97 Best Sights in Washington, D.C., USA

Designed to celebrate the creative achievements of people in the capital city and around the world, this 46,000-square-foot LEED Gold–certified museum facility is on the campus of George Washington University. Rotating exhibits highlight global textiles and cultural traditions—from handmade rugs and historical costumes to contemporary art and fashion—as well as displays on local D.C. history. The museum offers a dynamic range of free screenings, talks, and other public programs throughout the week in person and online. It's also home to a research library and two study centers, and you can find digital resources on textile creation and care on the website, along with highlights of the museum's collections.

The country's oldest Catholic university (founded in 1789) does not offer architectural tours, but visitors can download a self-guided campus tour from the university's website. The 100-acre campus features a mix of architectural styles, with the most striking building being Healy Hall, a Victorian Gothic masterpiece whose construction nearly bankrupted the institution. Architects oriented its front toward the city, not the Potomac River, to signal its educational stature. Old North, modeled after Princeton's main hall, has hosted more than a dozen U.S. presidents. Also worth a peek is the turn-of-the-century Riggs Library, which boasts impressive cast-iron railings. At the southern end of campus, between M and Prospect Streets, a set of 75 super-steep steps were immortalized in the 1973 film The Exorcist. Less sinister beings—Georgetown's many joggers—can be seen running up and down the stairs when the sun rises.

Groves of beeches, tulip trees, and oaks flourish at this 183-acre park, part of the Rock Creek system, which begins just west of Georgetown and ends, nearly 2½ miles later, near Van Ness Street. Along the way, you'll experience a tree-shaded valley stream and possible bird sightings. And chances are, you'll have the trail mostly to yourself.

This opulent, Romanesque Revival mansion, also known as the Brewmaster's Castle, was the home of Christian Heurich, a German immigrant who made his fortune in the beer business. Heurich's brewery was in Foggy Bottom, where the Kennedy Center stands today. The building, a National Register of Historic Places landmark, is considered one of the most intact Victorian houses in the country, and all the furnishings were owned and used by the Heurichs. The interior is an eclectic mix of plaster detailing, carved wooden doors, and painted ceilings. The downstairs Breakfast Room, which also served as Heurich's bierstube (or beer hall), is decorated like a Rathskeller with the German motto "A good drink makes old people young." Heurich must have taken the proverb seriously. He drank beer daily, had three wives, and lived to be 102. Head to the website to see up-to-date hours and latest programming, which in the past has included guided tours, a holiday market, and outdoor happy hours.

Cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post was a celebrated philanthropist, businessperson, and socialite, who was also known for her passion for collecting art and creating some of the most beautiful homes of the 20th century. Of these, the 25-acre Hillwood Estate, which Post bought in 1955, is the only one now open to the public. The 36-room Georgian mansion, where she regularly hosted presidents, diplomats, and royalty, is sumptuously appointed, with a formal Louis XVI drawing room, private movie theater and ballroom, and magnificent libraries filled with portraits of the glamorous hostess and her family and acquaintances, as well as works from her rich art collection. She was especially fascinated with Russian art, and her collection of Russian icons, tapestries, gold and silver work, imperial porcelain, and Fabergé eggs is considered to be the largest and most significant outside Russia. She devoted equal attention to her gardens; you can wander through 13 acres of them. Allow two to three hours to tour.

In a town known for political combat, this tiny urban park is a wonderful place to find some peace. The shady park combines Western and Arab symbols and is perfect for contemplation. From the Massachusetts Avenue entrance, a stone walk bridges a flower-bedecked swale. Farther on are limestone benches engraved with sayings from Gibran. They curve around a star-shaped fountain and a bronze bust of the namesake Lebanese-born poet, who emigrated to the United States at the turn of the 20th century and remains one of the best-selling poets of all time. His best-known work, The Prophet, has sold more than 11 million copies and has been translated into more than 100 languages. The garden is near the grounds of the United States Naval Observatory and across from the British Embassy.

Exotic water lilies, lotuses, hyacinths, and other water-loving plants thrive in this 8-acre sanctuary of quiet ponds, protected wetlands, and marshy flats, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The gardens' wetland animals include turtles, frogs, beavers, spring azure butterflies, and dozens of species of birds, which may be seen along the 1½-miles of walking trails. Watch out for the Lotus and Water Lily Festival in July.  Visit in July for the peak lily bloom; 9 am is the best time to see early morning blossoms.

