Top 10 things you must see and do in Washington DC

There are places in the United States that are truly worth visiting for three months of the year. Washington, DC commands the highest of must-see places for anyone.

Washington, DC is not just the seat of power for the world's most powerful nation. It’s also designed to bring together the best of America within just a few miles. 

We'll list our top ten we consider as the must-see must do when you spend a week in DC, the best place to see the best things of the United States as a tourist.

But whatever you plan to do, remember that there are ways to get around DC. You'll be walking a lot, but you can also choose to rent a bike, do the bus tours and take advantage of the Metrorail. 

Here's our top 10 we recommend.

The Lincoln Memorial & Reflecting Pool

Of all the monuments around the District, the Lincoln Memorial might perhaps be the most impressive because of its size, the color at dusk, and the long reflecting pool in front of its entrance facing East. 

The giant sitting figure of Abraham Lincoln looking out through those beautiful and impressive colonnades is awe-inspiring. His words on both walls are truly reverential.

Take your time to sit by the steps outside the entrance to watch the pool that stretches out 2,029 feet reflecting the blue sky. Dusk is the best time.

Vietnam Veterans and Korean War Veterans Memorials

Just two to three-minute walk away along Henry Bacon Drive is the Vietnam Veterans and Korean War Veterans Memorials. 

You’ll find the larger-than-life statues of soldiers in battle ponchos among the peaceful park grounds as if rising and moving quietly. 

Two long black granite walls form into an angle stretching 246 feet, each bearing the names of the war heroes. You’ll undoubtedly see visitors and families looking over the names of their long lost relatives. 

The memorial wall and the bronze soldiers will give you an experience that stays with you after you leave the place.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Here’s one your whole family must see and must do. With real airplanes of all sizes, rocket capsule, and interactive exhibits on aerospace and flight, it’s no wonder this colossal building is a favorite. You’d want to walk inside the replica of the space shuttle or check out the first heavier-than-air flight of the Wright Brothers from Kitty Hawk or the immersive planetarium with thematic overhead film shows on aviation and space.

The museum is a mall building divided into sections with multi-floors of exhibits everywhere. Get ready to spend a whole day just for this visit.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Yet another museum that can take up your whole day just to go through every room of every floor is the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. It’s where a lifelike 14-foot-tall African bush elephant stands to greet you at the lobby, an impressive welcome for its millions of visitors through the years.

A visit through the natural museum will cover not just the land animals of today and prehistoric dinosaurs, bones, and fauna, but also the origin of humankind, mineralogy with precious gemstones and the science behind it and thematic exhibits such as on the butterflies.

The White House

Here’s the base of operation for the world’s most powerful person on Earth, the place of influence that has moved the world today and in the world’s history. The significance alone merits the time you put into the visit. 

The tour through the White House is a walk through the East Wing where you’ll see the library, the China Room, the Vermeil Room, the East Room rebuilt after its destruction in 1812 by the British, the Green Room where then-President James Madison signed the nation’s first declaration of war and the Blue Room where, in 1886, President Grover Cleveland exchanged wedding vows in the White House for the first and only time.

Arlington National Cemetery

Everyone enjoys watching the crisp and clean movements and ritual that typifies a military’s changing of the guards. Every day, at specific times, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment called “The Old Guard” changes their designated sentry, a tradition to watch over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that has continued since 1937. 

A guard is changed every thirty minutes during Summer and every hour during Winter. 

And then, there’s the cemetery grounds covered with crosses where the war dead were buried, another tradition that has continued since the American Civil War. The Arlington House, which stands within the grounds, was once the home of famed Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee. It is, in fact, the Robert E. Lee Memorial.

National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art is right up there among the best places in the world of art museums. Imagine huge halls with original paintings from world-renowned artists in history. This is not a place to just rush your way through. You’re very much welcome to leisurely take in the experience, which inevitably means you won’t be able to cover everything in a day. 

The National Gallery of Art is itself a beautiful building with atriums and halls that house about 141,000 paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, and other forms of new media that go back all the way to the Middle Ages. You can find both modern contemporary ancient art. 

It’s the best place to just sit, relax, and enjoy both the artistic works and the people's interests.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

If you’ve saved up for a show or two, you won’t be disappointed to spend your money and your time to watch a performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Highly respected musical and theatrical artists perform here regularly. You’ll enjoy jazz, classical, dance, opera, puppetry, or percussion shows. It’s a great way to spend some of your nights at DC.

United States Botanic Garden

Here’s a destination you will certainly enjoy no matter how old you are. The sheer variety of experience you’ll get in its glass-covered Greenhouse building - the United States Botanic Garden. 

The glass garden building is segmented into different biomes. Native plants grow whether they’re from the tropical rainforest or temperate, whether they’re from the desert, forest, grassland or tundra. 

You’ll not only see a dizzying variety of orchids and carnivorous plants like the Venus FlyTrap and the Pitcher Plant. You’ll also see huge trees with ferns and moss and desert plants in their own unique areas.

The Washington Monument

Since you're in DC, you really should spend at least an hour at the Washington Monument. That's the 500-foot marble granite obelisk that's hard to miss. Getting the view from the top looking over the National Mall is breathtaking. 

When is the Best Time to Visit?

The best time of the year to visit Washington, DC is in Spring between March and May and during Fall between September and November. That’s when you’d enjoy walking out in cool weather, and you’d get the best colors. Whenever you decide to come, check for the weather at AccuWeather.com for an up-to-date weather forecast.

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