Lonely Planet - Washington DC Travel Guide

The USAs capital teems with iconic monuments, vast museums and the corridors of power where visionaries and demagogues roam.

Thanks, James Smithson, you eccentric antimonarchist Englishman. That $508,318 gift you willed to the USA back in 1826 to create a diffusion of knowledge paid off big time. Theres nothing quite like the Smithsonian Institution, a collection of 19 behemoth, artifact-stuffed museums, many lined up in a row along the Mall. The National Air and Space Museum, Museum of Natural History, Museum of American History, Museums of Asian Art all here, all free, always.

Alongside the museums, Washingtons monuments bear tribute to both the beauty and the horror of years past. Theyre potent symbols of the American narrative, from the awe-inspiring Lincoln Memorial to the powerful Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the controversial Martin Luther King Jr Memorial.

Washington is the showcase of American arts, home to such prestigious venues as the National Theatre, the Kennedy Center and the Folger Shakespeare Theatre. Jazz music has a storied history here. In the early 20th century, locals such as Duke Ellington climbed on stages along U St NW, where atmospheric clubs still operate.

The president, Congress and the Supreme Court are here, the three pillars of US government. In their orbit float the Pentagon, State Department, World Bank and embassies from most corners of the globe. If you hadnt got the idea, power is why Washington exerts such a palpable buzz.

As a visitor, theres a thrill in seeing the action up close to walk inside the White House, to sit in the Capitol chamber while senators argue about Arctic drilling, and to drink in a bar alongside congresspeople likely determining your newest tax hike over their single-malt Scotch.

A lot of history is concentrated within DCs relatively small confines. In a single day, you could gawp at the Declaration of Independence, the real, live parchment with John Hancocks, er, John Hancock scrawled across it at the National Archives; stand where Martin Luther King Jr gave his I Have a Dream speech on the Lincoln Memorials steps; prowl around the Watergate building that got Nixon into trouble; see the flag that inspired the Star Spangled Banner at the National Museum of American History; and be an arms length from where Lincoln was assassinated in Fords Theatre.

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Why I Love Washington, DC

By Karla Zimmerman, Author

It begins with the Mall. How cool is it to have a walkable strip of museums where you can see nuclear missiles, cursed diamonds and exquisite Asian ceramics in a peacock-themed room for free ? Further down the path the notes and photos people leave at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial will break your heart, and the Lincoln Memorial just kills with its grandness and sweeping view. H St wins my affection for its pie-and-beer mix. Most of all, I love how Bens Chili Bowl makes you feel like a local even if youre not.

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Washington, DCs Top 10

Lincoln Memorial ( )

Theres something extraordinary about climbing the steps of Abe Lincolns Doric-columned temple, staring into his dignified eyes, and reading about the new birth of freedom in the Gettysburg Address chiseled beside him. Then to stand where Martin Luther King Jr gave his Dream speech and take in the sweeping view its a defining DC moment. At dawn, nowhere in the city is as serene and lovely, which is why the Lincoln Memorial is a popular place for proposals.

National Mall

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Washington Monument ( )

Tall, phallic and imbued with shadowy Masonic lore, the 555ft obelisk is DCs tallest structure. Workers set the pyramid on top in 1884 after stacking up some 36,000 blocks of granite and marble over the preceding 36 years. A 70-second elevator ride whisks you to the observation deck at the top for what are usually the citys best views. The monument closed for repairs in 2011 after an earthquake, but its scheduled to reopen (hopefully) in 2013.

National Mall

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Vietnam Veterans Memorial ( )

The opposite of DCs white, gleaming marble, the black, low-lying Vietnam memorial cuts into the earth, just as the Vietnam War cut into the national psyche. The monument shows the names of the wars 58,267 casualties listed in the order they died along a dark, reflective wall. Its a subtle but remarkably profound monument, where visitors leave poignant mementos, such as photos of babies and notes (I wish you could have met him, Dad).

National Mall