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This trip is designed to give you a thorough overview of some of the DC areas best historical and cultural landmarks. It includes many of the monuments and museums that makes DC postcards, but it also includes time to get out of the city, relax, and enjoy some of the beauty of the areas surrounding the district. It is a complete trip for someone who has never visited before, and the majority of the daytime activities would be perfect for a family. This trip can be easily customized ? although the days are packed with museums and monuments, one can easily add or remove many of the activities depending on interests. None of the dinner options included are inexpensive, but they are a sampling of some of the best and most unique restaurants in the city.
Day 1
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Washington DC
 Day Note
Day 1. Welcome. Start your visit in Georgetown. You can easily walk there by heading to DuPont Circle, and walking down New Hampshire (south). One you get to M street, make a right. You can sign up for a historical tour in advance – it is one of the best ways to see one of DC’s oldest neighborhoods. After lunch, head over the bridge (either take a cab or drive if you have a car) and head to Arlington National Cemetery. Ask the cab driver to drive you past the Imo Jima Memorial, then spend the afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery. Be sure and walk up the hill to see the Custis-Lee House and enjoy one of the best panorama’s of Washington. Head back into DC, and enjoy dinner at Vidalia, a southern restaurant that is walking distance from your hotel (reservations required). After dinner, take in an independent film at the Landmark E Street cinema before heading back to the interesting and unique Tabard Inn. 
Arlington House once belonged to Confederate General Robert E. Lee, whose wife, Mary Custis, a great-granddaughter of George Washington, inherited the home. During the Civil War, Union troops made the house their headquarters. The home is furnished as it was when the Lees raised their seven children here. Park rangers dressed in period costume help dramatize the era. Enjoy a stunning view of Washington from the front of the hillside mansion. As the mansion is located within Arlington National Cemetery, visitors must either walk from the Visitor Center or join the Tourmobile Sightseeing tour of the cemetery.
This art house has eight auditoriums for your viewing pleasure, seven of which feature stadium seating. For a more enjoyable experience, sit back and relax with an espresso and a freshly baked pastry from the gourmet refreshment stand. For film times, ticket prices and further information please see their website.
A tranquil retreat from fast-paced Washington, the Tabard Inn is among the city's oldest hotels. Located near the White House and popular Dupont Circle, this gracious hotel is loaded with charm and ambiance. Rooms are comfortable, and each one is different. Ask for a room overlooking the street or the courtyard. Some rooms share bathrooms.
Do not let this restaurant's basement location put you off. It is a charming place, with artwork by local artists and wreaths of dried flowers adorning the walls. The American country decor complements perfectly the pleasant provincial-American cuisine served here. Although the menu changes frequently, there is generally a game dish, the currently popular shrimp and grits, veal sweetbreads, lobster, specially farmed trout and rack of lamb. Complimentary valet service is offered in the evenings.
The flag flies 24 hours a day at this famous memorial located across the river from Washington, DC, in Arlington, Virginia. The memorial is design after the famous Life Magazine cover from the Battle of Iwo Jima. While this site doesn’t offer a full day’s worth of activities, it is without a doubt worth a visit when in DC.
Take a rare opportunity to see the interiors of stately old Georgetown homes, which are opened to the public just once a year during a late April weekend. Admission includes afternoon tea with homemade sandwiches and cookies at the parish hall at St. John's Church.
Arlington National Cemetery sits on the Virginia banks of the Potomac River and overlooks Washington DC and the monuments clustered around Lincoln Memorial. More than 300,000 people are buried on the rolling 200-acre grounds of Arlington Cemetery including veterans from all of America’s military conflicts, American explorers, astronauts, literary figures, presidents, Supreme Court Justices, and prominent figures from Black and Hispanic history. Visit the eternal flame of President John F. Kenney’s grave, see the Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns, or simply walk the grounds and explore the final resting place of so many of America’s own. Enjoy quiet pristine views of the Potomac and DC from the front lawn of the Arlington House (also known as Custis-Lee Mansion). Paid parking is available, accessible from Memorial Drive at $1.75 - $2.00/hour. The Metro blue line stops at the Arlington National Cemetery station during visitor hours. Tourmobile also services Arlington Cemetery.
