WE’VE ALREADY DISCUSSED THE “WHEN” AND THE “HOW” of visiting Washington, and (ideally) the “how much” to spend. But there is another “how much” to consider, and that’s the staggering number of “whats” you have to choose from.
Let’s face it: Most visitors to Washington, especially first-timers, have a pretty good idea of the places they want to visit. You might call them the Three Must-sees: the Mall, the monuments, and Mount Vernon. Sounds fun—but it’s a much more strenuous itinerary than it sounds. And that’s not even counting the fourth M: the many, many museums not on the Mall, such as the Newseum, the International Spy Museum, the Kreeger, Hillwood Mansion, etc. (Or the fifth: the military parades and concerts.) And the average tourist only has two or three days to see it.
So the first thing to do is decide whether you want to see the famous sights or the ones of personal interest.
If you want to take the basics tour, or just get the lay of the land, you can easily sign up for a go-round that will give you a glimpse of the most famous sights, and you can do that in almost any sort of vehicle you like. In fact, even Paul Revere would have a hard time signaling a monuments tour these days, whether by land or by sea (at least by the Potomac River). You can tour by day or by night, get around via bike or Segway, hop on and off a trolley, hire a horse-drawn carriage, or hoof it yourself.
Or you could design an itinerary around a theme: American history, ethnic roots, architecture, decorative arts, etc. (we have listed special-interest tours below). You can hire an expert guide or do it yourself—and with the abundance of information online, DIY tours are easier than ever.
The other advantage of thinking outside the bus is that you are less likely to encounter repeated crowds of tourists visiting the same famous places at the same time (and hearing the same canned info); if you head for less frequented spots, you are likely to hear a much more detailed presentation and find yourself touring with people who share your interests. You might be able to swap information on other places worth seeing.
Here are some of highlights of the less famous off-the-Mall collections in Washington:
Most of the attractions mentioned here are profiled in detail later in this chapter, particularly those that are more easily accessible, but we have also listed some museums and collections of special interest, and mentioned additional “if you like this” options at the end of profiles. We have also given you some idea of prices.
And it bears repeating: Remember that prices, times, and exhibits change frequently, and smaller museums in particular may have to close for a day or so to mount new exhibitions. Also, Washington is sensitive to potentially inclement weather, and vulnerable to such unexpected events as the August 23, 2011, 5.8 magnitude earthquake, so it’s wise to cast a quick glance at the attraction’s website before setting out.
WHILE IT’S TRUE THAT MOST FEDERALLY SUPPORTED attractions don’t charge admission, just because something is free doesn’t mean it’s easy. In the post-9/11 era, there are a lot of places we, the people, are not welcome to walk in, at least not without a reservation and—not infrequently—a government-issued ID with photo. As mentioned in Part One, tickets to the White House tours must be obtained in advance through a member of Congress; the limited passes are first come, first served, and are offered only until midday Tuesday through Saturday (whitehouse.gov/about/tours-and-events). You can, however, tour the White House Visitor Center at 15th and E Streets NW without a reservation, and it’s open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. You also must have Congressional support to take the tour of the Treasury Building—which is not the same as the Bureau of Engraving—but it’s definitely worth it: see the description in “The Best Tours in Town.”
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It’s important to check the websites of the major government sites before you arrive, as the list of forbidden items grows all the time; you can’t take cameras, oversize purses, water bottles, strollers, a backpack, or even a sharp-pointed comb into the White House or Capitol, so travel light. And just get used to security lines—dump those 10-gallon belt buckles.
Unless you’re a member of the military, you need a reservation to tour the Pentagon, with at least two weeks’ advance notice. Again, your member of Congress can be helpful, but you can make your own arrangements online at pentagontours.osd.mil. Be sure to fill out all security information. You are welcome to visit the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, however.
The U.S. Capitol is a little easier to tour. Again, advance passes are available through your Congressperson, or you can book them at visitthecapitol.gov. A few same-day passes are issued at the tour kiosks at the east and west fronts of the Capitol and at the information desk on the lower level of the visitor centers.
The Washington National Cathedral offers so many fascinating tours that you could spend your whole trip there, but the “congressional constituent” tours offered Monday and Wednesday mornings provide even more depth and detail (see profile).
And although it isn’t a matter of security, at least not this time, the Washington Monument is closed for extensive repairs due to damage from the earthquake. (The full-body scaffolding, designed by architect Michael Graves, is actually very intriguing, especially at night, when it is fully lit from within.) If all goes according to schedule, and without further damage, it is believed repairs will be completed by spring or summer 2014.
BY AND LARGE, WASHINGTON’S MAJOR attractions keep businesslike operating hours. Smithsonian museums on the Mall are open 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. every day except December 25. (During the summer, hours at certain museums may be extended.) There are, however, a few exceptions. The National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which are a sort of Siamese twins museum in the Penn Quarter, are open 11:30 a.m.–7 p.m. every day except December 25. The Museum of Natural History stays open until 7:30 p.m. in summer. The National Zoo is open until 6 p.m. April–October and until 4:30 p.m. the rest of the year.
The National Gallery of Art, also not part of the Smithsonian, is open until 6 p.m. on Sundays; its sculpture garden stays open late from about Memorial Day through Labor Day and hosts jazz on Fridays, 5–8:30 p.m.; during the coldest months, when it becomes an ice rink, it’s open even later. In both cases, the Pavilion Café stays open late as well.
While the most lavishly decorated of the three Library of Congress buildings, the Jefferson, closes at 4:30 p.m., the Madison building stays open until 9:30 p.m. weekdays, and the Adams is open that late Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. (All three are closed on Sunday.)
The clock tower at the Old Post Office Pavilion, which offers as fine a view as the Washington Monument, is open until 8 p.m. most days during the summer and until 7 p.m. most days from Labor Day through March (oldpostofficedc.com).
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing is open until 7 p.m. May–August, but you’ll have to obtain timed tickets, released at 8 a.m.; its visitor center is open until 7:30 p.m. in summer.
Private museums, such as the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Phillips Collection, are generally open 10 a.m.–5 p.m., plus one late night a week, but likely closed on Sundays and/or Mondays (the Corcoran is closed Mondays and Tuesdays). What might be called the for-profit museums, such as the International Spy Museum, may stay open a little later, as well. We have listed the hours of the attractions profiled in this chapter as they were at press time, but it’s always best to check the website for details.
Many indoor attractions are closed on federal holidays—January 1, Martin Luther King Jr. Day (the third Monday in January), Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day (the first Monday in September), Columbus Day (the second Monday in October), Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and December 25—and during any of those annoying government shut-downs; check the profiles or websites. And double-check if the site you plan to visit might be subject to weather or political threat.
Although nearly every major attraction in Washington closes for the major holidays, Mount Vernon, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, U. S. Botanic Garden, and the Old Post Office Pavilion tower are among those open 365 days a year.
On the other hand, most major monuments are open 24 hours a day. We strongly recommend you visit the memorials at the Tidal Basin end of the Mall—Lincoln, MLK Jr., FDR, and Jefferson—after dark. Lit up by floodlights, they have an even more powerful effect than in daylight; and park rangers are on duty as late as midnight to answer questions. The Korean War Veterans Memorial, which is near the Lincoln memorial, and the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial were designed with darkness in mind. If you don’t want to walk the area by yourself, most of the organized tour companies offer sunset and moonlight tours.
AS WE MENTIONED IN PART ONE, crowds at major attractions have somewhat discernable traffic patterns, though certainly not ironclad. In general, mornings are the least crowded time (another reason to stay near a Metro station—you can easily arrive at any Mall museum by 10); and there’s another slackening midafternoon. This is especially true of the most popular attractions, such as the National Air and Space Museum. If you get in and out early, you can enjoy the less-traveled galleries of the Sackler or Freer and bide your time until the family groups are tailing off. The first part of the week is generally the slowest, so if possible, use Thursday, Friday, and the weekend to visit attractions outside the Mall or Penn Quarter.
Also, because some of the popular commercial attractions, such as the International Spy Museum and the Crime Museum, are open later than the Mall museums, more families schedule them for the end of the afternoon. Buy your tickets in advance online; in many cases, prepaid tickets will save you a few dollars, and you can guarantee your admission time as well. (And the other groups might wear out earlier, anyway.)
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The one “pay-per-view” museum that lets you visit more than once is the Newseum, where tickets are good for two days; it closes at 5 p.m., but there are several attractions nearby with longer hours, and you can return the next day if you didn’t see it all.
The café in the Smithsonian Castle opens at 8:30 a.m., so you can easily be at the door of any of the Mall museums before 10 a.m. (Take your coffee to the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden; it opens at 7:30.) The café at the Holocaust Museum at the west end of the Mall also opens at 8:30, so if you’re going to the big monuments or plan to line up for tickets to the Bureau of Engraving or the Washington Monument, start there.
If you’re hoping to duck the usual noontime crush, you can tour through midday and make late-lunch reservations at a downtown restaurant (if you’re starting at one of the Penn Quarter attractions, reservations would be a good idea anyway, as it’s restaurant central for business as well). But many of the museums have attractive dining options; see “The Best Museum Restaurants” in Part Six: Dining and Restaurants.
FIRST-TIME VISITORS TO WASHINGTON CAN’T HELP BUT NOTICE the regular procession of open-air, multicar tour buses—“motorized trolleys” is probably a more accurate term—that prowl the streets along the Mall, the major monuments, Arlington Cemetery, downtown, Georgetown, and Upper Northwest Washington. These regularly scheduled shuttle buses drop off and pick up paying customers along a route that includes the town’s most popular attractions. Between stops, passengers listen to a tour guide point out the city’s monuments, museums, and famous buildings.
These are best for first-time visitors who want to get the general layout in their heads first and then focus in on the specifics; for those with children; for visitors with restricted time; or those with mobility or respiratory problems. Standardized tours are also handy if you don’t like to read and ride at the same time, as the conductor or driver passes along the primary facts about each building or memorial and tosses in a few jokes and perhaps some intriguing trivia.
But they’re not inexpensive—all-day tours can run $40–$45 for adults (here again, buying in advance online may save you a few dollars)—and they can feel like packages of postcards if they just drive by the major sights. So if you’re already pretty familiar with the major monuments, you should look into the special-interest tours, whether guided or do-it-yourself.
