Things to do in Washington DC

Touch a moon rock and stand under the Spirit of St. Louis at the world's most-visited aviation museum, always free.

Climb the marble steps where Dr. King spoke and take in the Mall's most moving view, free and open 24 hours.

Ride 500 feet up the world's tallest stone obelisk for the only aerial panorama of the White House, Capitol, and Mall.

Crack codes, adopt a cover identity, and squeeze through ductwork at the world's largest espionage museum.

Giant pandas, elephants, and 2,000 animal residents in Rock Creek Park, one of America's best zoos, and it's free.

A powerful journey through African American history and culture, from the slave trade galleries to Motown and beyond.

Hop on, hop off at stops across the city while conductors dish DC history, the easiest first-day overview in town.

Watch the monuments glow from the Potomac on narrated sightseeing, brunch, and dinner cruises from The Wharf.

Free guided tours under the Rotunda's frescoed dome, the heart of American democracy, up close.

Stand in the theatre where Lincoln was shot, then cross the street to the Petersen House where the story ended.

DC's buzziest food hall: dozens of vendors slinging oysters, arepas, pasta, and ice cream in a revived 1930s market.

Capitol Hill's 1873 market hall, butchers and famous pancakes inside, weekend farmers and flea markets outside.

George Washington's riverside estate: mansion tours, gardens, farm animals, and sweeping Potomac views.

Da Vinci, Vermeer, and the Impressionists for free, plus a sculpture garden that becomes an ice rink in winter.

The Hope Diamond, the Nation's T. rex, and Henry the elephant, the Mall's busiest free museum packs the whole natural world under one green dome.

Dorothy's ruby slippers, the actual Star-Spangled Banner, and Julia Child's kitchen, America's attic, free on the National Mall.

A profound, self-guided journey through Holocaust history just off the Mall, free, with timed passes for the Permanent Exhibition.

Stand before the originals: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights in the marble Rotunda.

The world's largest library, and arguably DC's most beautiful interior, the Great Hall, the Main Reading Room, and a Gutenberg Bible.

Hallowed ground across the Potomac: the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the changing of the guard, and the Kennedy gravesites.

The domed rotunda on the Tidal Basin, a 19-foot bronze Jefferson, his words carved in marble, and DC's best cherry-blossom backdrop.

Leap off a platform above a flooded quarry at Harpers Ferry, the area's newest adrenaline stop.

A wooded sculpture garden and arts center in Solomons, Maryland, with a walking trail past rotating outdoor artworks.

A Baltimore-area seafood restaurant known for its raw bar and steamed crabs.

A Kearneysville, West Virginia craft distillery and tasting room producing whiskey, moonshine, vodka, and bourbon.

A Maryland county bordering DC, home to National Harbor, Six Flags America, and NASA Goddard.

The largest cavern system in the eastern US, famous for towering formations and the Great Stalacpipe Organ.

An Eastern Panhandle WV town blending Civil War and railroad history with rivers, mountains, and Main Street shops.

A 16th-century-themed village near Annapolis with jousting, artisans, and costumed performers every fall.

A Baltimore-born breakfast-and-brunch restaurant known for crab cake Benedicts and creative pancakes.

A waterfront development on the Potomac near DC, with the Capital Wheel, MGM National Harbor, shops, and hotels.

A basilica and museum in Emmitsburg, MD honoring the first American-born Catholic saint.

A rural Virginia peninsula between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, birthplace of George Washington.

A family-run farm market and orchard near Martinsburg with pick-your-own fruit, a petting barnyard, and a fall pumpkin patch.

An open-air outlet center near the Gettysburg battlefield with name-brand stores for a shopping break between historic sites.

A Washington DC shrine and museum dedicated to Pope John Paul II, with exhibits on his life and papacy.

A show cave near Front Royal with guided cavern tours, a mini train, mirror maze, and a free nature trail.

An in-the-round dinner theatre in Columbia serving a full meal alongside professional musical productions.

A walkable historic downtown of red-brick rowhouses, clustered church spires, and a lively arts and dining scene an hour from DC.

Maryland's largest city, known for its historic Inner Harbor, rowhouse neighborhoods, and blue-crab dining scene.

A Western Maryland city surrounded by Civil War battlefields, state parks, and the Appalachian Trail.

Harbor cruises, sunset sails, and water taxis on the Chesapeake out of Annapolis and Baltimore, running since 1972.

Shenandoah Valley county home to Luray Caverns, Shenandoah National Park's Skyline Drive, and mountain cabin getaways.

A historic riverside city just south of Washington, D.C., known for cobblestone Old Town and the King Street waterfront.

