Gems of Washington D.C.

While Washington D.C. is awash with monuments, museums, galleries and incredible dining, two of the standouts are the Library of Congress and the Capitol. Start off by doing a free one-hour tour at the Library of Congress, the biggest library in the world, with 164 million items on approximately 1,350 kilometres of bookshelves. Highlights include the Thomas Jefferson library, the Waldseemüller map found in 1507 in Bavaria – the first map to show the word ‘America’, the Gutenberg Bible and the reading room. Walk through the tunnel to the Capitol on a tour of this iconic building which includes the Crypt, the Rotunda, and National Statuary Hall as well as the fascinating movie, Out of Many, One. loc.gov; visitthecapitol.gov; washington.org