What follows is not a compendium, it’s just a broad sampling, and touring is one of those industries that flourishes even in tough times. While there are plenty of short-lived schtick-based tours around, these are companies with a fairly long record and a good safety record. If you pass a van with a logo and a catchy slogan painted on the side and you’re inspired to jump in, just make sure there’s some form of license attached, either to the person or the vehicle.
IF YOU CHOOSE ONE OF THE BIG DRIVE-AROUND TOURS, you can either stick to the bus for the whole circuit or hop on and off at more than a dozen hot spots. These on–off tours circulate every 20–30 minutes, so you can pretty much set your own rhythm. On the other hand, even tour operators suggest not trying to see more than a half dozen sites in a day, so you might want to make a list of the ones you really care about. Also note that, although most of the bus drivers have credit card machines on board, you might want to have cash just in case of snafus.
In addition to the all- or half-day tours, and in some cases even two-day itineraries, most of the larger companies also offer “moonlight” tours of the monuments and some seasonal tours (ghosts in particular).
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Tours are not cheap, so ask whether your AAA or AARP card is good for a discount; it often is. And buying online in advance will often get you a discount—you may even be able to find an online coupon.
The hop-on/hop-off Old Town Trolley has three intersecting “loops,” including one around the Mall and another through Arlington Cemetery, but also one that includes a couple of stops—Washington National Cathedral and Georgetown—that are not near Metro stations (oldtowntrolleytours.com). Tickets for Old Town Trolley tours are available at many hotels, and, impressively, the company offers a money-back guarantee.
On Board DC Tours has a hop-on/hop-off system with a difference: The tour guide hops off with you and continues the narration until you all hop back on. And it’s unusually extensive, stopping at a dozen points and passing two dozen more, including the Air Force memorial. In good weather, there’s an hour-long river cruise; November into March, lunch is at the Pentagon City Mall food court (onboardtours.com).
Tourmobile operates the hop-on service within Arlington National Cemetery, leaving from the visitor center every hour on the half hour; the hearing- and mobility-impaired can request scripts and chairlift-equipped vehicles in advance (tourmobile.com).
Gray Line offers some of the longest, farthest-ranging tours, such as the eight-hour version that takes in Mount Vernon, Old Town Alexandria, Arlington Cemetery, and the Iwo Jima memorial; it also has open-top touring options (graylinedc.com).
All About Town also has bus tours that range from half- and whole-day itineraries that cover just about all the major sites, including Mount Vernon, and offers pickup from many downtown hotels (allabouttown.net).
The Circulator bus is not a tour shuttle per se, and you won’t hear any stories (well, not authorized ones, anyway), but the tour routes will carry you to more than a dozen attractions along the Mall and Penn Quarter; for more information on the Circulator in Part Four: Getting In and Getting Around.
MOST WATER TOURS GO UP AND DOWN the Potomac River, offering pretty passing views of the Capitol, the Washington Monument, the Kennedy Center, Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria, etc.—sometimes going as far as Mount Vernon. In many cases, you don’t even have to make advance reservations, though, here again, it will likely save you a little. Be sure to read the guidelines and restrictions (alcohol included) on each company’s website.
From April through October, Capitol River Cruises leave on the hour from Washington Harbour for a 45-minute cruise past the Kennedy Center, the Capitol building, the LBJ and Maritime Memorials, the Custis-Lee Mansion, and other points of interest (capitolrivercruises.com). March to October, National River Tours (nationalrivertours.com) runs a quick, pleasant 45-minute pontoon tour aboard the George Washington from Washington Harbour to the Pentagon every hour from 11:45 a.m. to 6:45 p.m.; these tours have live narration.
Potomac Riverboat Company (potomacriverboatco.com) has a varied and intriguing fleet, including a couple of double-deckers, an authentic split sternwheeler, and a 1906 skipjack that takes 90-minute cruises from National Harbor. PRC, which also operates the water taxi between Old Town Alexandria and the new National Harbor complex (home of the National Children’s Museum), offers monument tours, cruises to Mount Vernon, pirate cruises, and, for those who can’t leave the pooch at home, Thursday evening canine cruises in summer.
If you can stand the “wise quacks,” or if your party includes kids, take the 90-minute DC Ducks tour aboard renovated WWII amphibious vehicles (dcducks.com). Ducks leave Union Station every hour between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., roll through the Mall, then plop into the Potomac River near Georgetown and cruise down to Gravely Point, under the National Airport flight path. Tours run only from mid-March through October, and only if the weather permits.
Though somewhat more expensive, the American Spirit schooner tour, a 2.5-hour cruise aboard a 65-foot classic-rigged sailing ship along the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers, is among the most romantic; tours leave from the SW Waterfront at the Gangplank Marina most weekend evenings April through September. Reservations are required ($50; dcsail.org/schooner-cruises).
A local family favorite is the National Park Service’s hour-long barge trips, drawn 19th-century–style by mules through the locks of the C&O Canal at Georgetown or Great Falls, Virginia. Park Service rangers in costume explain the workings of the lock system and the history of the canal (nps.gov/choh). The Georgetown tours are particularly fun on summer Sundays when there are free canal-side concerts.
Personally, we think drinking-dining-dancing cruises aren’t the way to go because the sights are just window dressing (you’re glassed in much of the time); but they are particularly popular at cherry blossom time (and with the kind of tourist who travels on the buffet). Both Odyssey (odysseycruises.com) and Spirit Cruises (spiritofwashington.com) have docks at the Gangplank Marina at Sixth and Water Streets SW and National Harbor; Dandy Restaurant Cruises sails out of Old Town Alexandria (dandydinnerboat.com).
WHILE THEY COVER BASICALLY THE SAME TERRITORY (monuments, Capitol Hill, and the Mall, and, by prior arrangement, private tours down to Mount Vernon), bike tours have a few advantages. You get some exercise, you really can “hop off and on” at will, you don’t need equipment (bikes and helmets are included), and depending on the company, you can bring the kids along on tandems. On the other hand, bike tours are subject to the whims of weather (generally closed January and February in any case) and require advance bookings.
Bike and Roll’s 3-hour tours depart from Old Town Alexandria and the bike station at Union Station. Tour prices start at $45 for adults, including hybrid bike and helmet rental (bikethesites.com). It also rents out cruisers, mountain bikes, skates, Segways, mobility scooters, etc. (See Part Four for information on bike sharing.)
Speaking of Segways, they are great fun, but you do have to learn how to drive one first, so tours begin with training sessions and safety checks. City Segway Tours’ 3-hour tours leave from the office at 23rd and E Streets NW, near the Foggy Bottom Metro ($75; dc.citysegwaytours.com). City Segway has also begun to branch out into more specialized tours, including a haunted Hill tour.
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Most Segway tours require reservations, and many require a security deposit. D.C. law prohibits riders under age 15, and companies impose weight limits as well.
Segs in the City, which shares a kiosk behind the Old Post Office Pavilion with Bike and Roll, also offers mini-tours and specialty routes, such as a Sunday morning roll from Dupont Circle up to Washington National Cathedral (segsinthecity.com/segs_in_dc.htm). Capital Segway, which trains in and rolls out from McPherson Square (which has its own Metro station), offers tours in several foreign languages, including a Da Vinci Code–inspired “Masonic Lost Symbol” tour.
The newest addition to D.C.’s pedal power are the pedicab companies—Capitol Pedicabs, DC Pedicabs, and National Pedicabs—bicycle rickshaw services that can handle three adults and some baggage. You can reserve them in advance, but drivers can also be flagged down like a taxi; they generally hang out around sightseeing and nightlife areas, such as Gallery Place, Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, and the Mall. And, of course, they are social media–accessible. Rides are about $60 an hour per person.
WHILE THEY MAY NOT BE AS ubiquitous as the carriages of Central Park, horse-drawn buggy tours are available in Washington. The limit is usually six people, but it would be a prime possibility for romance. Charley Horse Carriage Company (
202-488-1155) usually picks up night rides outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill. Rides vary in price depending on length of ride, starting at a minimum of $75 for a half-hour ride; holiday season rides may be more expensive. Carriages of the Capital ($175 per hour for a group of up to 6 people; carriagesofthecapital.com) generally depart from the Willard Hotel.
THERE ARE PLENTY OF WALKING TOURS around Washington—and as with everything else in life, some of the best are free.
Washington Walks (washingtonwalks.com), founded by Carolyn Crouch, who moved to Washington and walked it on her own, is an established organization whose most popular subjects include “Memorials by Moonlight;” the “I’ve Got a Secret” tour (more trivia game than scandal tour, it includes a onetime brothel and the severed leg of a Civil War general); various neighborhood tours; and another tour of local sites that appear in movies and television. (If you don’t know yet that there is no Georgetown subway station, despite that scene in No Way Out, it’s time you learned.) Some Washington Walks are seasonal, and a few are for younger audiences; check the website for a full list. You can also book any Washington Walks tour for times and/or days other than the regularly scheduled ones. Most tours are $15 for ages 4 and up.
If you’re on a budget, you can get a free tour—although you should at least be prepared to tip generously—from the guys at DC by Foot (dcbyfoot.com). Guides meet you in the heart of the Federal City near the Washington Monument at 15th Street and Constitution Avenue NW at 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 6 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday spring and summer and give you a 90-minute tour with (good) attitude. Once you have a feel for the area, you may want to do it alone, taking it one attraction or area at a time.
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If you do have a special interest, such as black history or military history, look at the profile of a major attraction in that field below; we have included leads to sites on similar topics.
One extensive online resource is Cultural Tourism DC (culturaltourismdc.org), which offers information on local attractions by neighborhood (Barracks Row, U Street, the Southwest Waterfront, etc.); by cultural niche (religious sites, museums, and so on); by historical themes, such as black history and the Civil War; and by a few specialized interests, including gardens, cemeteries, and historic houses. Some pages include route maps as well as walking itineraries. If you’re packing your iPod or smartphone, you can download a tour of the monuments and the Mall from slate.com/id/2132202,dctours.us, or audiosteps.com and wander at your own pace.
IF YOU’RE SERIOUS ABOUT A PARTICULAR FIELD of interest or neighborhood, you may want to hire an expert. The most elaborate of customized tours are likely to be expensive, and you should be sure to ask whether transportation or admission fees and/or gratuities are included (plus, most tours last 3–4 hours). But rates are generally the same for a solo tour or a small group, so if you have a friend who shares your passion, it might help with the bill. Be sure your guide is licensed by the District government—it’s the law.
