Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington, is the capital city of the United States, and its only federal district.
Getting to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. (WAS IATA for all airports) is served by three major airports. All three airports offer unlimited free Wi-Fi. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA IATA) is the closest and most convenient airport to D.C., 3 mi (4.8 km) south of the city in Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac River.
- 01Union Station
All trains stop at Union Station in Capitol Hill (Red Line Metro), a few blocks from the U.S.
Worth seeing
Most of the attractions in D.C. are on the National Mall, the West End, and Capitol Hill. While there are many maps on display throughout the city, the official National Mall map and the Library of Congress map are great to have handy.
Things to do
D.C. has the highest ratio of parkland to population in the country for a city its size. Many of these parks are crowded with soccer, football, rugby, kickball, baseball, and ultimate frisbee players. The National Mall may be the most famous park, but there are several other large beautiful parks in the city. The 2,000 acre Rock Creek Park, a national park, bisects the city north of the Anacostia River.
Where to eat
Washington has a little bit of everything, from really good ethnic takeout to lobbyist-fueled places that can run over $1,000 for a meal for two. Most of the high end cuisine is available in the West End, the East End, Georgetown, and Dupont Circle—offering dining experiences ranging from steakhouses packed with powerful suits to Minibar by Jose Andres, a 12-seat restaurant offering a 30-course meal for $350…
Getting around Washington, D.C. the local way
- Get inBus 50 runs hourly from South Shields (for Tyne ferry) to Boldon, Nissan factory, Washington, Chester-le-Street and Durham.
From Wikivoyage: Washington (England), CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Carol M. Highsmith (Public domain), Wikimedia Commons.