A Gettysburg diorama museum re-creating Civil War battles with hand-sculpted cat soldiers.

A Chesapeake Bay county in Southern Maryland known for fossil hunting beaches, waterfront parks and small bay towns.

Maryland's historic capital region on the Chesapeake Bay, home to the Naval Academy and a walkable colonial downtown.

Outdoor living-history museum and archaeological site at Maryland's first colonial capital.

A Southern Maryland county on the Potomac River known for Underground Railroad history and waterfront trails.

Eastern Shore Maryland county of waterfront towns, farms, wineries and Chesapeake Bay recreation.

County-run network of four Southern Maryland heritage sites, including a lighthouse museum and a historic schoolhouse.

Maryland heritage area covering Civil War sites across Frederick, Carroll and Washington counties, including Antietam.

A sprawling Martinsburg gallery of vintage posters, antique prints and maps, African art and antiques since 1997.

Downtown Martinsburg shop selling new and vintage West Virginia art glass from Fenton, Blenko and more.

A Maryland-certified heritage area promoting historic sites, trails and cultural attractions across Prince George's County.

The official visitor center for the US Naval Academy, with exhibits, a gift shop and guided walking tours.

The official visitor welcome center for Howard County, Maryland, in historic Ellicott City.

Restored 1,143-seat 1920s movie palace in downtown Frederick hosting concerts, comedy, dance and film.

The City of Alexandria agency that runs the city's historic museums and sites, headquartered at the Lloyd House.

A Georgetown boathouse on the Potomac renting kayaks, canoes and paddleboards with guided tours available.

Annual spring celebration around DC's Tidal Basin with cherry blossoms, a parade and cultural events.

Narrated hop-on hop-off tram loop inside Arlington National Cemetery, stopping at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Kennedy gravesite and Arlington House.

Catch touring bands at a 1,200-capacity standing-room concert hall with four bars, a balcony and a stage that moves.

Bar-hop, eat and browse vintage and record shops along 18th Street and Columbia Road, lined with rowhouses and murals.

Explore art by self-taught creators, from Vollis Simpson whirligigs to kinetic sculpture, on a campus beside Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Drive or walk the fields where the Battle of Antietam was fought on September 17, 1862, from Dunker Church to Burnside Bridge.

See American plays and musicals on three stages, including a theater in the round, near the Southwest waterfront.

Browse an art museum known for its Cone Collection of Matisse, Picasso and Van Gogh, plus two sculpture gardens.

Walk through the largest Roman Catholic church in North America, with its mosaic domes, Crypt Church and dozens of chapels.

Order a chili half-smoke, chili cheese fries and a milkshake at the counter of the U Street diner Ben and Virginia Ali opened in 1958.

Catch Capitals hockey, Wizards basketball, Georgetown games and big concert tours at this downtown arena in Chinatown.

Hike forested Blue Ridge trails to rocky overlooks like Chimney Rock and Wolf Rock in the mountains near Thurmont.

Climb an 1879 screw-pile lighthouse and watch shipwrights restore wooden Bay boats on a St. Michaels waterfront campus.

See Byzantine and Pre-Columbian art in a Georgetown mansion, then wander terraced gardens designed by Beatrix Farrand.

Sit by the marble fountain, watch a chess game and explore the galleries and embassies around this traffic circle park.

Tour the small West Baltimore brick row house where Edgar Allan Poe lived with his aunt's family in the 1830s.

Stroll Massachusetts Avenue past Gilded Age mansions turned embassies, with flags and statues of world figures on the way.

Walk Belgian block streets past historic rowhouses, pubs, shops and the waterfront of Baltimore's old shipbuilding port.

See Shakespeare First Folios, manuscripts and costumes in the exhibition halls, then visit the gardens and Elizabethan Theatre.

Walk the ramparts of the pentagon-shaped fort whose 1814 defense inspired the words of the national anthem.

Walk through four open-air rooms of red granite, cascading water and bronze sculpture that trace FDR's four terms beside the Tidal Basin.

Tour Cedar Hill, the hilltop Anacostia home where Frederick Douglass lived until his death in 1895.

Drive and walk four Civil War battlefields, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, with historic houses along the way.

Stroll cobblestone side streets, shop and eat along M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, and follow the C&O Canal down to the Potomac waterfront.

Drive or walk the 1863 battlefield past monuments, Little Round Top and the cemetery where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address.

See postwar and contemporary art in quiet pavilions and outdoor sculptures set across meadows, woods and a water garden.

Watch the Potomac River crash over a series of cascades from three overlooks, then hike the cliffs above Mather Gorge.

Walk the restored 19th-century streets of Lower Town where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet, and see John Brown's Fort.

