Washington, DC’s attractions are as captivating as they are famous. Walk the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson memorial. Discover the wonder of flight at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum or the intrigue of espionage at the International Spy Museum. Honor and celebrate with family and friends at the National World War II Memorial or the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Get a lay of the land for your entire visit to DC from the top of the Washington Monument. Explore DC neighborhoods like Capitol Hill for shopping at Eastern Market or Union Station and tours of the U.S. Capitol Building or Union Station. Be sure to make time for amazing traveling and permanent exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art, the National Museum of Women in the Arts or the Kreeger Museum.
Arguably the entertainment center of the city, downtown is the crossroads of the theatre, restaurant, business and museum experience. From edgy and classic productions to touring Broadway shows - Woolly Mammoth, Shakespeare, National, Warner and Ford’s theatres - are within easy walking distance. Museums abound including the International Spy Museum, National Building Museum, the Marian Koshland Science Museum and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. A wide variety of hotels along with the stylish and spacious Washington Convention Center call downtown home. Chinatown is marked most noticeably by the “Friendship Arch” that was built cooperatively by the Washington city government and its sister city, Beijing and secondarily by the Chinese marks that adorn businesses from traditional Chinese restaurant mainstays and more contemporary shops like Benetton and Aveda. Penn Quarter is a moniker for an area of downtown that has witnessed a “rags-to-riches” transformation including luxury condos rising above historic facades. Metro: Gallery Pl-Chinatown, Metro Center, Archives-Navy Mem’l-Penn Quarter. 
Named for the circle where Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire Avenues meet with P and 19 Streets, Dupont Circle itself is the meeting place for this cosmopolitan neighborhood. It’s perfect for people-watching, playing a pick-up game of chess or sipping a latte or chai while sitting on the edge of the fountain. Arts and entertainment collide with an impressive mix of restaurants, shops, hotels, quaint B&B’s, galleries and museums (The Phillips Collection, The Textile Museum, Woodrow Wilson House and National Geographic Society’s Explorers Hall to name a few). Embassy Row radiates from the circle with the largest concentration of the city’s 150 international embassies. Metro: Dupont Circle.
Hop the bright red and silver Circulator bus to this prestigious neighborhood. At once historic and hip, Georgetown’s cobble-stoned streets are lined with some of the most famous names in fashion, boutiques featuring a number of up-and-coming local designers and restaurants and bars attracting a well-heeled clientele. Hotels range from luxurious to all-suite family-friendly properties. The waterfront district is centered on Wisconsin and M streets, NW and is home to Georgetown University, Tudor Place Historic House and Garden, Kreeger Museum, Old Stone House and the C&O Canal with 180 miles of biking and hiking trails.
U Street/Shaw
The birthplace of Duke Ellington and the center of Washington’s African-American nightlife for much of the 20th century is once again thriving. Many neighborhood haunts are gathering spots, from the new Bohemian Busboys & Poets (named for Langston Hughes) to the landmark, soulful Ben’s Chili Bowl (Bill Cosby loves the half-smokes). On weekend nights, U Street rivals Adams Morgan for crowds, though with a slightly older vibe. “The cutting edge of what this city is and can be,” U Street is also equally intriguing by day, home to the African American Civil War Memorial, Lincoln Theatre and Howard University. Designer home-furnishings stores, boutiques and music clubs abound near the junction of 14th & U streets. The neighborhood extends into Logan Circle and also includes Studio Theatre. Metro: U St./African-Amer Civil War Memorial/Cardozo.
South of the National Mall is a neighborhood home to the award-winning Arena Stage (the first theater company to be awarded a Tony Award outside of New York), Benjamin Banneker Circle and Fountain, the Titanic Memorial and L'Enfant Plaza. The scenic waterfront area features a shimmering array of piers, sailboats, yachts, fishing boats, seafood markets, and restaurants. Sightseeing cruises depart from the marina regularly. Though once a working-class, immigrant neighborhood Southwest was revitalized through early urban renewal programs in the 1950s. Revitalization has come to the waterfront once again, with the opening of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the Portals, a luxury office and condominium development. Metro: Waterfront-SEU.
