Day Trips from Washington

Leaving the District

Washington's boundary is close on every side, and many of the places visitors link with the capital lie just outside it. The Virginia shore of the Potomac, directly across from the Lincoln Memorial, holds Arlington National Cemetery and the Marine Corps War Memorial; downriver are Old Town Alexandria and George Washington's own house at Mount Vernon; upriver the Potomac drops through the gorge at Great Falls. East, on the Chesapeake Bay, is Annapolis, the capital of Maryland.

All of them make a half day or a full day out. Arlington and Alexandria are on the Metro; Mount Vernon and Great Falls are easiest by car, tour or bike; Annapolis is best by car or bus. None is part of the city, so each keeps its own rules, tickets and schedules: check the official page before you go.

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery was established in May 1864, during the Civil War, on the estate of Robert E. Lee's family, taken by the federal government after a tax dispute. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres on the hills above the river, among them veterans of every American war. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, guarded around the clock, the grave of President Kennedy and Arlington House, the Lee mansion on the crest of the hill, are the places most visitors come to see.

It is a working cemetery with funerals every day, so visitors are asked to keep to the paths, keep quiet and give way to funeral processions. It can be reached on foot across Arlington Memorial Bridge from the Lincoln Memorial, or by the Blue Line to Arlington Cemetery station. Nearby, the Marine Corps War Memorial, dedicated in 1954, reproduces in bronze the famous photograph of the flag raising on Iwo Jima.

Old Town Alexandria

Alexandria was a port town before the capital existed, laid out in 1749, and it was part of the original federal district until Virginia took back its side of the river in 1846 (see the plan). Old Town, the historic core, is a district of brick sidewalks, eighteenth- and nineteenth-century houses, churches and taverns running down King Street to the Potomac waterfront.

George Washington worshipped at Christ Church and gave money to found the first Catholic church in Virginia, and Robert E. Lee also attended Christ Church. Gadsby's Tavern, the Carlyle House and the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary are among the landmarks. The King Street Metro station is at the top of the old town; the Potomac Water Taxi from the Wharf, running in the warmer months, is the more scenic way to arrive (see getting around).

Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon was George Washington's home, a plantation on the Potomac about fifteen miles south of the city, which he leased from 1754, owned outright from 1761 and enlarged twice. The house, of wood made to look like stone, looks out over the river from its long piazza. Washington died here in 1799, and he and Martha Washington are buried in a tomb on the grounds.

The work of the estate was done largely by enslaved African Americans, and the estate now marks the slave burial ground near the Washingtons' tomb and tells their story alongside his. Since 1858 Mount Vernon has been owned and kept by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, a private body that sells its own tickets, so it is not a Park Service site. It is reached by the George Washington Memorial Parkway, by tour, or by bike on the eighteen-mile Mount Vernon Trail from Rosslyn along the river.

Great Falls

Great Falls Park is a Park Service site of 800 acres on the Virginia bank of the Potomac, upriver from the city, where the river falls through a narrow, rocky gorge in a series of rapids. Overlooks give views of the falls, trails run along the cliffs above Mather Gorge, and the remains of the Patowmack Canal, the first canal in the United States to use locks, can be traced in the woods. The Maryland side of the falls is part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal park that starts in Georgetown.

No public transit reaches the park, so come by car or with a tour. The river here is powerful, with strong currents under water that can look calm, and the Park Service posts warnings for a reason: stay on the trails and off the rocks at the water's edge, and do not swim or wade. Spring, when the river runs high, is the most spectacular season, and fall brings color to the gorge.

Annapolis

Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, sits on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, about thirty miles east of Washington. It is a historic, compact town with a strong sailing culture. In 1783 and 1784 it served as the temporary national capital, and George Washington came before Congress in the Maryland State House to resign his commission as commander of the army. The brick State House and the old streets around it keep much of their colonial plan, radiating from circles much as Washington's avenues do.

Next to the town is the United States Naval Academy, founded in 1845, which trains officers for the Navy and the Marine Corps. Visitors can see parts of the grounds under the academy's security arrangements, which require identification; check its visitor page before you go. The waterfront at the head of the harbor and the town's seafood restaurants make a long lunch worthwhile (see eating and drinking).

Planning a day out

Arlington pairs well with the western memorials, and Alexandria with a morning at Mount Vernon or an evening by the river. Allow for traffic on the parkways and the roads out of the city in rush hour, and remember that each place has its own ticketing and screening, separate from the city's museums (see booking ahead).

A car is useful for Mount Vernon and Great Falls, but not for Arlington or Alexandria, where parking is harder than the Metro. If you do rent one for a day, pick it up on the morning you leave the city rather than keeping it through the days you spend on the Mall.