There's a tiny, child-friendly museum in the visitor center. Dogs are welcome but must be on a leash. The nearest Metro stop is a 10-minute walk away, but there is ample free parking. Exit gates are locked promptly at 4.

The cool white domes and elegant lines of this postmodern landmark stand in stark contrast to the traditional feel of the rest of the Foxhall Road neighborhood. Designed in 1963 by iconic architects Philip Johnson and Richard Foster, the building was once the home of GEICO executive David Lloyd Kreeger and his wife, Carmen. Music is a central theme of the art and the space: the Kreegers wanted a light-filled residence that would also function as a gallery and recital hall. The art collection includes works by Degas, Cézanne, Monet, Picasso, and Munch; and outstanding examples of African and Asian art. Especially stunning are the outdoor sculptures by Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, and others, including John L. Dreyfuss—six of his large-scale pieces surround the museum's reflecting pool. The domed rooms also have wonderful acoustics, and serve as an excellent venue for the classical concerts that are regularly performed here. The museum is not reachable by Metro; you need to take a car or taxi to get here.

This is D.C.’s funkiest museum. A reimagining of your grandma’s attic by surreal filmmaker Federico Fellini, it has dozens of secret doors and passageways, as well as rooms overflowing with antiques, pictures, figures of medieval angels, and memorabilia, including 60 signed Gibson guitars, stuffed animals, chandeliers, and books. The museum, housed in five interconnecting town houses, also doubles as an inn, where rooms pay homage to notables such as John Lennon, Winston Churchill, and Rosa Parks, once a frequent visitor. You can get a peek at the themed rooms when they're not occupied by rock stars or CEOs, who value the mansion’s privacy and security.

The site of the first headquarters for the National Council of Negro Women, the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House celebrates the life and legacy of Bethune, who founded the council and also served as president of the National Association of Colored Women. It was the council’s headquarters from 1943 to 1966, and Bethune herself lived here from 1943 to 1949. The archives of the history of African American women in the United States and Bethune’s legacy are housed here as well. After a lengthy construction project to update the archival research areas and to stabilize the physical foundations, the site reopened to the public in 2018.

Landscape architect Horace Peaslee created Meridian Hill Park, a noncontiguous section of Rock Creek Park, after a 1917 study of the parks of Europe. As a result, it contains elements of gardens in France, Italy, and Switzerland. John Quincy Adams lived in a mansion here after his presidency, and the park later served as an encampment for Union soldiers during the Civil War. All 50 states are represented by a state tree or flower. Meridian Hill is unofficially known as Malcolm X Park in honor of the civil rights leader. Weekends bring a mix of pickup soccer games, yoga, joggers running the stairs, and a weekly (weather permitting) drum circle. A statue of Joan of Arc poised for battle on horseback stands above the terrace, and a statue of Dante is on a pedestal below. Cell-phone tours illuminate the history of the landmarks inside the park.

Seven floors encompassing more than 430,000 square feet are all dedicated to the history, narrative, and impact of the Bible on the world. The IllumiNations exhibit displays Bibles in more than 2,000 languages, and visitors can touch, read, and explore them and other illuminated manuscripts. The museum includes exhibits focused on modern films, speakers, fashion, and technology to tell the story of the Bible's continuing influence today. Here you can also see the papyrus featuring early copies of the New Testament, biblically inspired designer clothing, and even Elvis Presley's Bible. Stop by the Manna restaurant for biblically themed foods and other Mediterranean-inspired meals.

Architecture, design, landscaping, and urban planning are the themes of this museum, the nation's premier cultural organization devoted to the built environment. The open interior of the mammoth redbrick building is one of the city's great spaces and has been the site of many presidential inaugural balls. The eight central Corinthian columns are among the largest in the world, rising to a height of 75 feet. Although they resemble Siena marble, each comprises 70,000 bricks covered with plaster and painted. The long-term exhibition House and Home features a kaleidoscopic array of photographs, objects, models, and films that takes visitors on a tour of houses both surprising and familiar, through past and present, exploring American domestic life and residential architecture. The museum also offers a series of temporary hands-on exhibitions focusing on construction. Although geared towards children, people of all ages enjoy the experience.