With a personal guide, you can set your own timetable and mode of transportation, so there’s more flexibility. The Guide Service of Washington, Inc. (dctourguides.com) and the Guild of Professional Tour Guides of Washington, D.C. (washingtondctourguides.com) can steer you to former government employees, professors, historians, and even ex-spies who will spill the beans on Washington history and gossip for about $40 an hour.
One of Washington’s better-known tour guides, who calls his walks “anecdotal history tours,” is History Channel narrator and historian Anthony Pitch (dcsightseeing.com). Tour locations and themes include Georgetown, Adams Morgan, the Capitol Hill neighborhood (“Skirting the Capitol” points out some Congressional bloopers), “The Curse of Lafayette Square,” Lincoln’s assassination, and the burning of the capital during the War of 1812. These more elaborate tours cost about $100 an hour with a minimum of 4 hours, so they’re better for serious troupers.
Mondays at 10 a.m., just show up near the top of the outside Union Station Metro escalator to meet guides, some of them former Hill staffers, from the Capitol Historical Society, who volunteer to spend a couple of hours pointing out the architecture and landscaping around the Capitol building, as well as a bit of the political history of the neighborhood ($10, March–November; uschs.org).
Jeanne Fogle, founder of A Tour de Force (atourdeforce.com), is a writer and adjunct professor of regional history and tour-guiding at Northern Virginia Community College. Her itineraries can all be customized, but she prefers to explore the social history and architectural evolution of the various neighborhoods.
Carol Bessette (spiesofwashingtontour.com) is a retired Air Force intelligence officer and Vietnam veteran who’s a walking, talking, one-woman international spy museum. She leads group walks, customized private driving tours, and walks for tourists with dogs.
Natalie Zanin Historic Strolls (historicstrolls.com) takes a more dramatic approach, using as guides actors who assume historical identities at key spots along the way. A character from A Christmas Carol leads the “Charles Dickens in Washington” tour; “Gussie the Government Gal” adjusts to life in World War II D.C.; a hoop-skirted gossip explores the Civil War sites. And one of the most intriguing tours brings out the pickpockets, con men, cardsharks, and ladies of ill repute of 19th-century Washington. All tours ($12 adults) partly benefit nonprofit groups, and reservations are not necessary; you can pay your “character” when you arrive. All the starting points are Metro-accessible.
IF YOU’RE MORE INCLINED TO ENJOY A FEW PLACES in-depth than to try to make the Big Circuit, you can pretty much have your pick. Government agencies may have tighter restrictions in the post-9/11 era, but plenty of museums, historic homes, and religious sites offer guided tours or detailed brochures and recordings that you can use. Or you can just wander about at your leisure.
Here are some of our favorite places, most of which you can walk into on the spur of the moment. For details on hours and access, see the profiles later in this chapter.
The Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress is a stunning example of lavish public construction, with its mythological murals and sculptures, gilded ceilings, stained glass skylights, mosaics, allegorical friezes, and grand staircases—and that’s not even counting the Gutenberg Bible or the great dome of the main reading room made famous by that vertiginous tracking shot in All the President’s Men. It’s not just a library, it’s a work of art.
Dumbarton Oaks Museum and Gardens is not only an extraordinary mansion, filled with medieval and Renaissance tapestries, furniture, and Asian and European art and sculpture, but it’s also a treasure trove of Byzantine and pre-Columbian art and rare books, some of which are exhibited in the galleries. And, as if that weren’t enough, the grounds—a dozen period piece and specialized formal gardens, a swimming pool and bathhouse with tile mosaics, etc.—are one of the most underrated oases in the area.
The Daughters of the American Revolution Museum is one of Washington’s underrated beauties. It has 31 period rooms, and even though you can only peek in from the doors, the wealth of decorative pieces, ceramics, paintings, silver, costumes, and oddities is wonderful. It may not sound kid-friendly, but, in fact, there is a space upstairs where children can play with real 18th- and 19th-century toys and flags.
The U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Reception Rooms are another lesser-known delight, a stunning geode of 18th- and 19th- century decorative arts—worth close to $100 million—hidden inside that boulder of an office building. You have to reserve a spot in advance, but it’s worth it. Use common sense: This is the State Department, so don’t pack pointed objects; also, no strollers are allowed, but this attraction isn’t recommended for kids younger than 12 anyway.
The Society of the Cincinnati at Anderson House in Dupont Circle is a turn-of-the-20th-century fantasia of Florentine architecture, built for an American diplomat whose patriotic fervor extended to hiring muralists and decorators to install historic scenes and symbols throughout the house. The upper floors have their original furnishings and tapestries—check out the crystal chandeliers in the two-story ballroom and the Gilbert Stuart painting in the billiards parlor—while the first floor holds displays of Revolutionary War artifacts.
Anderson House cost $750,000 in 1905; the 13 acres of formal gardens alone at Hillwood Museum and Gardens, the home of cereal heiress, socialite, and collector Marjorie Merriweather Post, probably cost that much. (One of Post’s husbands was the equally wealthy E. F. Hutton, and another was ambassador to the Soviet Union, so they came in handy when she began collecting art and confiscated Romanov treasures.) If you love exquisite silver, ornate Imperial china, impressive portraits with crowns, and, oh yes, Fabergé eggs, this is the place. The bedrooms and closets are pretty astounding too; even the earliest photos of Post’s daughter, actress Dina Merrill, look like Hollywood studio stills. Have a glass of wine or tea and play aristocrat. Reservations are not required, but we recommend them during busier seasons.
It’s not an easy tour, but the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is one of the most powerful experiences in Washington and an astounding example of how visionary architecture can magnify that power. Just don’t try to squeeze this one into a multistop itinerary—it will leave you emotionally drained, and you may definitely want a pick-me-up while you think about it. However, there are shortcuts and softened children’s exhibits.
There’s a lot more to Mount Vernon than 2 hours’ worth, including a view over the Potomac so fine it explains why Washington was so eager to retire. In fact, there’s now even more: An impressive orientation and education center has been added to the mansion, stables, greenhouses, working farm, and slave quarters. This visitor center complex offers state-of-the-art interactive displays; films; life-size recreations of Washington at three points in his life; and rooms full of china, jewelry, rare books and private letters, Revolutionary War artifacts, and family effects that were not previously on display, so unless you have to settle for one of those packaged quick-stop tours, we’d say make a day trip of it.
There are docent-led tours of the Washington National Cathedral throughout the day, and you can certainly wander about on your own (unless some special event or ceremony is in progress, of course). But the most fun tours combine a special cathedral highlights tour with afternoon tea high in the tower, which affords a stunning view. Reservations are required (Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m., $30). If you’re making a three-day weekend visit, you can hear a free demonstration of the Great Organ Mondays at 12:30 p.m.
The U.S. Department of Treasury, alongside the White House, is a fabulous, almost palatial building that has been renovated to its pre–Civil War state—or, in the case of the Andrew Johnson Suite, post–Civil War, as he used it as his temporary offices just after the assassination of President Lincoln—but access is very limited. You’ll have to enlist the help of your senator or representative (only legal residents of the United States are eligible) to get a reservation here; expect to show photo IDs and so on. The hour-long guided tours are free but offered only on Saturdays at 9, 9:45, 10:30, and 11:15 a.m.—and don’t even think about being late. Enter on the south side of the building facing the Washington Monument (15th Street and Hamilton Place NW).
NOW WE GET TO THE SPECIFICS of many of the city’s most popular or most interesting attractions. But because visitors come to Washington from all over the world and for a lot of different reasons, it’s difficult for a guidebook to decree to such a diverse group where they should spend their time. Is the National Gallery of Art better than the Air and Space Museum? Yes, if your interests and tastes range more toward Van Gogh than von Braun. Should you visit the House of the Temple or Library of Congress? Well, is your favorite author Dan Brown or Thomas Jefferson (or Woodward and Bernstein)? We don’t know; we can only offer up the best clues we have to your own personal treasure map.
So, we have prepared profiles of the most prominent spots, plus a variety of specialty attractions, to help you select. In each case, we’ve included an author’s rating from one star (skip it unless you’re particularly interested) to five stars (not to be missed); ratings based on age groups that reflect the sort of exhibits and relative sophistication of the attraction (and to some extent, the wear and tear involved); and a physical description. Sometimes we refer to other attractions whose proximity might recommend them to those who have extra time or are repeat visitors (or who have special interests), and we’ve added touring tips when possible.
unofficial TIP
Some of the attractions featured list “suggested donations” rather than admission fees. If you are genuinely on a tight budget, or have a big family, you may wonder about taking advantage of the loophole, but we urge you to be honest and as generous as you can be.
Even before you walk in the door, use your brains. Even the museums that will allow you to photograph (without flash, of course) items from the permanent exhibit—for personal use only, not commercial—will almost certainly prohibit reproduction of special exhibits. Cell phones should be on mute, even if you are using a downloaded tour guide app. Oversize bags are going to be inspected and/or at the least checked by security. If you have small children, check websites for prohibitions on strollers. Food and drink? Don’t even think about it.
Not being included in our profiles doesn’t mean a museum or historical sight isn’t worth visiting; some, such as the Anacostia Community Museum, have only rotating exhibits. Occasionally, the attraction’s relative accessibility—both in terms of public transportation and disabled comfort—has weighed into its rating. In other cases, it is a matter of how narrow or general the institution’s attraction may be, making it a better or less likely family draw. Also note that a few of the attractions require advance reservations.
But even beyond those, there are hundreds of “attractions” we haven’t specifically listed, partly because they are stand-alone memorials (all those statues in traffic circles), parks, cemeteries with fine statuary, or simply buildings or bridges with elaborate facades, friezes, and carvings. And, of course, there are new memorials and museums going up all the time. Washington is a city worth seeing; so don’t find yourself walking with your nose glued to a book, not even this one.
Washington Attractions by Type
CEMETERIES
Arlington National Cemetery 
NATIONAL MALL | largest U.S. military cemetery
CHURCHES/HOUSES OF WORSHIP
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception 
NORTHEAST | largest Catholic church in U.S.
