MONUMENTS, MUSEUMS AND HISTORY GALORE
With some of the world’s best cultural hotspots, as well as a buzzing restaurant scene, there’s more to Washington DC than lobbyists and lawmakers, writes Brett Atkinson
What to see:
Often called “America’s Front Yard”, Washington DC’s National Mall is packed with stellar museums, and bookended by two of the country’s most recognisable monuments. Getting to the area’s highlights entails a walk of around 6km, so a minimum of a full day is necessary to explore. Another option is to jump aboard the DC Circulator bus, which loops conveniently around the mall from its eastern terminus at Union Station.
At the mall’s western end, the Lincoln Memorial and Martin Luther King Jr Memorial commemorate two different change-makers from two very different eras. The soaring obelisk of the Washington Monument anchors the Reflecting Pool before the city’s astounding museums become the focus.
Perennially popular is the National Air and Space Museum, scheduled to reopen in September 2022 with eight new galleries including Destination Moon, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Other institutions adorning the mall’s leafy gardens and wide avenues include the National Sculpture Garden — with installations by Joan Miro and Roy Lichtenstein — and the National Museum of the American Indian. Filling the eastern horizon is the iconic dome of the US Capitol. Free guided tours of the centre of US Government should be booked in advance online.
To see the current residence of the Biden family, the White House’s famed address of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is around 1km north of the mall along 17th St. Tickets for guided tours are virtually impossible to access, so check out the interesting multimedia exhibitions at the White House Visitor Centre instead.
Beyond the attractions of the National Mall, Washington DC features other exceptional museums, and these are also usually free to enter. Standout institutions include the harrowing but essential United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the National Geographic Museum and the fascinating International Spy Museum.
What to do:
Packed with historical details and local anecdotes, guided tours are a good way to learn about the city. DC by Foot’s fee model is to “pay what you think it’s worth” and they offer specialist departures exploring the National Mall, learning about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and also Ghost Tours discovering the darker sides of various DC neighbourhoods. Bike and Roll offers independent cycle rental and also guided bike and Segway tours taking in the National Mall and Capitol Hill. Their Monuments @ Nite Bike Tour explores the mall after dark when visitor numbers are fewer, and many of the area’s monuments are illuminated.
To explore Washington DC’s culinary scene, sign up with DC Metro Food Tours’ explorations of various neighbourhoods. The Dupont Circle tour concentrates on the bars and bistros of the up-and-coming area north of the White House, while Washington DC’s Ethiopian community — the largest in the US and the biggest outside of Ethiopia — is showcased on the Little Ethiopia tour.
Where to eat & drink:
Washingtonians love to eat well, and there’s huge diversity around town. Check out Capitol Hill’s H St NE for farm-to-table chicken dishes at Farmbird, upscale Ethiopian fare at Ethiopic and fusion Indian at Daru.
Highlights of Logan Circle’s 14th St NW include Busboys and Poets, equal parts cafe, counter-culture bookstore and open mic venue, while cocktails and tapas feature at Estadio. An easy stroll from the National Mall, the revitalised Southwest Waterfront area features the Maine Avenue Fish Market, including the historic Rappahannock Oyster Bar, and good-value, traveller-friendly eateries such as Colada’s Cuban menu. Prohibition was always a tough sell in the nation’s capital — it’s reckoned Washington DC had more than 3000 illegal speakeasies in the 1920s — and today’s locals now crowd in for cocktails and Chinese street food at Copycat Co, and craft beers from local breweries including DC Brau and 3 Stars Brewing.
Where to stay:
Rooms at the Hotel Hive veer towards the compact end of the scale, but they’re well-equipped and are good value for Kiwi travellers. Shared spaces include a lobby bar and a rooftop garden for pizza and cocktails, and it’s just a short walk south to the Lincoln Memorial.
Getting there:
The quickest journey to Washington DC for New Zealand travellers is currently via Los Angeles or San Francisco with Air New Zealand, but with the launch of the airline’s direct New York route — from September 17 — a convenient option will be catching Amtrak’s Acela Express rail service (three hours) from Manhattan’s Penn Station to Washington DC’s Union Station.