Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States of America and here you can find the three branches of government, and also the federal district of the U.S. The city has a vast collection of free, the lion’s share and public museums of the nation’s most treasured memorials and monuments. The vistas on the National Mall between the Capitol, Washington Monument, White House, and Lincoln Memorial are famous throughout the world as icons of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful nation.
D.C. shed its former reputation as a boring and dangerous city and it now has shopping, dining, and nightlife befitting a world-class metropolis. Travellers will find the city new, exciting, and decidedly cosmopolitan and international.
Downtown (The National Mall, East End, West End, Waterfront)
The center of all: The National Mall, D.C.’s main theater district, Smithsonian and non-Smithsonian museums galore, fine dining, Chinatown, the Verizon Center, the Convention Center, the central business district, the White House, West Potomac Park, the Kennedy Center, George Washington University, the beautiful Tidal Basin, and the new Nationals Park.
North Central (Dupont Circle, Shaw, Adams Morgan-Columbia Heights, LeDroit Park)
D.C.’s trendiest and most diverse neighborhoods and destination number one for live music and clubbing, as well as loads of restaurants, Howard University, boutique shopping, beautiful embassies, Little Ethiopia, jazz on U Street, and lots of nice hotels.
West (Georgetown, Upper Northwest)
The prestigious, wealthy side of town, home to the historic village of Georgetown with its energetic nightlife, colonial architecture, and fine dining; the National Zoo; the massive National Cathedral; bucolic Dumbarton Oaks; the bulk of D.C.’s high-end shopping; more Embassy Row; American University; and several nice dining strips.
East (Capitol Hill, Near Northeast, Brookland-Petworth-Takoma, Anacostia)
Starting at the Capitol Building and Library of Congress, and fanning out past grandiose Union Station and the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood, to the less often visited neighborhoods by Gallaudet and Catholic University, historic Anacostia, D.C.’s “Little Vatican” around the National Shrine, the huge National Arboretum, the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, offbeat nightlife in the Atlas District, and a handful of other eccentric neighborhoods to explore.