Franciscan Monastery and Gardens 
NORTHEAST | restored church, catacombs, garden
Islamic Center 
DUPONT CIRCLE/ADAMS MORGAN | exotic mosque
Washington National Cathedral 
UPPER NORTHWEST | 6th-largest cathedral in the world
GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS OPEN FOR TOURS
Bureau of Engraving and Printing 
NATIONAL MALL | where U.S. dollars and stamps are printed
National Archives 
NATIONAL MALL | home of the nation’s walking papers
U.S. Capitol CAPITOL HILL | where Congress meets
U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Reception Rooms FOGGY BOTTOM | decorative arts; reservation only
U.S. Department of the Treasury 
NATIONAL MALL | restored 19th-century landmark
U.S. Supreme Court 
CAPITOL HILL | nation’s highest court
HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND HOMES
Dumbarton House 
GEORGETOWN | historic mansion
Ford’s Theatre/Petersen House 
DOWNTOWN | where Lincoln was assassinated and died
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site SOUTHEAST | preserved Victorian mansion
Gunston Hall VIRGINIA SUBURBS | George Mason’s plantation
Heurich House 
DUPONT CIRCLE/ADAMS MORGAN | a true Victorian castle
Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens VIRGINIA SUBURBS | George Washington’s river plantation
Old Town Alexandria VIRGINIA SUBURBS | restored colonial port town
President Lincoln’s Cottage UPPER NORTHWEST | Lincoln’s summer home
Society of the Cincinnati Museum at Anderson House DUPONT CIRCLE/ADAMS MORGAN | lavish mansion and Revolutionary War museum
Tudor Place GEORGETOWN | mansion built by Martha Washington’s granddaughter
Union Station CAPITOL HILL | beaux arts palace; food court, shopping mall
The White House 
NATIONAL MALL | the Executive Mansion; reservation only
Woodrow Wilson House DUPONT CIRCLE/ADAMS MORGAN | final home of the 28th president
Folger Shakespeare Library CAPITOL HILL | bard museum and library
Library of Congress CAPITOL HILL | world’s largest library
MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS
African American Civil War Memorial and Museum NORTHWEST | from Civil War to civil rights
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial NATIONAL MALL | open-air memorial to FDR
House of the Temple DUPONT CIRCLE/ADAMS MORGAN | Masonic temple modeled on an ancient wonder
Jefferson Memorial NATIONAL MALL | classical-style monument on Tidal Basin
Korean War Veterans Memorial NATIONAL MALL | “walking” platoon memorial
Lincoln Memorial NATIONAL MALL | memorial to 16th president on Reflecting Pool
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial NATIONAL MALL | meditation garden and walk
National World War II Memorial NATIONAL MALL | tribute to “the greatest generation”
Old Post Office Tower and Pavilion NATIONAL MALL | food court with a view
Pentagon Memorial NATIONAL MALL | outdoor memorial to victims of 9/11 attacks
Vietnam Veterans Memorial NATIONAL MALL | U.S. soldier memorial on the Mall
Washington Monument NATIONAL MALL | 500-foot memorial to first U.S. president
MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery NATIONAL MALL | Asian art
Corcoran Gallery of Art NATIONAL MALL | modern and classical art and antiques
Crime Museum DOWNTOWN | collection of weapons and gangster memorabilia
DAR Museum NATIONAL MALL | decorative U.S. arts and antiques
Freer Gallery of Art NATIONAL MALL | Asian and American art
Glenstone MARYLAND SUBURBS | premier modern art collection
Goddard Space Flight Visitor Center MARYLAND SUBURBS | space museum
Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens UPPER NORTHWEST | mansion with fabulous art treasures, reservation only
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden NATIONAL MALL | modern art
International Spy Museum DOWNTOWN | history and gadgetry of espionage
Koshland Science Museum DOWNTOWN | for budding researchers
Kreeger Museum DUPONT CIRCLE/ADAMS MORGAN | modern-art museum
Madame Tussauds DOWNTOWN | wax museum
National Air and Space Museum NATIONAL MALL | chronicles manned flight
National Building Museum DOWNTOWN | architectural marvel and exhibits
National Cryptologic Museum MARYLAND SUBURBS | NSA spook museum
National Gallery of Art NATIONAL MALL | 20th-century art; Euro and American classical art
National Geographic Museum DOWNTOWN | high-tech exhibition for kids
National Museum of African Art NATIONAL MALL | traditional arts of Africa
National Museum of American History NATIONAL MALL | American experience
National Museum of the American Indian NATIONAL MALL | native art and artifacts
National Museum of Health and Medicine MARYLAND SUBURBS | medical museum
National Museum of Natural History NATIONAL MALL | treasure chest of natural sciences
National Museum of Women in the Arts DOWNTOWN | modern and classical art by women
National Portrait Gallery–Smithsonian American Art Museum DOWNTOWN | 2 important art collections in one beautifully restored building
National Postal Museum CAPITOL HILL | philately and exhibits
Newseum DOWNTOWN | salute to media
Phillips Collection DUPONT CIRCLE/ADAMS MORGAN | first U.S. modern-art museum
Renwick Gallery NATIONAL MALL | American crafts and decorative arts
Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) NATIONAL MALL | museum information and display
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum NATIONAL MALL | graphic memorial to WWII holocaust
PARKS, GARDENS, AND ZOOS
Dumbarton Oaks Museum and Gardens GEORGETOWN | mansion/museum and a beautiful garden
Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens SOUTHEAST | national park for water plants
National Zoological Park UPPER NORTHWEST | world-class zoo
U.S. Botanic Garden CAPITOL HILL | huge greenhouse and living museum
U.S. National Arboretum NORTHEAST | 446-acre collection of trees, flowers, herbs
THEATRES/PERFORMANCES
JFK Center for the Performing Arts FOGGY BOTTOM | stunning performing-arts center on the Potomac
Washington Attractions by Location
THE NATIONAL MALL/MEMORIALS
Arlington National Cemetery
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Corcoran Gallery of Art
DAR Museum
Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial (under construction)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Freer Gallery of Art
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Jefferson Memorial
Korean War Veterans Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
National Air and Space Museum
National Archives
National Gallery of Art
National Museum of African Art
National Museum of American History
National Museum of the American Indian
National Museum of Natural History
National World War II Memorial
Old Post Office Tower and Pavilion
Renwick Gallery
Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle)
U.S. Department of Treasury
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Washington Monument
The White House
NORTHEAST
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Franciscan Monastery and Gardens
U.S. National Arboretum
DUPONT CIRCLE/ADAMS MORGAN
Heurich House
House of the Temple
Islamic Center
Phillips Collection
Society of the Cincinnati Museum at Anderson House
Woodrow Wilson House
African American Civil War Memorial and Museum
Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens
National Zoological Park
President Lincoln’s Cottage
Washington National Cathedral
CAPITOL HILL
Folger Shakespeare Library
Library of Congress
National Postal Museum
Union Station
U.S. Botanic Garden
U.S. Capitol
U.S. Supreme Court
FOGGY BOTTOM
JFK Center for the Performing Arts
U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Reception Rooms
GEORGETOWN
Dumbarton House
Dumbarton Oaks Museum and Gardens
Kreeger Museum
Tudor Place
DOWNTOWN
Crime Museum
Ford’s Theatre/Petersen House
International Spy Museum
Koshland Science Museum
Madame Tussauds
National Building Museum
National Geographic Museum
National Museum of Women in the Arts
National Portrait Gallery–Smithsonian American Art Museum
Newseum
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens
VIRGINIA SUBURBS
Gunston Hall
Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens
Old Town Alexandria
Pentagon Memorial
MARYLAND SUBURBS
Glenstone
Goddard Space Flight Visitor Center
National Cryptologic Museum
National Museum of Health and Medicine
AS THE EAST HALF OF THE MALL IS TO MUSEUMS, so the west side is to monuments. Many of them are smallish and open-air, some classical, some modern, some abstract.
But there is a quite strong “generation gap” visible among them. While the older memorials tend to be valedictory and solemn—Washington’s Egyptian-Masonic monolith, Jefferson’s Roman Pantheon, and Lincoln’s impressive Athenian Parthenon—those erected in the late 20th century are somewhat grimmer and more realistic. The Korean War Veterans Memorial, with its platoon of dogged, almost antiheroic grunts, and the two sculptural appendages to the otherwise stark Vietnam Veterans Memorial, one honoring soldiers and the other the female medical and support troops who tended them, provoke an essentially different emotional response from visitors than do the great temples of the Founding Fathers. The Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Pentagon’s 9/11 memorials are large-scale meditation sites. (All of the above are profiled below.)
And there is more to come: The National Museum of African American History and Culture, under construction between the National Museum of American History and the Washington Monument, is scheduled to open in 2015. Congressional resolutions have repeatedly been approved (though not in both houses at the same time) for the construction of a National Women’s History Museum just across Independence Avenue from the Smithsonian Castle; although it exists only online so far, organizers hope to hire a woman architect—which would be a first for a Mall museum—and break ground in 2015. It was the NWHM that spearheaded the $85,000 campaign that led to the memorial to suffrage leaders Elizabeth Cady Stantion, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott being moved from the U.S. Capitol crypt to the Rotunda.
Not far from that, across Independence Avenue from the Air and Space Museum and with a view to the Capitol, will be the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial, a tribute to the war leader–turned–President (who, like FDR, did not really want a monument but got one anyway). The original Frank Gehry design, like the FDR and King memorials, combined meditation space with statuary and plaques bearing quotations from the 34th Chief Executive, and it would be the first of the outdoor memorials to incorporate wireless technology allowing enhanced visits with mobile downloads and interactive apps. However, it has been criticized by family members and some architects and urban planners, and construction has been delayed.
In addition, you should stop to examine these other memorials and monuments as you stroll from Washington to Lincoln, so to speak.
Notable for its restrained elegance, the District of Columbia War Memorial is an open-sided Doric temple with the names of D.C. residents killed in World War I engraved upon its outer walls. Above the circular colonnade is another inscription, subtle but striking in its irony: a reference to “the World War”—the one after which Americans believed there would be no other. President Herbert Hoover and General John Pershing both took part in the dedication ceremony in 1931, and the bandleader, John Phillip Sousa, played not only his own “Stars and Stripes Forever” but also “The Star-spangled Banner,” which had just been named the U.S. national anthem by an Act of Congress. As befits a monument to what was in some ways the last 19th-century war, the memorial is about halfway between the Lincoln and World War II memorials, on the south side of Constitution Gardens facing Independence Avenue.
