Explore Washington D.C the capital of the United States of America and the seat of its three branches of government, as well as the federal district of the U.S. The city has an unparalleled collection of free, public museums and many of the nation’s most treasured monuments and memorials. The vistas on the National Mall between the Capitol, Washington Monument, White House, and Lincoln Memorial are famous throughout the world as icons of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful nation.

D.C. has shopping, dining, and nightlife befitting a world-class metropolis. Travelers will find the city to be exciting, cosmopolitan, and international.

Virtually all of D.C.’s tourists flock to the National Mall—a two-mile long, beautiful stretch of parkland that holds many of the city’s monuments and Smithsonian museums—but the city itself is a vibrant metropolis that often has little to do with monuments, politics, or neoclassical buildings. The Smithsonian is a “can’t miss,” but don’t trick yourself—you haven’t really been to D.C. until you’ve been out and about the city.

Downtown (The National Mall, East End, West End, Waterfront)

• The most-visited areas: The National Mall, D.C.’s main theater district, Smithsonian and non-Smithsonian museums galore, fine dining, Chinatown, the Capital One Arena, the Convention Center, the central business district, the White House, West Potomac Park, the Kennedy Center, George Washington University, the beautiful Tidal Basin, Nationals Park, and the Wharf. The National park at the center of the city, surrounded by the white monumental buildings of the U.S. government, and containing an extraordinary collection of monuments, memorials, free museums, cherry blossoms, squirrels, and pigeons.

North Central (DuPont Circle, Shaw, Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights, Petworth)

• C.’s trendiest and most diverse neighborhoods and the places to go for live music, nightlife, and loads of restaurants, Howard University, boutique shopping, beautiful embassies, Little Ethiopia, U Street, and lots of nice hotels. Shaw, the more laid back of the three North Central neighborhoods, which historically has been the center of African-American cultural life in the city, has nightlife along U St catering to a slightly older and more sophisticated crowd, incredible food in Little Ethiopia, off-beat shopping, the city’s main live music venues, and its most exciting art gallery scene at Logan Circle. Adams Morgan has many bars with live music concentrated on 18th street, several good restaurants and is just a nice neighborhood for a walk. Columbia Heights includes the city’s largest shopping mall as well as plenty of budget dining and drinking options. Along with the adjacent neighborhood of Mount Pleasant, it is home to most of the city’s Salvadoran population and its signature comfort food, the pupusa. Petworth includes Abraham Lincoln’s summer cottage and Carter Barron Amphitheatre as well as an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants.

West (Georgetown, Upper Northwest)

• The prestigious, wealthy side of town, home to the historic village of Georgetown with its energetic nightlife, colonial architecture, and fine dining; the National Zoo; the massive National Cathedral; bucolic Dumbarton Oaks; the bulk of D.C.’s high-end shopping; more Embassy Row; American University; and several nice dining strips. Colonial architecture and cobblestone streets, sports bars, upscale and boutique shopping, bucolic Dumbarton Oaks, and Georgetown University.

East (Capitol Hill, Near Northeast, Brookland, Anacostia)

• Starting at the Capitol Building and Library of Congress, and fanning out past grandiose Union Station and the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood, to the less often visited neighborhoods by Gallaudet and Catholic University, historic Anacostia, D.C.’s “Little Vatican” around the National Shrine, the huge National Arboretum, the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, offbeat nightlife in the Atlas District, and a handful of other eccentric neighborhoods to explore. Τhe main theater district, more great museums, many tourist traps, the Capital One Arena, the Convention Center, Chinatown, and fine dining a la successful restaurateur José Andrés. Near Northeast — offbeat nightlife in the Atlas District, Gallaudet University, and the huge National Arboretum. Brookland — D.C.’s “Little Vatican” around the National Shrine and Catholic University. Anacostia — the many neighborhoods East of the River falls off even the radar of the locals, but can make a great “day trip” to visit the Frederick Douglass and Smithsonian Anacostia museums and the beautiful Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, or simply to better understand how such a poor and neglected neighborhood with such rich history could exist in the capital of the world’s richest nation.

D.C. is actually at the center of one of the country’s largest metropolitan areas, and a lot of the big area attractions, such as the Arlington Cemetery, the Iwo Jima Memorial, the airports, the Pentagon, the National Mormon Temple, the area’s best ethnic dining, and hotels with a slightly lower sales tax rate are actually just beyond the city borders—don’t miss the Best of the ‘Burbs.

Washington, D.C., is a city borne of politics, by politics, and for politics. It wasn’t the first national capital: Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Annapolis, Trenton, Philadelphia, and even New York City all hosted the national government. However, it was clear that the nation’s capital would need to be independent from the then-powerful state governments and that the southern states would refuse to accept a capital in the north. On July 16, 1790, Congress passed The Residence Act, which established that the capital of the U.S. will be located along the Potomac River. On January 24, 1791, President Washington announced the specific location of the new federal city just north of his 70,000-acre estate. A diamond-shaped federal district was carved out of land from the states of Maryland and Virginia and the federal government purchased large swaths of mostly-undeveloped land from its owners. The existing municipalities of Georgetown and Alexandria remained independent cities within the newly created District of Columbia.

D.C. is impressively international. There are more embassies in D.C. than in any other city in the world, drawing international professionals from almost every country in the world.

Washington, D.C. is served by three major airports. All three airports offer unlimited free Wi-Fi.