Arrive at National Airport, very close to D.C. the metro is attached to the airport but a ride share is very easy and not expensive.

Pro Tip! Download the CityMapper App to help get you around town. It'll breakdown the metro (the subway) step by step or tell you how to walk, bike or scooter from place to place.

• Tickets to purchase in advance: Capitol Tour, Library of Congress, Archives, Ford's Theatre, People's House, Mount Vernon boat. Other possible museums or attractions (see bottom for possibilities that I'd recommend)
• Reservations: Old Ebbitt Grill, Le Diplomate, Succotash, Martin's Tavern?, Teddy and the Bully Bar?
• Tours: Capitol Hill Tour, Memorials by Moonlight, Lincoln Assassination Tour, Arlington Cemetery, Archives?
• If you plan to use the metro: download the smarttrip card to your phone or buy a physical card or use your credit card to tap in and out of the turnstyles
• There are a lot of bikes and scooters to rent (I generally don't recommend scooters, I think they're super dangerous but along the National Mall greenspace can be really lovely. I still recommend bikes over scooters)
• I recommend using rideshare car options, make sure you have the apps downloaded

• The 4 statues on the park are 4 European Revolutionaries who helped fight with Amercia for independence in 1776: Kościuszko, Lafayette, Rochambeau and von Steuben. In the center of the square is 7th president, Andrew Jackson. 
• If you walk down Pennsylvania Avenue toward 17th St, you'll pass by the Blair House: where our foreign visitors are invited to stay.
• Across the street is The Eisehower Executive Office: one of the many buildings the executive office, the office of the President.

If you have time, visit The People's House: an interactive exhibit and a look at the  White House. You can sit in The Oval Office and listen to interviews from White House staff. Open 9am-5pm.

Enjoy a meal packed with history! The Old Ebbitt Grill touts they're the oldest bar and restaurant in D.C. Teddy Roosevelt's taxidermy is on display as well as Alexander Hamilton's stein collection. Ulysses S. Grant, Andrew Johnson, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Warren Harding all frequented the restaurant and McKinley lived in the building during his congressional stint. Enjoy their oyster happy hour!

Head next door for a nightcap with a view. You'll be able to look down on the White House and memorials. The Hotel Washington has a pop culture reputation: the hotel can be seen in movies like The Godfather II, Wonder Woman 1984, Contact and The Firm. You could also continue next door to the Willard Intercontinental Hotel.  A place where Lincoln and Grant would have an after work beverage, where Dr. King sat in the lobby and wrote his famous March on Washington speech (which he scrapped  and reverted back to his "I have a dream" rhetoric). The Round Robin bar has been there since 1847 and famously introducted the Mint Julep to D.C.

Enjoy a morning seeing the gorgeous Capitol Building, Supreme Court and Library of Congress. You could book a tour   and have someone walk you through all these steps! They'll provide tickets and information.

• Start at the Supreme Court: it opens first and is the shortest stop. It's free to enter. If it's an argument  day , you won't be able to enter but can still admire the exterior. Note: no beverages/water or food, lighters or aerosol is allowed in the building. There are bathrooms straight away. Walk into the building and you'll find yourself in the museum section with the history of the court. There is a gift shop and a cafeteria. Head upstairs to see the actual courtroom. It's the highest court in the land but there's a basketball court on top of the Supreme Court.
• Head outside, across the street to the Library of Congress: my favorite building in all of D.C. You need tickets , they're free. Check out the 2nd largest library in the world and all of the beautiful 1800s architechture. Ask a docent for information or find your way to aquire your Library of Congress library card. A very cool souvenir.
• PRO TIP! Walk downstairs back toward the entrance and ask the visitor desk how to find the tunnel to the Capitol building. Bags go through security. No water, no food inside the Capitol.
• After walking through the tunnel, you'll find yourself in the Visitor's Center. There are gift shops, bathrooms, a cafe, a museum and the start of the Capitol Tours. You can book a tour  in advance or you can walk up in the "Visitor's Without Reservations" line and get a walk up tour. In the spring and summer tours run every 10 minutes and in the winter, it's slightly less frequent. The last tour of the day is at 3:20pm. For lunch the cafe at the Capitol is convenient with lots of options. 

The Pavillion Cafe is a great lunch option (sandwiches, salads, flatbread, beverages) with a beautiful view. In the summer, there's a fountain and outdoor seating and in the cooler months there's an ice skating rink and indoor seating. It's a part of the National Gallery's sculpture garden so enjoy a walk around and find a sneaky Chagall, Calder sculpture and an aluminum tree.

Cross the street to The National Archives. You can reserve tickets in advance or you can just walk in (I recommend walking in otherwise you're tied to a time). If you'd like someone to talk you through the museum, this is a company I trust, here. Walk in through security and head up to the rotunda. The Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights are on display. You can take pictures but no flash and Pro Tip: walk straight to the documents, there are no lines in the rotunda. Downstairs, is a 1225 Magna Carta. Upstairs there is an interactive exhibit where you can learn more about the holdings and also see a copper engraving of the Declaration that John Quincy Adams commissioned. The gift shop is really great here too.