Almost directly opposite, between 17th and 20th Streets just south of Constitution Avenue, is a pretty figure eight–shaped lake, at one side of which is a small island that houses the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial. The memorial itself is simply designed, with the final phrase of the Declaration, “We pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor,” engraved in the base and the 56 signatures reproduced in the granite blocks of a semicircle. Something of the signers’ varied personalities seems evident in their handwriting—the self-consciously elegant Thomas Jefferson, the expansive John Hancock, the plain John Adams, and the even plainer Samuel Adams. Dedicated to mark the bicentennial in 1976, the island is also a waterfowl refuge. It is so thoroughly overlooked, not only by tour companies but also by locals, that you might be able to relax in solitude beneath one of its weeping willows.
On the southeast edge of the Tidal Basin is the seated figure of the oft-underappreciated Founding Father George Mason; he rests, his cane leaning on the bench alongside, near the memorial to Thomas Jefferson, who borrowed so many ideas from Mason but wound up with most of the credit.
Across the Potomac River, partly in the District and partly in Virginia, are several armed-forces and war memorials. Though not within the Mall proper, they are certainly connected to it, and so we have included them here.
At the opposite end of the Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial, just outside the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery, is the little island comprising Lady Bird Johnson Park. Though not technically a memorial, it is a fittingly green tribute to the First Lady who turned her energies to the beautification of the capital. About a mile south of the Memorial Bridge along the George Washington Parkway is the Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove, which consists of a commemorative monolith and a grove of 500 white pines. (The stream between Lady Bird Johnson Park and the cemetery is Boundary Channel, which marks the border between D.C. and Virginia.)
The Pentagon Memorial (profiled), which opened to the public on September 11, 2008, the seventh anniversary of the hijackings, is accessible via the Pentagon Metro; those arriving by car must park in public lots at Pentagon City, about a half mile away, and walk to the site.
The U.S. Air Force Memorial, which opened in October 2006, is a triad of soaring (270-foot-tall) stainless-steel arcs that are illuminated at night and are visible from many of the approaches to Washington. The actual site includes an inscribed glass contemplation wall that represents those who have been killed in action, along with a curving wall that one follows up to the sculpture—at its foot there is a great view of the Washington Monument—and back down. This is also accessible to pedestrians via the Pentagon Metro Station (it’s about a half-mile walk); the auto or cab entrance is off Columbia Pike/Route 244.
The U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, popularly known as the Iwo Jima Memorial and the subject of Clint Eastwood’s 2006 motion picture, Flags of Our Fathers, is about a 20-minute walk from the Arlington Cemetery subway stop. The 32-foot-long sculpture, capped by a 60-foot-tall flagpole, was dedicated by President Eisenhower on Veterans Day, November 11, 1954. Alongside the memorial is the Netherlands Carillon, a gift from the Dutch people in gratitude for American aid during and after World War II. It plays recorded music—mostly armed-forces themes, marches, “The Star-spangled Banner,” and the like—hourly from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, with some longer concerts in the summer.
Location 1925 Vermont Ave. NW and 1000 U St. NW. Nearest Metro stations U Street–African American Civil War Memorial–Cardozo or Shaw. Contact 
202-667-2667; afroamcivilwar.org. Admission Free. Hours Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–6:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; Sunday, noon–4 p.m.; closed December 25 (museum); statue open 24 hours.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS Though it mostly focuses on the Civil War itself, the museum traces “The Glorious March to Liberty,” from the Civil War to the civil rights struggle, and is a combination of family stories, documents and newspapers, and artifacts. Though somewhat limited in size—the collection moved into this former school gymnasium in 2011 and is marked by an iron gate with images of black soldiers—it contains some gripping exhibits, such as slave shackles used to imprison abducted men and women in the lower decks of slave ships. Mannequins wear period uniforms; one wears a fancy lady’s dress made by a slave. Descendants of United States Colored Troops (USCT) are encouraged to fill out a descendants’ form to add to the 2,000 or so family trees (the form can be completed online).
The 10-foot-tall Spirit of Freedom memorial itself, a tribute to the USCT, 36,000 of whom died during the war, is directly across the street from the museum at U Street and 10th Street NW. A Wall of Honor lists more than 209,000 USCT who served in the Civil War.
TOURING TIPS There is no food available on site, but there is a small dining area outside, and the U Street neighborhood is one of the booming dining areas of the city.
IF YOU LIKE THIS See also the profiles of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, President Lincoln’s Cottage, and Cedar Hill, the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site. The new “Records of Rights” exhibit at the National Archives, profiled, showcases many black history documents going back to the Revolutionary War. The lunch counter from the Greensboro, North Carolina, F.W. Woolworth store, where four black college students launched the first sit-in on February 1, 1960, is on display at the American Museum of American History. Mt. Zion United Methodist Church and Heritage Center on 29th Street NW between Dumbarton and Q Streets in Georgetown was founded in 1816 and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad in the years before and during the Civil War; its cemetery is being reconstructed ( 202-234-0148). Also, Cultural Tourism DC has an African American Heritage Trail guide, which lists almost 100 sites of historical interest ($5; trails@culturaltourismdc.org).
Location Across the Potomac from Washington via Arlington Memorial Bridge, which crosses the river near the Lincoln Memorial. Nearest Metro station Arlington Cemetery. Contact 703-607-8000; arlingtoncemetery.mil. Admission Free. Hours April–September, daily, 8 a.m.–7 p.m.; October–March, daily, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS It’s not really accurate to call a visit to Arlington National Cemetery mere sightseeing; as Americans, our lives are too intimately attached to the 200,000 men and women buried here. They include the famous, the obscure, and the unknown: Presidents John F. Kennedy and William Howard Taft, General George C. Marshall and the father and son generals Benjamin O. Davis, war hero Audie Murphy, civil rights martyr Medgar Evers, boxing champ Joe Louis, baseball’s popularizer Abner Doubleday, and Supreme Court Justices Thurgood Marshall and Oliver Wendell Holmes among them. Among the iconic sites located in the cemetery’s 612 rolling acres are the Tomb of the Unknowns (guarded 24 hours a day; witness the changing of the guard every half hour from March through September and on the hour the rest of the year); memorials to the crew of the space shuttle Challenger; the Iran Rescue Mission Memorial; and Arlington House, built in 1802. With the ease of touring provided by Tourmobile, Arlington Cemetery should be on every first-time visitor’s list of things to see.
TOURING TIPS There is no food available on site. The narrated (mixed live and recorded) Martz Gray Line tour is informative and saves wear and tear on your feet—and at $8.75 for adults, $7.75 for seniors, and $4.50 for children under age 12, it’s a good deal for those with limited mobility; note that it is first come, first seated. The shuttle tours leave the visitor center about every 15–30 minutes, and you can get off at all the major sites and reboard at your leisure. But if you want to save a little money and tour the cemetery by foot, just take the subway to the Arlington Cemetery Metro station and walk the short distance to the visitor center or take the Mall Express Shuttle (anctours.com). The website has a downloadable map; you can also download a free iTunes guide called ANC Explorer and buy the cemetery-only ticket.
IF YOU LIKE THIS The 9/11 Pentagon Memorial and the Air Force Memorial are not far, but you’ll need to take another subway leg to the Pentagon station. The Iwo Jima Memorial and the Netherlands Carillon are about a 20-minute walk from Arlington House, Robert E. Lee’s onetime home (down Custis Walk and through Weitzel Gate). Also, consider visiting Congressional Cemetery, accessible from the Potomac or Stadium-Armory Metro stations; among its “residents” are J. Edgar Hoover, iconic Senate orators Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, legendary Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, march composer John Phillip Sousa, longtime (30 years) city hangman Robert “Colonel Bob” Strong, and Belle Youngs, who conducted the séances at the White House after the death of young Willie Lincoln.
Location On the Mall near the Castle. Nearest Metro stations Smithsonian or L’Enfant Plaza. Contact 202-633-1080 or 202-357-1729 (TDD); asia.si.edu. Admission Free. Hours Daily, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; closed December 25.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS This jewel box of a museum is dedicated to Asian art from antiquity to modern times. Descend through a granite-and-glass pavilion to view a collection of Asian (mostly Chinese) treasures, many of them made of gold and encrusted with jewels. The Sackler is full of exotic statuary, paintings, calligraphy, and textiles that will catch the eye of older children, teens, and adults; and it mounts special exhibitions and hosts plays, performances, and family events (depending on the special events, such as a shadow puppet show, the kids’ ratings would probably increase).
TOURING TIPS Stop at the information desk and ask about the free guided tours, generally offered midday. The gift shop is an exotic bazaar featuring paintings, textiles, ancient games, Zen–rock garden kits, and plenty of other Asian-influenced items. No food available on site.
IF YOU LIKE THIS The Sackler is connected with its twin, the Museum of African Art, belowground, so that’s the logical next stop—especially if it’s rainy or blazingly hot outside. Another underground corridor connects the Sackler to the Freer Gallery, making this complex an Asian art lover’s dream.
Location Fourth St. and Michigan Ave. NE, on the campus of the Catholic University of America. Nearest Metro station Brookland-CUA. Contact 202-526-8300; www.nationalshrine.com. Admission Free. Hours November 1–March 31, daily, 7 a.m.–6 p.m.; until 7 p.m. the rest of the year; closed Thanksgiving and December 25.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS Though not widely publicized, this is the largest Catholic church in the U.S. and one of the 10 largest religious structures in the world. A huge blue-and-gold onion dome lends Byzantine overtones to this massive cathedral, as does the wealth of colorful mosaics and stained glass throughout its interior. But its more formal style is not as generally accessible as the awe-inspiring Washington National Cathedral across town (see profile), and it’s huge, floored in hard marble, and requires a lot of walking.
TOURING TIPS Guided tours are conducted Monday–Saturday at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., and 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30 p.m.; but these tours stop in what seems to be every one of the 70 chapels. Instead, grab a map at the information desk on the ground (crypt) level and enter Memorial Hall, which is lined with chapels and houses the great organ. Then go upstairs to the Upper Church. There is a small cafeteria on the ground level.
IF YOU LIKE THIS The Franciscan Monastery is a brisk 20-minute walk away: continue past the Metro station on Michigan Avenue to Quincy Street, turn right, and walk about four blocks. The Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, an interactive museum open to all faiths, is also nearby; 202-635-5400 or jp2shrine.org.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing 
Location Raoul Wallenberg Pl. (15th St.) and C St. SW, just south of the Mall. Nearest Metro station Smithsonian. Contact 866-874-2330 or 202-874-2330; moneyfactory.gov. Admission Free. Hours Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. and (May–August only) 5–7 p.m.; closed on federal holidays and the week between December 25 and January 1.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS This is a 35- to 45-minute guided tour through the rather cramped glass-lined corridors that go over the government’s immense currency and stamp-printing plant. Visitors look down and gape at the printing presses that crank out the dough and at pallets of greenbacks in various stages of completion. The sign some wag hung on a press, however, says it all: “You have never been so close yet so far away.” Kids love this place, so it’s a tourist site families should plan on hitting, even if you’re only in town for a short period. However, small children may have trouble looking over the ledge and down into the press rooms below.