See modern and contemporary art in a drum-shaped Smithsonian museum on the National Mall, with a sunken sculpture garden beside it.

Stroll a waterfront promenade lined with museums, historic ships, seafood restaurants and boat tours in downtown Baltimore.

Tour James Madison's restored plantation home, its slavery exhibition, gardens and 8 miles of trails across the Virginia Piedmont.

Ride 13 roller coasters, cool off in the Soak City water park and ride up a one-third-scale Eiffel Tower.

Walk among 19 stainless steel soldiers on patrol beside a black granite wall etched with the faces of those who served.

Graze among dozens of local food merchants selling seafood, baked goods, deli fare and produce in Baltimore's historic public market.

Watch the Baltimore Ravens play or take a guided tour through the locker room, club level and sidelines of this downtown stadium.

Walk the fields of the two Civil War battles of Bull Run, from Henry Hill to the Stone House and Stone Bridge.

See the 32-foot bronze figures raising the flag on Iwo Jima, a memorial to all Marines who have died since 1775.

See Dr. King's 30-foot granite likeness emerge from the Stone of Hope beside the Tidal Basin, ringed by a wall of his words.

Explore three floors of hands-on science exhibits, dinosaur skeletons, a planetarium and an IMAX theater on the Inner Harbor.

Walk among 184 illuminated benches, each set over a pool of water, honoring those killed at the Pentagon on 9/11.

See sharks, dolphins, jellies and a tropical rain forest at a large aquarium on Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Walk the long green lawn from the U.S. Capitol toward the Lincoln Memorial, past monuments, memorials and Smithsonian museums.

Walk two connected Smithsonian galleries of Asian art on the National Mall, including the Peacock Room.

Walk among historic locomotives and rail cars inside an 1884 roundhouse on the birthplace of American railroading.

Explore Native cultures of the Western Hemisphere inside a curving limestone building on the National Mall, with a Native foods cafe.

Meet the people who shaped the country through paintings, photographs and sculpture, including a full gallery of presidential portraits.

Watch the Baltimore Orioles play in a retro ballpark backed by the old B&O Warehouse, with Eutaw Street running between them.

See American craft and decorative art in a National Historic Landmark building steps from the White House.

Hike, bike or ride wooded trails along Rock Creek through the city and stop at historic Peirce Mill.

Drive the 105-mile Skyline Drive along the Blue Ridge crest and stop at overlooks, waterfalls and trailheads.

Browse American art from the colonial era to today, watch conservators at work, and wander thousands of objects in open storage.

Walk two huge hangars at Dulles Airport holding Space Shuttle Discovery, an SR-71 Blackbird and a Concorde.

Climb the marble steps under the words Equal Justice Under Law, then explore exhibitions and hear a Courtroom Lecture inside.

Meet African penguins, polar bears, giraffes and elephants, then ride the train and carousel at this zoo in Druid Hill Park.

See Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party and the Rothko Room in a Dupont Circle house museum.

Wander free galleries of art spanning Egyptian mummies, medieval ivories, armor and Old Master paintings in Mount Vernon.

Tour the State Floor rooms of the president's home, including the Blue, Red and Green Rooms, on a free tour requested ahead of time.

Walk the path around a 107-acre basin lined with cherry trees, past the Jefferson, FDR and Martin Luther King, Jr. memorials.

Walk through a 1907 Beaux-Arts rail terminal whose Main Hall ceiling rises 96 feet, then browse its shops and restaurants.

Wander a glass conservatory of tropical, desert and orchid rooms beside the U.S. Capitol, then the outdoor gardens.

Walk the black granite wall etched with more than 58,000 names, then see the Three Servicemen statue and the Vietnam Women's Memorial.

Catch a summer concert at the open-air Filene Center or a children's show in the woods at the only national park for the performing arts.

Circle a fountain plaza ringed by 56 granite pillars and two arches honoring Americans who served in World War II.

A modern hotel on Baltimore Avenue steps from the University of Maryland, with Metro access into Washington, D.C.

A boutique hotel set in 19th-century row houses a short walk from the U.S. Capitol and the Supreme Court.

A full-service hotel on King Street one block from the King Street-Old Town Metro, a short walk from Old Town shops and dining.

A 204-room hotel in NoMa next to the Red Line Metro, about a mile from Union Station, with an indoor pool and hot tub.

A 419-room high-rise hotel in Pentagon City with D.C. skyline views and courtesy shuttles to Reagan National Airport and the Metro.

A 410-room Westin at Thomas Circle in downtown Washington with the Infamy Restaurant & Bar and a bright atrium.

A former Navy torpedo plant on the Old Town waterfront where you watch artists at work in three floors of open studios.