Formerly known as the Freer/Sackler, the National Museum of Asian Art formally rebranded to its current name in 2019. The museum opened in 1923 as the Freer Gallery of Art to showcase the collection of American industrialist and donor Charles Lang Freer. The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery was built next door in 1987 after Sackler donated 1,000 objects and $4 million for a museum to house them. With its commitment to preserving Asian art, the museum counts more than 44,000 items in its permanent collection hailing from countries like China, Japan, and Korea, also expanding into Southwest and Southeast Asia. One of the most popular rooms is the Peacock Room, which has dazzled guests at the Freer Gallery of Art since 1923. Initially designed by artist James McNeill Whistler to showcase a Chinese blue-and-white porcelain collection, the room marries its avian motif with a striking use of color inspired by the arts of East Asia.

Considered a best-kept secret of Washington, D.C.'s attractions, Oak Hill Cemetery functions as a public outdoor museum. Tucked away on R Street, away from the hustle and bustle of lower Georgetown, the cemetery is an idyllic space for nature and history lovers alike. Fans of George Saunders's best-selling novel Lincoln in the Bardo trek to this hillside corner of Georgetown near Rock Creek. Notable sights include a Gothic Revival chapel designed by James Renwick and the Carroll Family mausoleum, which, during the Civil War, briefly interred Abraham Lincoln's son Willie, who died in childhood from typhoid fever. In addition to visiting the places where notable figures reside, visitors will discover cenotaphs, sculptures, monuments, and inscriptions. Stop by the office for a free self-guided map.

Designed by Dr. William Thornton (original architect of the U.S. Capitol), the Octagon House was built by enslaved workers for John Tayloe III, a wealthy plantation owner, and completed in 1801. Thornton chose the unusual shape to conform to the acute angle formed by L'Enfant's intersection of New York Avenue and 18th Street. After the British burned the White House in 1814, Thornton convinced the Tayloes to allow James and Dolley Madison to stay in the Octagon. From September 1814 until March 1815, the Octagon became the temporary White House. In the second-floor study, the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812, was ratified. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) established its national headquarters at the Octagon in 1898 and renovated the building as one of the country's first preservation projects. AIA stayed there for 70 years before moving into new modern headquarters directly behind. Self-guided tours take in historically furnished rooms; second-floor gallery spaces hold rotating exhibits on architecture, design, and history.

Although the building is now the Waldorf Astoria Washington, D.C., the Old Post Office Tower (within the hotel) is still open for public tours through the National Park Service. The building, a symbol of the modern American spirit when constructed in 1899, was the first government tower to have its own electric power plant. Now, tourists can see the 360-degree view from the top of the tower, the second-tallest building in D.C. Tours (from 9 am to 4 pm daily) are free, but tour guests must enter through a specified entrance for the general public.

Washington's oldest surviving building, this fieldstone house in the heart of Georgetown, was built in 1765 by a cabinetmaker named Christopher Layman. A succession of occupants used the house as a residence and business place until 1953 when the National Park Service purchased it. Over the next seven years, it underwent an extensive restoration that has preserved the building's Revolutionary War–era architecture and design. The furnishings of several of the rooms reflect the times, with the simple, sturdy artifacts—plain tables, spinning wheels, and so forth—of 18th-century middle-class life. You can take a self-guided tour of the house and its lovely English-style gardens.

In June 1862, President Lincoln moved from the White House to this Gothic Revival cottage on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home to escape the oppressive heat of Washington and to grieve for the loss of his son Willie. Lincoln and his wife, Mary, lived in the cottage until November of that year, and because they found it to be a welcome respite from wartime tensions, they returned again during the summers of 1863 and 1864. Lincoln ultimately spent a quarter of his presidency at this quiet retreat; he was here just one day before he was assassinated. One of the most significant historic sites of Lincoln's presidency, it was here that he developed his ideas for what would become the Emancipation Proclamation. Visitors may picnic on the cottage grounds, which have been landscaped to look as they did when Lincoln lived here.

As you go up the hill toward the Cottage, there's a panoramic view of the city, including the Capitol dome. The 251-acre Soldiers' Home sits atop the third-tallest point in D.C.