TOURING TIPS Arrive early—this is one of D.C.’s most popular attractions. In early spring and summer, get to the ticket booth before 8 a.m. to avoid disappointment. The ticket office, located on Raoul Wallenberg Place, distributes about 80 tickets for every tour, which start at 15-minute intervals between 9 and 10:45 a.m. and 12:30 and 2 p.m. You have about a 30-minute grace period if you’re running late. When all tickets are gone—which can be as early as 9—the ticket office closes. (No tickets are required September–February.) However, if you do miss out on tickets for the tour, you can still see the exhibits in the visitor center, which stays open late in summer. There is no food available on site. Check out the bags of shredded money for sale in the visitor center; they make a great souvenir (or wedding confetti).
A valid ID is required. No book bags, backpacks, or sharp objects are allowed. For a VIP guided tour, contact your congressperson’s office at least two months before your trip. Also be aware that when the Department of Homeland Security threat level is elevated to high, all general public tours are canceled.
IF YOU LIKE THIS You might want to look into the newly expanded National Postal Museum on Capitol Hill.
Location 17th and E Sts. NW, a half block west of the White House. Nearest Metro stations Farragut West or Farragut North. Contact 202-639-1700 or 888-corcoran; corcoran.org. Admission $10 adults; $8 seniors 62 and over, students, and military; free for visitors under 18. Hours Wednesday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Thursday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; closed Thanksgiving, December 25, and January 1. Note: At press time, the Corcoran was considering a merger with the National Gallery of Art.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS Frank Lloyd Wright called this Beaux Arts museum “the best designed building in Washington.” Inside are works by John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, and Winslow Homer, among others. There’s also an abundance of cutting-edge contemporary art. The Corcoran offers free tours daily, usually at lunchtime, and several on Saturday; check the online schedule or ask at the ticket desk.
TOURING TIPS Have lunch in the Muse café from local fave chef Todd Gray, who emphasizes seasonal local produce; there’s even a vegan option on Sundays, so everybody in the group can partake. Reservations are suggested; call 202-639-1786. Wednesday admission is half price after 5 p.m., and the gallery often offers free Saturday admission during the summer.
IF YOU LIKE THIS The fine and rarely crowded Renwick is only a 5- minute walk away and has one of the nicest museum shops in the city; however, note that it is closed for renovation through 2015.
Location 575 Seventh St. NW. Nearest Metro stations Gallery Place–Chinatown or Archives–Navy Memorial–Penn Quarter. Contact 202-625-5567; crimemuseum.org. Admission $22 adults; $16 military and law enforcement officers and seniors; $14 ages 5–11; ages 4 and under free. Note: Discounted tickets are available online. Hours Vary; check the website listed above for hours on the date of your visit.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS The style of this theatrical and sometimes garish attraction—part games, part collection of real and replica weapons and gangster memorabilia—was clearly inspired by the nearby International Spy Museum, and if you enjoy one, you’ll likely enjoy the other. All in all, the museum claims more than 100 interactivities. You can put your head into a pillory and have your photo (and fingerprints) taken, video-drive a cop car in pursuit of a perp, attempt to hack a computer system, and so on. Chamber of Horrors fans can peruse the medieval torture items, while CSI addicts can try to solve the murder from a crime scene. If you’re here for education, however, pay close attention to the exhibits; some are authentic and some are simply Hollywood hoopla, such as the touring car from the movie Bonnie and Clyde, not the gangsters themselves.
TOURING TIPS The gift shop is only marginal; the one at the International Spy Museum around the corner is better. The Crime Museum and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum offer a discounted ticket for combined admission that allows you to use them on two consecutive days. No food available on site.
Location 1776 D St. NW, across from the Ellipse. Nearest Metro stations Farragut West or Farragut North. Contact 202-628-1776; dar.org. Admission Free. Hours Monday–Friday, 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; closed on Sundays and federal holidays.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS This Beaux Arts building, completed in 1910, is a knockout. The huge columns that grace the front of the building are solid marble; a special railroad spur was built to transport them to the building site. The DAR Museum emphasizes the role of women throughout American history, mostly before 1840; and the 33 period rooms are a cornucopia of decorative arts and antiques, including furniture, ceramics, glass, paintings, silver, costumes, and textiles. From the interior of a California adobe parlor of 1850, to a replica of a 1775 bedchamber in Lexington, Massachusetts, to the kitchen of a 19th-century Oklahoma farm family, the period rooms display objects in a context of time and place. Expect to do a lot of stair climbing on the tour. (Wheelchair access requires advance arrangements with security; call 202-879-3220.)
Because so many items are authentic, the rooms are roped off, and only two or three visitors at a time can squeeze into doorways to peer inside. Kids will get a kick out of the four-sided mousetrap that guillotines rodents, the foot-controlled toaster, and the sausage stuffer that looks like an early-19th-century version of a NordicTrack machine. There is also a “touch area” on the third floor, where kids can play with authentic 18th- and 19th-century toys and objects, including miniature Chippendale tables and chairs, real powder horns, butter molds, candle snuffers, and flags.
TOURING TIPS Docent-led tours are available on the hour and half hour almost all day. Although the building faces the Ellipse, the museum entrance is half a block down D Street on the side of the building. The museum closes for a week in late June or early July for a national DAR convention. No food available on site.
IF YOU LIKE THIS You’ll have to make a reservation in advance ( 202-303-4233 or tours@redcross.org or), but decorative arts lovers should visit the national headquarters of the American Red Cross, next door to the DAR Museum on 17th Street. Though you can only visit Wednesdays and Fridays at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., it’s worth it. A grand staircase leads to the second-floor ballroom, which holds three 25-foot Tiffany stained glass Memorial Windows, reputed to be the largest suite of Tiffany panels still in their original location (except in churches). The three, which represent the organization’s three missions—Hope, Charity, and Love—were donated to the Red Cross by Union and Confederate nursing agencies, and their theme is ministry to the sick and wounded.
It also has a limited schedule, but the elegant Octagon House museum, which served the Madisons as a temporary Executive Mansion after the British burned the White House in 1814, is being restored to its 1800 period. It’s a short walk from the DAR Museum and Red Cross headquarters at 18th Street NW and New York Avenue; open Thursdays and Fridays 1–4 p.m., or at other times by prior reservation ( 202-626-7439 or octagonmuseum@aia.org).
Location 2715 Q St. NW. Nearest Metro station Dupont Circle. Contact 202-337-2288; dumbartonhouse.org. Admission $5; students with ID free. Hours Tours Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m., noon, and 1 p.m.; closed on federal holidays.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS This turn-of-the-19th-century Georgetown mansion is not only a particularly fine example of early Federal architecture, but it also originally had an unimpeded view of the President’s House (as the White House was then known) and of its burning by British forces in 1814. It belonged to a high-level Cabinet member, and First Lady Dolley Madison, having rescued Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington and other papers, stopped here to await word from her husband before evacuating across the Potomac to Virginia. Among exhibits are one of only five known copies of the first printing of the 1777 Articles of Confederation, a 100-piece dining set belonging to Martha Washington’s granddaughter Eliza, a George III sofa and chairs believed to have come from the Monroe White House, two Charles Willson Peale paintings, and an extraordinary gentleman’s washstand with shaving mirror, bowl, bidet, and hidden chamber pot. The walk from the Dupont Circle Metro is about a mile, but it’s a lovely neighborhood to explore.
TOURING TIPS Group tours of 10 or more by reservation only. The house opens 15 minutes before each tour, but there is a smallish formal garden behind and alongside the museum. Strollers are not allowed, and staff recommends kids be at least age 6 for the tour. There is an elevator for wheelchair access. No food available on site. Nearby Oak Hill Cemetery at 30th and R Streets boasts a gothic revival chapel designed by James Renwick and fabulous 19th-century funeral sculptures.
IF YOU LIKE THIS An even finer mansion with more elaborate gardens and exhibits is Tudor Place, about four blocks away (profiled). See also Dumbarton Oaks Museum and Gardens (next profile), which, though of a different era, is nearby and has a lovely garden.
Location 1703 32nd St. NW, between R and S Sts. Nearest Metro station Dupont Circle. Contact 202-339-6400; doaks.org. Admission March 15–October: museum, free; gardens, $8 adults, $5 seniors and children. Free admission November–mid-March. Hours November–March 14, Tuesday–Sunday, 2–5 p.m. (gardens open weather permitting); open until 6 p.m. March 15–October. Both the museum and gardens are closed on federal holidays.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS Though many people associate Dumbarton Oaks with the conference held here in 1944 that led to the formation of the United Nations, it’s also a major research center for Byzantine and pre-Columbian studies owned by Harvard University. The Byzantine collection is one of the world’s finest, featuring bronzes, ivories, and jewelry. The exquisite pre-Columbian art collection is housed in eight interconnected, circular glass pavilions lit by natural light. It’s a knockout of a museum. The terraced 10-acre garden is rated one of the top gardens in the United States. It features an orangery, a rose garden with more than 100 roses, wisteria-covered arbors, and, in the fall, a blazing backdrop of trees turning orange, yellow, and red—not to mention elaborate ironwork, a swimming pool, an amphitheater, and a tennis court (now a pebble garden).
TOURING TIPS The entrance to the museum and Music Room are on 32nd Street NW between R and S Streets; the gardens entrance is around the corner on R Street. Half-hour guided tours of the exhibitions are offered Tuesday–Thursday at 3 p.m.; tours of the main house are offered most Saturdays at 3 p.m., with a limit of 15 persons. Brief garden tours are offered seasonally Tuesday–Saturday at 2:10 p.m. There is no food available on site, and picnics are not allowed. Though the Dupont Circle Metro station is about a mile away, and the Foggy Bottom–GWU station more like 1.5 miles, you’ll appreciate both the architecture and the sights along the way.
IF YOU LIKE THIS Nearby Oak Hill Cemetery at 30th and R Streets boasts a Gothic Revival chapel designed by James Renwick and fabulous 19th-century funeral sculptures. If it’s the mansion that grabs you, see the profile of the Heurich House Museum.
