Having now lived in the Washington DC metropolitan region for a few years, calling this beautiful city home has been an absolute pleasure. I've loved uncovering the delightful restaurants, beautiful sights and sounds that make up our nation's capital and surrounding regions. Here's a quick go to list of some of my favorite spots in the city.
Visiting Washington DC Touring Recommendations
Where to Eat in DC:
Sequoia is a waterfront restaurant in Georgetown that has a great Sunday buffet brunch
Farmers Fishers Bakers is another great Georgetown waterfront restaurant
The Old Town Alexandria area is beautiful and has a bunch of fun waterfront restaurants too
Busboys and Poets is a classic DC restaurant
Founding Farmers is another iconic classic DC restaurant
Zaytinya also an amazing iconic restaurant but has smaller tapas style food
I personally love Tatte Bakery & Cafe
There’s a bunch of outdoor eating in general in Georgetown and throughout DC— most restaurants have cute outdoor seating
Bistro Aracosia and Lapis are Afghan restaurants in the city
Some Instagram accounts that give good recommendations:
Where to Explore in DC
If you’re with kiddos the air and space museum is a fun one to check out. The one in the city is nice, though the one in Virginia is bigger
The National zoo has a panda, it’s a good family outing
The African American history museum is the most popular of the Smithsonian museums— definitely get tickets for museums online in advance if you can because in the summer they can run out quickly
City center in dc has the bougie upscale shopping. The suburbs in Virginia have the ethnic food spots like Afghan food etc
My favorite monument is the Lincoln Memorial— gives you great views of the Washington Monument and the reflection pool. It’s also a really nice one to visit at night after the sun has set
Transportation & Parking in DC
Download SpotHero (app) if you’re driving to get good parking deals
Public Transportation: You can definitely just Uber or use the metro— Google maps actually gives good directions for it.
A lot of the popular destinations are easier to get to via metro. For example, all of the museums and monuments are right outside a metro stop vs parking far away and walking a while
Tips for Travel to DC
Depending when you come it gets HUMID here. So pack a portable fan
Some other great resources with more guides on where to visit when you're in DC can be found in the list below!
This bucketlist features one of my favorite sites of all-- The Diyanet Center of America, the largest mosque in the US and a beautiful experience that takes you to a corner of DC that feels like Turkey https://www.redfin.com/blog/washington-dc-bucket-list/
This is a great guide for events going on during the time you’re visiting https://washington.org/things-do-washington-dc
The Washington post also has a weekly list https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/?itid=sn_going%20out%20guide_title
And the Washingtonian is great too https://www.washingtonian.com/sections/things-to-do/
Comments