At more than 3 million square feet, this is the largest federal building in Washington and the only property dedicated to government and private entities. A blend of classical and modern architecture, the center welcomes over a million visitors annually and is officially the World Trade Center, Washington, D.C. The Ronald Reagan Building, which hosts special events throughout the year, is home to a permanent art collection—one that includes a section of the Berlin Wall—and the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Memorial Exhibit and Learning Center. It's also a popular place to get married, thanks to its fantastic views over the city. If you're hungry, pick up something from one of the 17 eateries in the spacious food court on the concourse level. In summer, check out Live!, a free concert series, performed daily (weekdays) from noon to 1:30. A farmers' market takes over the plaza on Friday from 11 pm to 3 pm from spring to fall.

From Childe Hassam's The South Ledges, Appledore to Nelson Shanks's The Four Justices, the Smithsonian American Art Museum features one of the world's largest collections of American art that spans more than four centuries. Over the past few decades, the museum has broadened its collection to include modern and contemporary art, too. Among the artists represented are Benny Andrews, José Campechi, Robert Indiana, Roy Lichtenstein, Isamu Noguchi, Robert Rauschenberg, Mickalene Thomas, and Charlie Willeto. The museum shares a National Historic Landmark building with the National Portrait Gallery.

On the first floor, you'll discover an enormous tinfoil altarpiece by James Hampton and more than 60 sculptures and paintings by Emery Blagdon that represent his thought-provoking and constantly changing Healing Machine. You can also experience American works from the 1930s, many created as part of New Deal programs. Highlights here include Marvin Beerbohm's Automotive Industry, Lily Furedi's Subway, and Edward Hopper's Ryder's House. Also on the first floor is the Direct Carving exhibit, which showcases artists who work directly on a piece of stone or wood.

Art from the Colonial period to the dawn of modernism is displayed throughout the galleries on the second floor. Discover masterpieces by Mary Cassatt, Frederick Carl Frieseke, Thomas Moran, Harriett Whitney Frishmuth, George Catlin, Albert Bierstadt, Winslow Homer, and John Singer Sargent, to name just a few.

The museum's third floor features modern and contemporary paintings and sculpture and the Watch This! gallery, where you can see a selection of works from the museum's media art and film collection. Highlights include Nam June Paik's billboard-size piece with 215 monitors showing video images from the Seoul Olympics, Korean folk rituals, and modern dance.

At any given time, many of the museum's holdings are in storage, but you can view more than 3,000 artworks in its Luce Foundation Center, a visible storage space on the third and fourth floors, where visitors can also watch the museum's conservators at work. Free docent-led tours of the museum are available every day at 12:30 and 2.

A pioneer in the community museum movement, in a historically Black neighborhood in Southeast Washington, this museum examines the impact of contemporary social issues on urban communities, including environment, urban life, and encounters with other cultures. The engaging exhibitions employ video, art, crafts, and photography, along with dynamic public programs including musical performances, crafts workshops, and storytellers. The museum's striking facade features traditional African design elements: brickwork patterns evoke West African kente cloth, the concrete cylinders reference the stone towers of Zimbabwe, and diamond-patterned adornments resemble those found on the adobe houses of Mali. The museum is near the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. There's free on-site parking.

This unique underground building houses stunning galleries, a library, photographic archives, and educational facilities dedicated to collecting, conserving, and studying Africa's arts and culture from different perspectives. The rotating exhibits illuminate African visual arts, including sculpture, textiles, photography, archaeology, and modern art. Currents: Water in African Art showcases the power of art through pieces like intricately carved wooden masks and figures paying tribute to water spirits and deities. The museum's educational programs for children and adults include films with contemporary perspectives on African life, storytelling programs, and festivals, including Community Day. The hands-on workshops, such as traditional basket weaving, bring Africa's oral and cultural traditions to life. Workshops and demonstrations by African and African American artists offer a chance to meet and talk to practicing artists.