Folger Shakespeare Library 
Location 201 East Capitol St. SE. Nearest Metro stations Capitol South or Union Station. Contact 202-544-4600; folger.edu. Admission Free. Hours Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday, noon–5 p.m. The Reading Room is open Monday–Friday, 8:45 a.m.–4:45 p.m., and Saturdays 9 a.m.–noon and 1–4:30 p.m. Garden is open Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Closed federal holidays.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS The Folger Shakespeare Library is the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, as well as a vast array of other rare Renaissance books and manuscripts—one of its treasures, a copy of the First Folio, published in 1616, is on permanent display at the east end, open to the title page. (The Folger owns 79 copies of the First Folio, about a third of those in existence.) Be sure to look up at the nine bas-relief carvings across the front facade, all depicting scenes from Shakespeare plays. Stroll the Great Hall featuring hand-carved, oak-paneled walls and priceless displays from the museum’s collection. You may also visit the three-tiered Elizabethan Theatre, with walls of timber and plaster and carved oak columns, where three full productions are mounted each season, along with concerts, lectures, and readings. The Bard’s birthday is celebrated with a popular open house with performances, kids’ activities, and stage combat workshops each year on the Saturday closest to April 23.
TOURING TIPS Free guided tours of the building and exhibits are conducted Monday–Friday at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and Sundays at 1 p.m. Reading room tours are only Saturdays at noon, with a limit of 15 people. Tours of the garden, featuring herbs and flowers grown in Shakespeare’s time, are held April through October at 10 and 11 a.m. the first and third Saturday of the month. At the west end of the building, a statue of Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream genially presides over a fountain and pool while grinning toward the U.S. Capitol: The inscription reads, “Lord, what fools these mortals be”—an increasingly popular opinion.
IF YOU LIKE THIS The Library of Congress (profiled) and its equally impressive collection of manuscripts is across the street.
Location 511 Tenth St. NW. Nearest Metro stations Metro Center or Federal Triangle. Contact 202-426-6924; fords.org. Admission Free, but only limited numbers of same-day tickets at the box office, and only six per pick-up; advance tickets $2.50 (ticketmaster.com or 800-397-SEAT). Hours Daily, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (last entrance at 4); Peterson House open 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. (last entrance at 5); both closed December 25.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS After a thorough renovation, the reopened (2009) site has become a showcase of programs, performances, and an expanded collection of Lincolniana. Once a Baptist church, and later an unlucky federal office building (it burned twice), it now boasts new air-conditioning, accessible restrooms, a gift shop, concessions, up-to-date audio and video, and, at long last, elevators. The display includes the size 14 boots and the blood-spattered overcoat Lincoln was wearing when he was assassinated on April 4, 1865 (ironically, it was Good Friday), the derringer that John Wilkes Booth used to kill him, the boot Dr. Samuel Mudd cut off his broken leg, and other memorabilia.
Petersen House, across the street, where the dying president was carried, has more exhibits, such as the bedroom in which he died. The adjoining building is being turned into additional exhibition space.
TOURING TIPS If you’re sensitive, keep an eye on Lincoln’s black-draped box; many people report seeing his ghost. (Not only his, in fact; in 1893, the interior of the building, which was then being used by the government for storage and office space, collapsed, killing scores of clerks.) Occasionally, a park ranger or a costumed actor gives a tour; check the website. No food available on site. If a matinee or play rehearsal is scheduled, the theater (but not the museum) will be closed to visitors.
IF YOU LIKE THIS You should visit not only the Lincoln Memorial (profiled) but also President Lincoln’s Cottage (profiled). There are life masks, casts of his hands, and photographic portraits of Lincoln on display at the National Portrait Gallery; there is also a statue of Lincoln as the Great Emancipator called the Freedmen’s Memorial in Lincoln Park, centered on East Capitol Street and 12th Street NE. There is even (at press time) an exhibit on Lincoln’s last hours and autopsy at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring (profiled).
Location 1400 Quincy St. NE. Nearest Metro station Brookland-CUA. Contact 202-526-6800; myfranciscan.org. Admission Free. Hours Monastery: Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Guided tours daily at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3 p.m. Gardens: Daily, 9 a.m.–4:45 p.m.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS The Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, a fabulous building in the shape of the Crusader Cross of Jerusalem, was built around 1900 in the Byzantine style of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. A working monastery—you can confess, celebrate the Mass, cater a wedding, or even book a retreat here—it has lovely contemplative gardens dotted with replicas of shrines and chapels found in the Holy Land. What’s really unusual is the crypt beneath the church, which is a replica of the catacombs under Rome and is positively—if inauthentically—ghoulish. As you pass open (faux) gravesites in the walls, the guide narrates hair-raising stories of Christian martyrs eaten by lions, speared, stoned to death, beheaded, and burned at the stake. (Kids love this.)
TOURING TIPS The tour involves negotiating many narrow, steep stairs and low, dark passageways, but a limited number of wheelchairs are available for touring the church and upper grounds. If you’re driving, parking lots are located across from the monastery on 14th Street; however, the walk from the Metro is only about 10 minutes. In warm weather, there are often guided garden tours. Note that this is a working monastery, so be careful not to interrupt religious services. No concessions on site.
IF YOU LIKE THIS The lovely Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (profiled) is nearby, as is the small Pope John Paul II Cultural Center ( 202-635-5400 or jp2shrine.org).
Location West Potomac Park, between the Tidal Basin and the Potomac River. Nearest Metro stations Smithsonian, Foggy Bottom–GWU, or Arlington Cemetery (across Memorial Bridge in Virginia). Contact 202-426-6841; nps.gov/fdrm. Admission Free. Hours Open 24 hours; staffed daily, 9:30 a.m.–11:30 p.m., except on December 25.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS Unlike the nearby imposing marble edifices to Lincoln and Jefferson, the $52 million, 7.5-acre, open-air memorial to the 32nd president on the Tidal Basin tells a story: Four open-air, interconnected “rooms” (“tableaus” might be a better word) represent each of Roosevelt’s four terms. His words are carved on granite walls, bronze images depict the alphabet-soup of programs and agencies he created to help millions of Americans devastated by the Depression, and statues depict the average citizens whose lives he touched. One shows a man listening intently to a radio, evoking the days before television—and a time when FDR’s strong and vibrant voice gave hope to Americans in his fireside chats.
Roosevelt himself is represented in the third room in a larger-than-life bronze statue. The president is seated, his body wrapped in a cape, his face lined with weariness as he approaches the final year of his life. His Scottish terrier Fala is at his feet. The fourth room features a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt, widely regarded as America’s greatest first lady for her service as a delegate to the United Nations and as a champion for human rights.
This is not a “hands-off” memorial: The slightly-larger-than-life figures of FDR and Mrs. Roosevelt, as well as statues of five men in an urban bread line and a rural couple outside a barn door, are placed at ground level. Visitors can easily drape an arm around the first lady, sit in Franklin’s lap as he delivers a fireside chat, or join the men in line for a souvenir snapshot. The memorial’s many waterfalls (FDR considered himself a Navy man) attract splashers with stepping stones, while kids enjoy climbing on giant, toppled granite blocks inscribed with the words “I hate war.”
TOURING TIPS While you can enter the memorial from either end, try to start your tour at the official entrance (the one on the Lincoln Memorial side) so you can stroll through the outside rooms in chronological order. Restrooms are located at both entrances. No food available on site (except during Cherry Blossom Festival, when there are tents around the other side of the Tidal Basin), but the memorial is a nice spot for a picnic by the water, so you might want to bring a lunch. Unhappily, those old enough to have voted for FDR and disabled people may find it difficult to visit the memorial; nearby parking is scarce (see the website for details), and the walk from the nearest Metro stations is about a mile.
IF YOU LIKE THIS The Korean War Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and World War II Memorial (all profiled below) are nearby.
Location 1411 W St. SE, in Anacostia. Nearest Metro station Anacostia. Contact 202-426-5961 or 800-365-2267; nps.gov/frdo. Admission $1.50 per person; school groups $5. Hours October 16–April 15, daily, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; April 16–October 15, daily, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Tours are hourly, except noon. Closed Thanksgiving, December 25, and January 1.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS Cedar Hill, the preserved Victorian home of abolitionist, statesman, and orator Frederick Douglass, sits on a hill overlooking Washington and is preserved as it was when Douglass died in 1895; more than 70% of the items in the house are original. (Look for Douglass’s barbells on the floor next to his bed.) The former slave—who, among other achievements, became U.S. ambassador to Haiti—spent the final 18 years of his life in this house. Douglass lived here when he wrote the third volume of his autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. For people interested in the history of the civil rights movement and genteel life in the late 1800s, Cedar Hill is a find. National Park Service guides provide a detailed commentary on Douglass’s life and times.
A late-afternoon visit is almost like stepping back into the 19th century because there’s no electricity, and the gathering shadows in the house evoke the past. Be sure to see “The Growlery,” a small, one-room structure behind the main house that Douglass declared off-limits to the household so he could work alone. Also look for the c. 1890 lithograph of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment (“Glory”) storming Fort Wagner near Charleston, South Carolina, in 1863; two of Douglass’s sons were in the regiment.
TOURING TIPS From the Anacostia Metro station, take the B2 bus toward Mt. Ranier. No food available on site.
IF YOU LIKE THIS Although it has not yet opened, the National Museum of African American History and Culture temporarily mounts exhibits in a gallery at the National Museum of American History. The Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, which has temporary exhibitions on black culture or the achievements of African Americans, is a short drive or cab ride away at 1901 Fort Place SE; you might want to arrange transportation in advance ( 202-633-4870 or anacostia.si.edu).
12th St. SW and Independence Ave., on the Mall. Nearest Metro station Smithsonian. Contact 202-633-1000 or 202-357-1729 (TDD); asia.si.edu. Admission Free. Hours Daily, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; closed December 25. Free guided tours daily (except Wednesday) at 11 a.m. Note: The Freer is scheduled to be closed throughout 2016 for an overhaul of its heating, ventilation, and humidification systems.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS Well-proportioned spaces, galleries illuminated by natural light, and quiet serenity are the hallmarks of this elegant landmark on the Mall, with its unusual blend of American paintings (including the world’s most important collection of works by James McNeill Whistler) and Asian paintings, sculpture, porcelains, scrolls, and richly embellished household items.
