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Travel guide
Washington, D.C.
5 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: April to May and September to October
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Welcome
Washington, D.C., in a few days
The federal capital unrolls, over 3 km of lawns between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, the monuments and museums of a nation that saw itself as a Greek temple, and most of those museums, led by the Smithsonian's, are free. Around them, neighbourhoods of brick houses, Georgetown, Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle, are a reminder that Washington is also a city where people live, on the banks of the Potomac.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 1 thing
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- D5 Day 5 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · National Mall and Lincoln Memorial free · half a dayA 3 km axis of lawns from the Capitol to the Potomac, lined with Smithsonian museums and memorials, ending at the Doric temple of the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King gave his 1963 speech.
- Late afternoon · Washington Monument free · about 1 hA 169-metre marble obelisk completed in 1884, whose change in stone colour marks the Civil War pause, with a lift to a 152-metre observation deck overlooking L'Enfant's city plan.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Courtyard by Marriott Washington, DC Dupont Circle ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€170 a night
D2
Day 2
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Afternoon · National Museum of African American History and Culture free · half a dayOpened in 2016 under a bronze lattice crown by David Adjaye, with history galleries rising from the slave trade three levels underground to civil rights and present-day America.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Courtyard by Marriott Washington, DC Dupont Circle ↗€170 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · National Gallery of Art free · half a dayTwo free buildings linked by a tunnel, the neoclassical West Building with the only Leonardo da Vinci painting in the Americas and several Vermeers, and I. M. Pei's triangular East Building.
- Late afternoon · National Air and Space Museum free · 2 to 3 hThe Smithsonian's museum of flight on the Mall, with the 1903 Wright Flyer, Amelia Earhart's red Lockheed Vega, John Glenn's Friendship 7 and the Apollo 11 command module Columbia.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Courtyard by Marriott Washington, DC Dupont Circle ↗€170 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · United States Capitol free · about 1 h 30The seat of Congress under its cast-iron dome, visited on a free guided tour of the crypt, the rotunda with the Apotheosis of Washington fresco and the National Statuary Hall.
- Afternoon · Library of Congress free · about 1 h 30The Thomas Jefferson Building of 1897, the most richly decorated building in the city, with the marble Great Hall, the Main Reading Room dome, Jefferson's own library and a Gutenberg Bible.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Courtyard by Marriott Washington, DC Dupont Circle ↗€170 a night
D5
Day 5
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Georgetown free · half a dayA port founded in 1751, older than the capital itself, with cobbled streets, Federal brick houses, the shops of M Street, the C&O Canal towpath and the Gothic towers of Georgetown University.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €240 a day, mid-range
Best seasonApril to May and September to October
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/washington-dc
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.