One of the world's great natural history museums offers 20 exhibition halls—including a fully renovated Dinosaur and Fossil Hall, filled with not only fossils, but also glittering gems, creepy-crawly insects, and other natural wonders. There are more than 145 million specimens in the collection. Marvel at the enormous African bush elephant, which greets you in the rotunda, and learn about elephant behavior and conservation efforts. Discover Q?rius, a state-of-the-art discovery space for all ages featuring 6,000 objects, on-site experts, and an array of digital tools that focus on the natural world. Walk among hundreds of live butterflies in the Butterfly Pavilion ($8 adults, $7 children/seniors). Check out giant millipedes and furry tarantulas in the O. Orkin Insect Zoo (don't miss the daily live tarantula feedings). See perfectly preserved giant squids, a jaw-dropping replica of a whale, and the ecosystem of a living coral reef in the Sant Ocean Hall. Watch as paleobiologists study some of the museum's collection of 46 million fossils, which includes the nation's T. rex found in Montana in 1988.

The National Museum of Natural History has the Hope Diamond, but the National Postal Museum has the envelope wrapping used to mail the gem to the Smithsonian—part of a collection that consists of nearly 6 million postal and philatelic objects. Exhibits, underscoring the important part the mail has played in America's development, include horse-drawn mail coaches, a railroad mail car, airmail planes, and a collection of philatelic rarities. Learn about stamp collecting, and tour Systems at Work, an exhibit that demonstrates how mail has gone from the mailbox to its destination for the past 200 years and features a high-def film highlighting amazing technologies. The William H. Gross Stamp Gallery, the largest of its kind in the world, has an additional 20,000 objects never before on public display, showing how closely stamps have intertwined with American history. The museum is next to Union Station in the old Washington City Post Office, designed by Daniel Burnham and completed in 1914.

Stop at Q Street between 31st and 32nd Streets, and look through the trees to the north, to the top of a sloping lawn, to see the neoclassical Tudor Place, designed by Capitol architect Dr. William Thornton for one of Martha Washington's granddaughters. Completed in 1816, the house remained in the family for six generations, hosting countless politicians, dignitaries, and military leaders. On the house tour, you can see the most extensive collection of George and Martha Washington items on public display outside Mount Vernon, Francis Scott Key's law desk, and spurs belonging to soldiers executed for serving as spies during the Civil War. You can only visit the house by guided tour (given hourly; the last tour at 3 pm), but before and afterward, until 4 pm, you can wander freely with a map through the formal garden full of roses and boxwoods, many of which are more than a century old. Admission to the garden grounds is free, but reserved tickets are required.

The outside of the building is plain, but inside, a wealth of art, contained in two separate collections, reflects the department's work. The Office of the Secretary Art Collection, featuring heroic oil paintings of dam construction, gold panning, and cattle drives, is found throughout the building's hallways, offices, and meeting rooms. The Department of the Interior Museum Collection outlines the work of the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the National Park Service, and other department branches. On Tuesday and Thursday at 2 pm, you can view 26 photographic murals by Ansel Adams and more than 40 dramatic murals painted by Maynard Dixon, John Steuart Curry, and other artists. Reservations are required for the Murals Tour; call at least two weeks in advance. The Indian Craft Shop across the hall from the museum sells Native American pottery, dolls, carvings, jewelry, baskets, and books.

Once used to store currency, this is one of the most impressive Greek Revival buildings in the United States. Robert Mills, the architect responsible for the Washington Monument and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, designed the colonnade on 15th Street. After the death of President Lincoln, the Andrew Johnson Suite was used as the executive office while Mrs. Lincoln moved out of the White House. One of the highlights is the Cash Room. Initially opened in 1869, it served as a bank, providing essential services to the public and supplying local banks with coins and currency. Renovated in 1985, visitors can tour the historic room. Tours of the Treasury Building are available only to U.S. citizens or legal residents, and you must make the reservation in advance through your congressional office.

Although Pierre L'Enfant included a Navy Memorial in his plans for Washington, D.C., the memorial did not come to life until 1987. The main attraction here is a 100-foot-diameter granite map of the world, known as the Granite Sea. Fountains, benches, and six ship masts surround the map. The Lone Sailor, a 7-foot-tall statue, stands on the map in the Pacific Ocean between the United States and Japan. The Naval Heritage Center, next to the memorial in the Market Square East Building, displays videos and exhibits of uniforms, medals, and other aspects of navy life. If you've served in the navy, you can enter your service record into the log. Bronze relief panels on the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the memorial depict 26 scenes commemorating events in the nation's naval history and honoring naval communities.