Washington D.C. Highlights

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To avoid doubling back, you might want to plan your sightseeing tour from west to east, beginning at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Rock Creek Pkwy. and N.H. Ave. N.W. +1 202 416 8340. Tours 10 a.m.-1 p.m.). From there, head east to the Lincoln Memorial (23rd St. between Constitution and Independence Aves. N.W. +1 202 426 6841), with its Daniel Chester French statue of the seated Lincoln; and the nearby Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Constitution Ave.). Walk along the Potomac River, past the Japanese cherry trees, to the neoclassical rotunda of the Jefferson Memorial on the south side of the Tidal Basin. CONTINUED

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The Lincoln Memorial (front), the Washington Monument, and the U.S. Capitol are D.C. landmarks.

Photograph © Richard T. Nowitz/Corbis

The Washington Monument (Constitution Ave. at 15th St. N.W. +1 202 426 6839), a gleaming, 555-foot [162.2-meter] obelisk with an elevator to the top, is nearby, as is the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl. S.W. +1 202 488 0400. Free tickets required), the city’s newest museum and America’s only national memorial to the Holocaust. Walk north to the White House (1600 Pennsylvania Ave. +1 202 456 7041. Tours all year Tues.-Sat, but free tickets required mid-March–mid-Sept. Tours enter at East Gate.), official residence of every President except Washington. Five of the 132 rooms, including the state dining room, are open to the public.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum features permanent and temporary exhibitions, a library and resource center, and more.

Photograph © James P. Blair/Corbis

The Mall begins at 14th Street. A 145-acre [58.7-hectare] park with lawns, a reflecting pool, and tree-lined walkways, it extends to the U.S. Capitol. Along the way is the Smithsonian Institution (+1 202 357 2700), the world’s largest museum and research complex. Nine of the Smithsonian museums are here. The Castle (1000 Jefferson Dr. S.W.) was the first of the museums, and today it houses the Information Center. Among the museums on the Mall are the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of African Art, the National Air and Space Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the National Museum of Natural History.

Lights from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are reflected on the Potomac River.

Photograph © Bob Rowan/Corbis

The immense National Gallery of Art (Constitution Ave. and 7th St. N.W. +1 202 842 6188) is also on the Mall. It has one of the world’s greatest collections of Old Masters and superb moderns, as well as the single surviving set of portraits by Gilbert Stuart of the first five U.S. Presidents. The Declaration of Independance, Constitution, and Bill of Rights are preserved at the National Archives (Constitution Ave. at 8th St. N.W. +1 202 501 5000). On the way to Capitol Hill, make a short detour to the restored, redbrick Ford’s Theatre and Lincoln Museum (511 10th St. N.W. +1 202 426 6924), where Lincoln was shot on April 14, 1865. The pistol Booth used and Lincoln’s theater clothes are among the items on display.

The world’s largest collection of books—plus recordings, maps, and other artifacts—are housed at the Library of Congress, founded in 1800.

Photograph © James P. Blair/Corbis

Pierre L’Enfant chose Capitol Hill as the site for the nation’s Capitol (+1 202 225 6827. Tours leave daily from East Steps). The original building was burned by the British during the War of 1812. Charles Bulfinch and other architects contributed to the building you see today. Free tours are given daily from the Rotunda area. The Supreme Court (1st St. and Maryland N.E. +1 202 479 3211. Lectures July-Sept. Mon.-Fri.) is in session October through June. Next door stands the immense Library of Congress (1st and E. Capitol Sts. +1 202 707 5458. Tours Mon.-Fri.), repository of millions of books, photographs, genealogical research materials, and presidential papers.

The Jefferson Memorial, built between 1938 and 1943 to honor the former U.S. president, overlooks the Tidal Basin and its ring of Japanese cherry trees.

Photograph © Craig Aurness/Corbis

Of interest beyond the Mall: the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (1411 W. St. S.E. +1 202 426 5961), which preserved the 1850s house of the black orator, educator, and human rights activist; the National Zooological Park (3001 Connecticut Ave. N.W. +1 202 673 4717), with some 3,000 animals; and the National Geographic Society’s Explorers Hall (1145 17th St. N.W. +1 202 857 7588), with changing, often interactive, exhibits. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (+1 301 739 4200), which parallels the Potomac River for 185 miles [297.7 kilometers] from Washington’s Georgetown section to Cumberland, Maryland, attracts hikers, bicyclists, and canoeists. Canal boats (+1 202 472 4376 or +1 301 299 2026. April-Nov. Wed.-Sun; Fare charge) staffed by costumed mule skinners leave from Georgetown and from Great Falls, Maryland.