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
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
Good to know
General sport & outdoor guidance
Habits that pay off across this whole category, not rules for this one venue. Always check the official site for the specifics.
Weather calls the shots
Check the forecast the morning of and keep an indoor backup in your pocket for the day it turns.
Shoes, water, sun cover
The three things that decide whether you last the whole outing or cut it short after an hour.
Parking and launches fill early
On a nice weekend, lots and trailheads are often full by mid-morning.
Daylight shrinks in shoulder season
Spring and fall visits need an earlier start than the same trip in July.
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
- Sport & OutdoorIconic
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