Don’t miss the Peacock Room, designed by James McNeill Whistler; a local favorite, it’s widely considered to be the most important 19th-century interior in an American museum. Originally the dining room of a Liverpool shipping magnate (who reportedly detested it), the ornate room was painted by Whistler in blue and gold “feathers” to house a collection of blue and white Chinese porcelains. Freer, a wealthy 19th-century industrialist who bequeathed this collection to the Smithsonian, bought the entire room in 1904 and had it moved to his Detroit mansion; it was installed in the Freer Gallery after his death. However, Freer, who preferred more subtle ceramics and believed that “all works of art go together,” had filled the elaborate shelves with pots from Korea, Egypt, Japan, and Iran, as well as China. Following a restoration that removed decades of dirt and grime, the room has been restored to its original splendor, and the shelves have been reorganized, thanks to photographs taken in 1908, to Freer’s liking. The room is only open to the sunlight once a month, on the third Thursday from noon to 5:30 p.m., but if you can make it then, do so.
TOURING TIPS An underground link to the nearby Sackler Gallery creates a public exhibition space, as well as convenient passage between the two museums. Free walk-in tours of the Freer are offered almost every day, generally around midday; check the website or stop at the reception desk (these are not recommended for K–12 students).
IF YOU LIKE THIS See the profile of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery; the two are often referred to as if they were a single entity.
Location 12002 Glen Rd., Potomac, MD, 30–45 minutes from Washington. No Metro access. Contact 301-983-5001; glenstone.org. Admission Free. Hours Hourly appointments available Wednesday–Friday and select Saturdays, 10 a.m–4 p.m. Special comments No children under 12 allowed.
DIRECTIONS AND COMMENTS Although it will require advance planning and a car, Glenstone is a five-star destination, though not for everyone. This very personal museum, which opened to the public in 2006, began as the personal collection (or passion) of Mitchell and Emily Wei Rales, widely regarded as one of the world’s premier modern art collections. It includes not only paintings and sculpture but also multimedia installations and photographs. This is a very specific attraction, with limited hours by appointment only and restricted numbers of visitors (only 15 per hour), but within those parameters, it is a major art museum for those interested in post–World War II art, including Calder, Matisse, Warhol, Beuys, Baldessari, Hesse, Rauschenberg, Pollock, Twombly, Jasper Johns, and Cindy Sherman, to name a very few. The collection is perfectly complemented by the brilliant and site-specific Charles Gwathmey building, a severe but elegant stone and zinc building with huge window walls and views of a pond. The landscape, too, was carefully designed to showcase pieces by Richard Senna and Ellsworth Kelly; the newest acquisition is a monumental Jeff Koons “living sculpture,” a half-horse, half-dinosaur skeleton that supports some 27,000 live flowering plants. A 170,000-square-foot expansion of the exhibition space is already under construction, which will more than quadruple the existing space. The expansion will also include a sustainable meadow, lily pond, and library; it is scheduled to open in 2016.
TOURING TIPS Leave plenty of time; driving out to Glenstone will take you along some heavily traveled routes, adding on time. You should plan to arrive 15 minutes early; tours leave promptly on the hour. There is no seating in the gallery; however, the gallery can provide wheelchairs with advance notice. There is no food available on site as yet, but the new construction will include a café.
IF YOU LIKE THIS See the profiles of the Hirshhorn Museum and Kreeger Museum.
Location 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD, about 30 miles from Washington. No Metro access. Contact 301-286-8981; nasa.gov/goddard. Admission Free. Hours July–August: Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 12–4 p.m. September–June: Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 12–4 p.m.; closed December 25 and January 1.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS NASA’s 1,100-acre facility in suburban Maryland includes a small museum inside the visitor center that’s loaded with space hardware, a space capsule kids can play in, space suits, and real satellites, plus dozens of short animated videos on space exploration, climate tracking, the James Webb Space Telescope, and more. It’s a mini–National Air and Space Museum. The most fun might be outside, where real rockets and jets used to put the hardware into outer space are on display. There is also a sycamore tree grown from a seed that went to space in 1971 aboard Apollo 14.
TOURING TIPS The small gift shop offers interesting NASA-related items, such as postcards, 35mm color slides, posters, and publications.
IF YOU LIKE THIS As this requires a car, it may be only for those with a real hankering for space travel: In that case, you’ll be happy at the National Air and Space Museum (profiled). The U.S. Naval Observatory at the Vice President’s residence on Massachusetts Avenue NW offers tours only on selected Monday evenings, but if you’re a fan, go to www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/tours-events to make a reservation.
Location 10709 Gunston Rd., Mason Neck, VA (just off I-95 and Route 1), about 20 minutes south of Washington. No Metro access. Contact 703-550-9220; gunstonhall.org. Admission $10 adults, $5 ages 6–18, $8 seniors 60+; grounds-only passes, $5. Hours Daily, 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m., except Thanksgiving, December 25, and January 1; 45-minute guided house tours every half hour, with last tour at 4:30 p.m. Grounds close at 6 p.m.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS This is the home of George Mason, a fascinating character whose role, like those of several other early activists, has only in recent years been fully appreciated. He was highly influential in the years leading up to the American Revolution: He cowrote, with George Washington, the protest instruments later known as the Virginia Association and the Fairfax County Resolutions, and many of the provisions he constructed for the Virginia Declaration of Rights were adopted by Thomas Jefferson for the Declaration of Independence, including these: “that all men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural Rights … among which are the Enjoyment of Life and Liberty, with the Means of acquiring and possessing Property, and pursuing and obtaining Happiness and Safety.” After the revolution, however, as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, Mason came to feel that the Constitution as drafted was deeply flawed. He urged the inclusion of a Bill of Rights, opposed the extension of slave importation, and disagreed on various fine points (such as majority versus two-thirds votes). Ultimately, despite the resulting vilification, he was unable to bring himself to put aside his principles and sign.
The complex includes Mason’s house, a first-class example of Georgian Colonial architecture constructed 1755–1760 with a view of the Potomac River and replete with elaborate interior carvings and then-trendy British architectural fashions, such as Gothic and Rococo; gardens and grounds where archaeological programs are uncovering slave quarters, fences, and other elements; outbuildings (some replica) such as a kitchen, dairy, laundry, and smokehouse; and a variety of farm animals. (It’s the animals, and the occasional chance to “dig in” to the older ruins, that really get kids involved.) The museum shop has a nice collection of handblown glass, hand-turned wooden accessories from the plantation’s 200-year-old boxwoods, scented soaps, silver and jewelry, and books.
TOURING TIPS No food available on site. Although the first floor of the mansion is accessible by a wheelchair lift, reaching the second floor requires taking the stairs. Most of the grounds are relatively flat. If you buy the grounds-only pass, you can use it for a $5 discount ticket to the mansion another day.
IF YOU LIKE THIS Mount Vernon (profiled) is only about 12 miles away, with Woodlawn Plantation and Pope-Leighey House (see the section on “Virginia Suburbs” at the end of this chapter) only a few miles farther, so history buffs could make a day of it.
Location 1307 New Hampshire Ave. NW at 20th St. and Sunderland Place, one block south of Dupont Circle. Nearest Metro station Dupont Circle. Contact 202-429-1894; heurichhouse.org. Admission $5. Hours Open for tours by reservation Thursday–Saturday; closed January and federal holidays. Special comments No children under 10 allowed.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS This might be the most impressive exterior in town, with the possible exception of the nearby Indonesian Embassy (which was the home of Evalyn Walsh McLean, after all). A true Victorian castle, with turret, balconies, and all, it was also absolutely state of the art when it was constructed in the early 1890s for local beer baron Christian Heurich: full indoor plumbing, central vacuum, hot-water heating, an elevator, combination gas (for atmosphere) and electric lights, a skylight that aided in air-conditioning, even an early intercom system. Most of the decorations and furnishings are original, including the elegant hand-carved mantels over the marble fireplaces (and bronze firebacks), carved balconies, lamps that look as if they could have come from the Paris Metro, painted ceiling panels, toys, gilded mirrors, rugs, chandeliers, inlaid floors…. In fact, aside from the limited availability of tours, this is a five-star attraction.
TOURING TIPS The guided tours start at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and at 11:30 a.m. and 1 and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Like some other private museums, it will arrange tours for groups of 10 or more, so if you happen to be attending an architecture convention, consider that.
IF YOU LIKE THIS See the profiles of Hillwood Estate Museum and Gardens (below) and the nearby Woodrow Wilson House.
Location 4155 Linnean Ave. NW. Nearest Metro station Van Ness–UDC (20-minute walk). Contact 202-686-8500 or 877-hillwood; 202-686-5807 for reservations; hillwoodmuseum.org. Admission Suggested donations of $15 adults, $12 seniors 65+, $5 children 6–18, and $10 college students; children under 6 admitted free. Hours Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; open select Sundays 1–5 p.m.; closed most of January and most federal holidays.
DESCRIPTION AND COMMENTS She was a girl from Michigan who inherited two things from her father: good taste and General Foods. That, in a nutshell, is the story of Marjorie Merriweather Post, who bought this 25-acre Rock Creek Park estate in 1955. She remodeled the mansion and filled it with exquisite 18th- and 19th-century French and Russian decorative art. Fabulous is the word required to describe the collection of Imperial Russian objects on display. Raisa Gorbachov, then wife of the Russian premier, is said to have wept with joy when she saw Catherine the Great’s huge 1791 gold chalice. Mrs. Post was married to the U.S. ambassador to Russia in the 1930s—a time when the Communists were unloading decadent pre-Revolution art at bargain prices. Mrs. Post bought literally warehouse loads of stuff: jewels, dinner plates commissioned by Catherine the Great, Easter eggs by Carl Fabergé, and chalices and icons. She then had the loot loaded onto her yacht, Sea Cloud (then the largest private ship in the world), for shipment home. The very best of the booty is on display here. The formal gardens cover 13 acres, and one of the special treats is the dacha, which Post used for her own collection of 18th- and 19th-century Russian decorative arts but now houses traveling exhibits and special programs.
TOURING TIPS Seasonal docent-led garden tours, generally April–July, are available Tuesday–Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The estate also has a café that serves lunch (sometimes with a special menu inspired by the current exhibition) and tea 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m., a gift shop, and a greenhouse you can tour. Most of the complex is accessible, and a few wheelchairs are available at the visitor center.
IF YOU LIKE THIS See the profiles of Dumbarton Oaks Museum and Gardens and the Society of the Cincinnati Museum at Anderson House.