Arlington House/ Custis-Lee Mansion
Day 2
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Washington DC
Day Note
Start day 2 your day off in DuPont Circle. Stroll the shops along Connecticut Avenue. If you feel like a hot dog, head to one of DC’s famous institution, Ben’s Chili Bowl, for a chili half-smoke or some chili cheese fries for lunch. Get on the Green Line/Yellow line and head down to the mall. While on the mall visit some of DC’s best museums, including the moving Holocaust Museum and the Air and Space Museum. Head back up towards DuPont Circle, and if you have time, stop in Chinatown to see the National Portrait Gallery. Then head back to DuPont Circle and walk just north of the circle to Bistro Du Coin, a relaxing French bistro. If you still feel like heading out, head to Local 16 or the recently opened Marvin’s (14th and U) for a couple of drinks on the roof deck.
DuPont circle is one of Washington’s hubs of nightlife, shopping, and dining. The circle itself is filled with Washingtonians day and night, relaxing on the benches, snacking, or playing music or a game of chess. Around the circle, the neighborhood is filled with interesting museums, shops, restaurants and bars. DuPont, and more specifically 17th street off of DuPont, is considered the center of Washington DC’s gay and lesbian community. The Brickskeller, home of the world largest beer list, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is located in DuPont. DuPont is also home to a large number of embassies, and one can easily access Embassy Row by simply walking north-west on Massachusetts Avenue, which intersects the circle. DuPont is also home to some of the most important think-tanks in the country, including the Brookings Institution and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
The dinosaur skeletons on the ground floor are sure to please the kids. But there is something here for everyone. The famous cursed Hope Diamond is on display as well as a live coral reef, a walk-through mine and an insect zoo with thousands of live specimens. The 'Discovery Room' encourages kids to touch, smell and taste the exhibits. If your feet need some rest, sit back and enjoy a film in the museum's Samuel C. Johnson IMAX Theater in the National Museum of Natural History.
Famous and distinguished Americans are honored here in portraits, photographs and other visual media. A wide variety of politicians, artists, scientists and social activists are represented. This gallery is a remarkable testimony to the diverse figures the United States has produced, from Grace Kelly and Boris Karloff to George Washington, Mickey Mantle and Gertrude Stein. Photographs, prints, drawings and sculptures supplement the paintings. Of particular interest is the Hall of Presidents, which features a portrait or sculpture of each chief executive.
Admission is free.
Visitors should come prepared for an experience likely to be disturbing and difficult to forget. At the start of the tour, each visitor is given an identity card of a Holocaust victim that matches the visitor's own age and gender. Ordinary reality is skewed through off-center stairways, weird angles and the shadows of other visitors on the glass walkways overhead. An elaborate audio-visual display includes interviews, films and photographs. The Hall of Remembrance provides a calm, empty space at the end of the tour where one can reflect on the experience. The museum discourages children under 11 from attending. Free timed passes are needed to visit the permanent exhibit.
As much a destination as a place to eat, Ben’s Chili Bowl remains one of the few (non-governmental) things in DC that remains unchanged since the 1950s. The food is good – standard diner breakfast items in the mornings plus home-made chili, chili-cheese fries, burgers, coleslaw, veggie burgers, shakes and half-smokes (the fantastic DC and Baltimore local food that lives somewhere between sausage and hotdog). The place oozes history. Ben’s opened on U Street in 1958 and fed luminaries such as Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and Martin Luther King Jr. Ten years later riots raged through DC after the assassination of King, closing much of the city. U Street was particularly hard hit. Like a beacon on rocky shores, Ben’s was able to stay open past curfew and feed the community leaders, firefighters and police who worked to save the neighborhood. Since that time Ben’s Chili Bowl has served a community gathering place as the city contracted and then grew again. Ben’s Chili Bowl is still Ben’s after fifty years. The stools, long counter, and bright booths are all original, and so is the experience.
Parking during the weekdays is not too bad (two hour limit for non-neighborhood residents), but weekends and evenings are difficult. Ben’s is directly across the street from the U Street/African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo station (Green/Yellow lines). Exit via 13th street.
