Museums
History BuffNational Museum of the American Indian
FreeExplore Native cultures of the Western Hemisphere inside a curving limestone building on the National Mall, with a Native foods cafe.
Photo: Farragutful, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
Sport & OutdoorFamily FavoriteRainy-Day PickFree
United States Botanic Garden
United States Botanic Garden is an outdoor activity in Washington, DC, part of the Washington DC guide. Cost: free.
100 Maryland Ave SW · Washington, DC
Why you should go…
The U.S. Botanic Garden sits next to the Capitol and has three parts you can visit: the Conservatory, the gated outdoor gardens, and Bartholdi Fountain and Gardens across Independence Avenue. Inside the Conservatory you move through rooms of desert plants, orchids, and a tropical forest under a 93-foot dome with a raised mezzanine. Outside there are rose and pollinator gardens and a 30-foot cast-iron fountain by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi.
- #botanical garden
- #conservatory
- #orchids
- #capitol hill
- #gardens
What's around here?
The closest stops to United States Botanic Garden, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.
Steps awaySwitch it up: Museums
- SightseeingHistory Buff
U.S. Capitol & Capitol Visitor Center
FreeFree guided tours under the Rotunda's frescoed dome, the heart of American democracy, up close.
0.3 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing
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Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
FreeTouch a moon rock and stand under the Spirit of St. Louis at the world's most-visited aviation museum, always free.
0.4 mi awaySwitch it up: Museums
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National Mall
FreeWalk the long green lawn from the U.S. Capitol toward the Lincoln Memorial, past monuments, memorials and Smithsonian museums.
0.6 mi awayMore like this
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Tidal Basin
FreeWalk the path around a 107-acre basin lined with cherry trees, past the Jefferson, FDR and Martin Luther King, Jr. memorials.
1.4 mi awayMore like this
- Sport & OutdoorOutdoor Adventure
Key Bridge Boathouse
Under $25A Georgetown boathouse on the Potomac renting kayaks, canoes and paddleboards with guided tours available.
3.2 mi awayMore like this
