Dupont Circle

Along with wealthy tenants and basement-dwelling twentysomethings, museums, art galleries, and embassies call this upscale neighborhood home. Offbeat shops, specialty bookstores, coffeehouses, and restaurants of all ethnicities and price ranges lend the area a funkier, more urban feel.

The Logan Circle neighborhood runs to the east along P Street and stretches north along the 14th Street corridor. You'll find more sidewalk cafés, nightlife, shopping, as well as a handful of sights and two theaters, Source DC and Studio Theatre.

Add to the mix stores and clubs catering to the neighborhood's large gay community and this area becomes a big draw for nearly everyone. Perhaps that's why the fountain at the center of the Dupont traffic island is such a great spot for people-watching.