As a long-time resident of the Washington, DC metro area, I’ve had the privilege of exploring many sites in the city, both well-known and obscure. DC is a special place because, not only does it hold some of the nation’s most iconic memorials, it also tells the story of the nation’s history. Learn more about the history of the Nation's Capital here.
Here are some helpful lists of things to do or see in Washington, DC. Note that these are places located within the DC boundaries. Other famous nearby sites in Northern Virginia, such as Arlington National Cemetery, are on the Virginia page. More about my lists here.
Happy touring!
National Archives Museum
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Smithsonian National Postal Museum
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
National Portrait Gallery
National Gallery of Art - West Building
National Gallery of Art - East Building
National Building Museum
Museum of the Bible
Ford’s Theatre
Woodrow Wilson House
Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
Washington Monument
Thomas Jefferson Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
Ulysses S. Grant Memorial
James Madison Memorial Building and Hall
George Mason Memorial
Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
Theodore Roosevelt Island
Constitution Gardens
World War II Memorial
Korean War Veterans Memorial
Kennedy Center
U.S. Navy Memorial Plaza
Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II
Smithsonian National Zoo
U.S. Botanic Garden
Bartholdi Park
U.S. National Arboretum
U.S. Capitol Grounds
Constitution Gardens
National Mall
Washington National Cathedral Gardens and Grounds
Theodore Roosevelt Island
Congressional Cemetery
Lafayette Square
Meridian Hill
West Potomac Park
East Potomac Park
Dumbarton Oaks
Tudor Place
Smithsonian Pollinator Garden
National Gallery of Art - Sculpture Garden
Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens
Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove
George Washington Statue (Washington Circle)
George Washington Statue (Washington National Cathedral)
George Washington Statue (Washington National Cathedral Olmsted Woods)
George Washington Statue (U.S. Capitol)
George Washington Statue (Smithsonian National Museum of American History)
Abraham Lincoln Statue (Lincoln Memorial)
Abraham Lincoln Statue (Lincoln’s Cottage)
Abraham Lincoln Statue (Emancipation Memorial)
Abraham Lincoln Statue (DC Court of Appeals)
Abraham Lincoln Statue (Washington National Cathedral)
Andrew Jackson Statue (Lafayette Square)
James Madison Statue (Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building)
Thomas Jefferson Statue (Jefferson Memorial)
Ulysses S. Grant Memorial
Theodore Roosevelt Statue (Roosevelt Island)
John F. Kennedy Bust (Kennedy Center)
James Garfield Memorial
James Buchanan Memorial (Meridian Hill)
Benjamin Franklin Statue (Old Post Office)
Alexander Hamilton Statue (U.S. Treasury)
Albert Gallatin Statue (U.S. Treasury)
George Mason Memorial
Martin Luther King, Jr. Statue (MLK, Jr. Memorial)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Fala Statue (FDR Memorial)
Eleanor Roosevelt Statue (FDR Memorial)
Appalachian Couple (FDR Memorial)
The Breadline (FDR Memorial)
Fireside Chat (FDR Memorial)
Prologue (FDR Memorial)
Presidential Seal (FDR Memorial)
First Inaugural (FDR Memorial)
Social Programs (FDR Memorial)
Funeral Cortege (FDR Memorial)
Daniel Webster Statue (U.S. Capitol)
Chief Justice John Marshall Statue (U.S. Supreme Court)
Chief Justice John Marshall Statue (John Marshall Park)
John Paul Jones Memorial
General George Gordon Meade Memorial
General George B. McClellan Statue
General Marquis de Lafayette Statue (Lafayette Square)
General Kosciuszko Statue (Lafayette Square)
General Rochambeau Statue (Lafayette Square)
Joan of Arc Statue (Meridian Hill)
Dante Alighieri (Meridian Hill)
Winston Churchill Statue (British Embassy)