The name is a mix of French and Russian, while the food is exclusively from the Francais side of the Mediterranean. From the zinc bar offering classic wines to the filling and delicious meals, the place is a resounding success. Chef Yannis Felix puts together the likes of French Onion Soup, Homemade Country Pâté, Mussels in Garlic Butter, and Steak Tartare with remarkable finesse. Don't forget to ask for the dessert of the day before you leave.
Local 16 is a restaurant that makes you feel at home. As one enters the restaurant, you are greeted with a casual atmosphere, unpolished floors, hanging lamps and bordello-red walls. The restaurant has a bar on the second floor which serves drinks and martinis that are worth a try. French bread is served in plenty and lamb couscous for the main course is a crowd puller. There is a lot of seafood on offer and for the non-meat eaters there is always an assortment of salad entrées and vegetarian dishes. Moving on to desserts, the restaurant does perform above average, but the nine flavors of gelato cannot be missed.
Located on the National Mall a few blocks from the Capitol Building, the National Air and Space Museum appeals to all ages. See the Wright 1903 Flyer, the Apollo 11 command module Columbia, and a lunar rock sample which visitors can touch. Children delight in the many hands-on demonstrations while IMAX Theater presentations and flight simulators engage the whole family. Fascinated with space? Explore the universe at the Albert Einstein Planetarium! Whether you visit for one hour or five, the large solarium-style food court makes this a convenient mid-day museum stop. Free admission. There is no museum parking, but public lots are within a few blocks (rates vary). Metro stations nearby: L’Enfant Plaza (blue/orange and yellow/green lines) and Smithosonian (blue/orange lines).
Dupont Circle
Day 3
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Washington DC
Day Note
Day 3 is all about memorials and monuments. Head back down from the mall and start your day at the Lincoln Memorial. You can spend the morning and most of the afternoon walking between the Jefferson, Vietnam, Korean, World War II, and FDR memorials. Be sure and walk to the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. After spending the day outdoors, head to Belga Café for mussels and frites. If you still have energy, close out the day at the DC Improv.
The national library of the United States, this library houses one of the largest and most important collections of books in the world. Among the 130 million items held at the library is one of only four perfect vellum copies of the Gutenberg Bible. For visitors the Library offers tours, in addition to a rotating collection of some of the most interesting exhibits in Washington. Be sure to check online http://www.loc.gov/loc/events/index.php for the latest information on the collections and exhibits at the library. Viewing the great halls and spaces of the library is an experience that should not be missed on any visit to Washington, DC.
One of the most powerful and moving sights in the District of Columbia is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, located near the National Mall and the Lincoln Memorial. The main portion of the memorial, dedicated in 1982, was designed by architect Maya Ying Lin and contains 58,256 names of soldiers who either died or were classified as missing in action as a result of the conflict in Vietnam. The memorial consists of two long black granite walls that are sunk into the ground, inscribed with the names of the fallen. Visitors can walk along a path, viewing both the names on the wall and their own reflection simultaneously. In addition, a smaller bronze statue named The Three Soldiers stands at the end of the wall, looking back on their comrades. This addition was a compromise due to the negative reaction to the original design, and was dedicated in 1984. The final addition came in 1993 in the form of the Vietnam Women's Memorial, dedicated to the women of the United States who served in the Vietnam War.
DC Improv books local and national comedians; several comic giants, including Robin Williams, Jerry Seinfeld and Rosie O'Donnell, have brought the house down. This is a large club, with over 50 tables scattered in front of the stage. Shows often sell out, especially for national acts, so it is wise to buy tickets in advance. The menu includes items such as salads and Mexican entrees. Beer, wine and cocktails are available as well. Patrons must be 18 or older.
 Belga Cafe
Cuisine: French, East European, British & Irish, Austrian, German & Swiss, Italian, Spanish, Mediterranean
Belga cafe is a great place to eat typical Belgian and Euro-Fusion cuisine. Combining an intriguing atmosphere with excellent, light and healthy interesting food. Belga Cafe is a little bit of Brussels on the Hill, with an open kitchen and a sidewalk cafe.
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