 1968, it is located in the old Patent Office Building. The first exhibition was “The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution, 1770–1800,” dedicated solely to African Americans.
There are lots of presidential portraits starting from George and Martha Washington. Photographs were later introduced after Congress passed the decision.
By 2013, the NPG housed 21,200 works of art dedicated solely to portraiture. Admission is free.
Museum of the Bible
One of the newest museums to open in Washington, DC, this is a walk through the Bible. It opened in 2017 and of course, as you would imagine, ruffled feathers.
But it ranks on the list of one of the Top 10 museums to visit in Washington, DC on TripAdvisor, by real people who have visited.
You’ll enter through enormous doors etched in scripture verses and find experiential and interactive exhibits. Replicas of the Dead Sea Scrolls and recreations of life in Jerusalem as Jesus would have lived.
The Museum of the Bible is privately funded by he Green family. It is eight floors high with a biblical garden on the roof, a grand ballroom and a restaurant called Manna, named after the daily provision of food God provided the Israelites when they left Egypt and camped for 40 years before reaching the Promised Land.
Note: this is not a Smithsonian Museum, there is a charge for entry.
How do the Smithsonian museums remain free?
Great question! In a world where we’re used to paying for every little thing, it is quite astonishing that this enormous collection of spectacular buildings and the impressive artifacts within, remain free for all visitors. Even Washington Zoo is free, but you need to get timed entry passes online.
In 1835 British scientist James Smithson bequeathed his estate to his nephew Henry James Hungerford, but stipulated that if he died without heirs (which he did) he wanted the money to go to Washington to found the Smithsonian Institution “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” The amount was $515,169. (That equates to over $15m today).
The fiscal year 2021 saw the Federal Government invest $1 billion into the Smithsonian Institution. That makes up 62% of its funding. It also receives funding from private donors and revenue from its magazine, on-site restaurants and gift shops.
But wait, there’s lots more to see!
Visit the Hirshhorn Museum
When I was last there I caught the Yayoi Kusama exhibition. I was delighted to find it still on and then to read about this extraordinary Japanese artist, who you will recognise with her blunt pink bob and her colourful art.
Born in 1929 She’s in her 90s now and is still working creating quirky and fascinating pieces. These days she’d be described as “neuro-diverse”. She struggled as a youngster with hallucinations in which she saw light and dots and auras, that and a screwed up childhood thanks to her mother making her spy on her father having sex with other women.
She’s a fascinating lady and you read more in her Wikipedia profile if you’re interested. The room above has mirrored walls and the neon lights change colour as you walk slowly through.
She started drawing pumpkins at a young age, and I was thrilled to see the giant yellow dot-covered pumpkin here in DC.
In the roaring 60s she was in New York embracing pop art and this remarkable lady is still creating installations today.
Catch a game!
Sports teams in Washington, DC
DC (District of Columbia) is home to the Washington Football Team (formerly Washington Redskins, but that name has been binned), Washington Nationals baseball, Washington Wizards basketball, Washington Capitals hockey, DC United soccer, Washington Mystics women’s basketball and then there’s all the college teams.
If you love live sport like we do, this is another whole genre of fun things in DC to add to your list.
Ford’s Theatre
There is so much for history buffs in D.C. Ford’s Theatre is the theater that President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in as he sat watching a play. (It’s also on my list of Hidden Gems in Washington DC).
John Wilkes Booth snuck into the president’s box and shot him in the head then escaped over the balcony, landed on the stage and broke his leg, but still managed to get away.
It is a working theater today to see a performance, but is wildly interesting if you’re into that kind of history!
Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center probably won’t be on your must-visit list, but you’ll see it on the edge of the river.
It’s a fabulous venue for concerts and I’ve been here for the opera. I also graduated high school here. Yes, I’m a Kiwi from New Zealand, but I did a one year exchange with a wonderful family in Rockville MD and my high school, T S Wooton, used this incredible venue as their graduation hall. Probably because kids of government families! I would put my graduation pic up, but … eek, it was the 80s!
That was back in the 80’s and I’m still in touch with that wonderful family every day. Yes. Every day. (If you’re thinking about doing a student exchange, I can’t recommend it highly enough! I did mine through AFS).
Come here for a play or a concert and get some culture in ya!
International Spy Museum
I haven’t been to the new International Spy Museum yet, but I did visit the previous one a couple of times – and this one is even bigger and better.
When I lived in the US my “dad” was in Counter Terrorism at the CIA. I took him into this museum and we had fun with the interactive exhibits. When you arrive you’re given a secret identity and your mission is to come out not having been caught. I was completely busted. He sailed through, identity intact!
It’s now moved into a phenomenal new building and offers even more interactive exhibits.
Note: there is a charge for this museum.
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery is another location that you need a couple of hours to visit. It’s actually located in Virginia, just across the Potomac River behind the Lincoln Memorial. It is the final resting place of 400,000 veterans and their families.
There is a permanent guard in in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (below) and they change over every hour from 1 October to 31 March and every half hour from 1 April to 30 September.
You’ll also want to visit the eternal flame at JFK’s grave. The graves of other notable people are also here: astronauts, medical scientists, athletes, judges. Funerals are still carried out today.
It is absolutely massive, so if you want to make sure you see the best, it’s a good idea to take a walking tour of Arlington Cemetery and learn all about it as you go.
Visit Rock Creek Park
A common mistake to make when thinking about Washington, DC is to assume the city is all big government buildings. Of course the National Mall is a wide open space, but the real lungs of the city is Rock Creek Park.
This 1,754 acre city park is a popular location for hikers, runners, walkers, cyclists. It’s also filled with wildlife. You might see white-tailed deer, migrating birds, streams, native plans and plenty of critters.
See the spring cherry blossoms
If you’re visiting Washington, DC in the spring (late March/early April is the best time) you’ll need to bring your camera as the city is decorated in cherry blossoms!
Some people plan to visit specifically for the riot of pink confetti on the trees and strewn like carpet on every path and the events and art work the season inspires.
The Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates the gift from the mayor of Tokyo, Japan in 1912 of 3000 cherry trees which now have their own four-week blossom celebration each Spring.
How to get around Washington DC
This city is deceptively huge. Walking everywhere is not really possible, unless you have hours (even days) on your side. Traffic is usually grid-locked too, so even taxis are not the best idea.
If you want to see the highlights, get a 2-day Hop On Hop Off bus pass which will cover everything above.
Or if you’re confident on electric scooters, these are a great way to get to the next place in your own time. There are 7 companies at last count and you pay for them via an app on your cell phone. Read all the rules for riding e-scooters in Washington DC.
You can also rent bicycles in the same way if you prefer a seat – and a little basket in the front!
Note: it is illegal to ride scooters and bikes on the footpath in the CBD. You could be fined $25.
You could take a segway tour, which are a little hard to used to! I found if I stuck my bum out I could slow it down and eventually stop 😉
Locals use the Metrorail, the underground rail system. There are several stops nice and close to museums and the nightlife districts.
For going out at night, or when you just want a car, there are several taxi companies, as well as Uber and Lyft.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 2 days enough time in Washington, DC?
I’d say a big fat no, but if that’s all the time you have, you just have to be laser focused on what you can see and do!
What’s the #1 site visited in Washington, DC?
That depends on which poll you read, but it’s either the Lincoln Memorial or the Museum of Natural History. You could easily do both of these in one day!
Because 1 post is never enough!
Read my post on 1 Day in Washington DC over on my new DayTrippingUSA blog.
If you’ve been a few times before, you might like my post on Hidden Gems in Washington, DC