It's an Abraham Lincoln evening! Ticket's to Ford's Theater can include a lot of options. Make sure you get to the museum and the theater. Depending if they have a show going on, that can change their schedule. In the museum, is the gun that Booth used. Your ticket will also include Peterson House, the house that Lincoln died in the next morning. 

The building was built in 1911, as a bank and today is a beautiful restaurant with Southern food with a twist.  The wings are amazing, the beverages on point. It's a great meal and a beautiful place.

This is the meeting point for the Lincoln Assassination Tour. From 7pm-9pm you'll walk through the last day of Lincoln's life. It's an outdoor tour.

A place that deserves at least 2 hours of your day. A few ways you can explore: you can take a tour, walk around yourself or book the tram you can buy tickets at the visitor's center.

opens at 8am, especially if it's hot, get there early!

If you walk around yourself, there are clear markings and maps at the visitors center or the ANC Explorer app to help you navigate. Navigate your way to Taft's grave and Robert Todd Lincoln. Then, Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsberg, JFK, RFK, Ted and Joe Jr. Kennedy. Walk up the hill to Arlington House and learn about the connection to Robert E. Lee. Then make your way to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Changing takes place every 30 minutes April-October and every hour October-April. The grave of Audie Murphy and John Glenn are nearby as well as the memorial to the USS Maine, Challenger, Columbia and a few more memorials nearby. 

If you're really motivated, you could walk to the Marine Corps Memorial on the edge of cemetary and then you can call a car from the largest bronze statue to lunch.

A restaurant with its own historian. A restaurant that opened with Irish family recipes and has hosted presidents, Supreme Court justices, Mickey Mantle and maybe the place where JFK and Jackie got engaged.

Take a few moments to explore a neighborhood older than Washington, D.C. You can find the house that John Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy moved from into the White House, Georgetown University, The Exorcist Steps and a beautiful waterfront. The oldest standing building "The Old Stone House" on M street is worth a short stop at, you might even see a ghost in the top window.

FREE The Star Spangled Banner from the War of 1812, The Greensboro Lunch Counter (sit-in protest from 1960), the desk that Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Indepence upon, an AMAZING pop culture exhibit with Dorothy's ruby slippers, Captain America's shield, Elmo etc, First Ladie's dresses, the hat that Lincoln was wearing to the theatre when he was assassinated, war exhibit, trains and cars, Julia Child's kitchen...and so much more!

• Open 10am-5:30pm
• I would try to spend 1-1.5 hours here

Go to the hotel, get washed up for dinner for a who's who kinda place. Originally a dry cleaner on auto row, now it's one of the most coveted reservations in D.C. French cuisine and you might even see a Senator or perhaps a president.

This is a very fun neighborhood to hop around for another desert or beverage. Stuido Theatre is around the corner too!

Tickets for the boat cruise can be found here 

George Washington called it the most pleasant seat in America...and I get it. It's an outdoor space and the Mount Vernon Ladies Association have brought it to life! You'll tour the mansion, say hello to sheep and bulls, hogs, pay your respects to the General and his wife and see the Enslaved Memorial and burial ground. They've recreated some of his farmland (orginally 5 farms) and enslaved living quarters. There's an education center (you can learn about his military career, farming choices, presidency and legacy. you can even see one of his 8 sets of dentures). After the education center is a gift shop (where you can purchase some of the whiskey that was made with his recipe or go to the Inn and sample some at the bar).

They offer food and beverages on the boat, they're just ok. I wouldn't plan on a meal on the boat. But there's coffee in the am and beverages and snacks in the afternoon.

Instead of taking a boat, you could take an uber back and forth and be less beholden to the boat schedule. The boat ride is 90 minutes, but a really nice way to spend the day.

This will be most of the day 8am-3pm

Head back to the hotel for a rest or head straight to dinner. A Teddy Roosevelt themed restaurant!

This is the starting point for Memorials and Moonlight. A 2 hour tour that will take you to WWII, Lincoln, Korea, Vietnam, Dr. King, FDR and Jefferson. You could also do your own exploring but having a guide tell you all the stories makes a huge difference. The memorials at night are another kind of beautiful and at night, it's much cooler. If you'd prefer to do them first thing in the morning, they're always open, it's equally as empty.

8pm-10pm

If you have time before you leave or are looking for alternatives there's so much more to do!

**African-American Museum (free tickets required), I'd really recommend hitting this museum. It's huge and comprehensive.

**Portrait Gallery (free) All the President's Portraits are here!!** Opens at 11:30am open till 7:30pm

**Spy Museum ($) lots of great history of espionage

**Lincoln's Cottage ($) 

Air and Space Museum (free tickets required)

Washington Monument  (tickets required)

Holocaust Memorial Museum (tickets required)

National Cathedral ($, a great cafe up there too)

Old Town Alexandria (similar to Georgetown, shopping, history and food)

National Gallery of Art (free)

Museum of the Bible ($)

Natural History Museum (free)

Ben's Chili Bowl (restaurant on U St steeped in civil rights history)

Baseball, Hockey, Soccer, Football, Basebetball...catch a game

Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Ford's Theater, Shakespeare Theatre...catch a show

9/11 Pentagon Memorial 

Take a water taxi to Georgetown, Alexandria, the Wharf, Mount Vernon or just for a ride downriver!

Be sure to arrive 2-3 hours in advance and be sure to catch the final glimpses out the window, they're stunning!