Learning + Exploration

When planning your trip to DC, allow plenty of time for your group to enjoy the museums, memorials, attractions, events, and excitement Washington has to offer!

Some of the most popular places are listed below.

Quick Notes

  • Many, but not all, of DC’s sites are also free to the public.

  • Look ahead for whether you need tickets or reservations in advance.

Select Ideas

Tourist Attractions

  • Bureau of Engraving and Printing

  • The Capital Wheel at National Harbor

  • Carousel at National Harbor

  • Chinatown Arch

  • “The Exorcist” Steps, Georgetown

  • Georgetown Waterfront Park

  • Riverboat Tour or Dinner Cruise on the Potomac River

  • Yards Park

  • The Wharf

Museums

  • Arts and Industries Building – Smithsonian

  • Artechouse

  • DEA Museum and Visitors Center, Arlington

  • Folger Shakespeare Library

  • Freer Gallery of Art / Freer and Sackler Galleries – Smithsonian

  • Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens

  • Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden – Smithsonian

  • International Spy Museum

  • Museum of the Bible

  • National Archives Building

  • National Building Museum

  • National Gallery of Art + Sculpture Garden

  • National Geographic Society-Grosvenor Auditorium / Museum

  • National Museum of African American History and Culture – Smithsonian Museum

  • National Museum of African Art – Smithsonian

  • National Museum of American History – Smithsonian

  • National Museum of the American Indian – Smithsonian

  • National Museum of Women in the Arts

  • National Portrait Gallery

  • National Postal Museum

  • Newseum

  • Smithsonian American Art Museum

  • Smithsonian Institution Building (aka the Castle) + Enid A. Haupt Garden

  • Renwick Gallery (American Art Museum)

  • NASM / Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (2 locations) one in DC + Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center aka Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA

  • National Museum of Natural History – Smithsonian

  • Smithsonian National Zoological Park

  • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Outdoors + Urban Parks

  • Anacostia River Boathouse

  • Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park (C & O Canal) NPS Unit

  • Constitution Gardens (NPS)

  • Georgetown Waterfront Park

  • Gravelly Point

  • Great Falls Park (NPS)

  • Lafayette Square

  • Meridian Hill Park

  • Rock Creek Park Nature Center and Planetarium (NPS)

  • Tidal Basin

  • Theodore Roosevelt Island (NPS)

  • United States National Arboretum

  • United States Botanic Garden

  • Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

  • The Yards Park, Navy Yard

Shows, Music + Sporting Events

  • 9:30 Club (music)

  • The Anthem (music, comedy)

  • Audi Field (soccer, music)

  • Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater (theater)

  • Capital One Arena (sports, music, major events)

  • DAR Constitution Hall

  • The Fillmore, Silver Spring MD

  • The Hamilton (music, comedy)

  • John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (theater, opera, orchestra)

  • Landover Stadium, (football, music)

  • Lincoln Theater

  • Nationals Park (baseball, music)

  • Warner Theatre

  • Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts (NPS)

  • Woolly Mammoth Theater

National Monuments, Memorials + Historic Sites

  • Arlington Memorial Bridge

  • Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington

  • Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument (NPS)

  • Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site (NPS)

  • Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park (C & O Canal) NPS Unit

  • Congressional Cemetery

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation Tour

  • Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site (NPS)

  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (NPS)

  • Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (NPS)

  • Korean War Veterans Memorial (NPS)

  • Library of Congress, Capitol Hill

  • Lincoln Memorial + Reflecting Pool (NPS)

  • Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac (NPS)

  • Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial (NPS)

  • Mary McLeod Bethune Council House (NPS)

  • National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial

  • National Mall (NPS)

  • Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site (NPS)

  • The Pentagon Tour (must make reservations at least 14 days in advance)

  • Senate and House Office Buildings

  • Supreme Court

  • Thomas Jefferson Memorial (NPS)

  • The U.S. Capitol Visitors Center / Capitol Tour

  • Vietnam Veterans Memorial (NPS)

  • Washington Monument (NPS)

  • World War I Memorial (NPS)

  • World War II Memorial (NPS)

  • White House + President’s Park (NPS) / White House Visitors Center

Notable Buildings

  • Union Station

Historic Estates + Homes

  • Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site (NPS)

  • Dumbarton Oaks, Georgetown

  • Embassy Row

  • Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (NPS)

  • George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate, Alexandria

  • The Mansion on O Street

  • Mary McLeod Bethune Council House (NPS)

  • President Lincoln’s Cottage at the Soldier’s Home

  • President Woodrow Wilson House

  • Tudor Place

Religious Sites

  • Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

  • Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America

  • Museum of the Bible

  • Washington National Cathedral / The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington – Woodrow Wilson’s Marble Tomb and Helen Keller’s Ashes

Shopping + Food

  • Eastern Market

  • Maine Avenue Fish Market

  • Georgetown Flea Market

  • Union Market

External (Non-WSC) Guides and Resources