Washington, DC

WASHINGTON DCSTARTER

Around the Tidal Basin

≈ 2,000 steps1.0 mi · about 2.5 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.

A loop of the Tidal Basin's south and west shores, three memorials in about two hours on flat paved path. Come in the last week of March or the first of April and the cherry trees are the reason people fly here; any other month you get the water to yourself.

WASHINGTON DCSTARTER

First Light at the West End

≈ 1,100 steps0.5 mi · about 2 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.

Three memorials at the west end of the Mall, walked in the hour after sunrise while the crowds are still at breakfast. All three sit on open ground a flat ten minutes apart, and the light comes up the length of the Reflecting Pool behind you.

WASHINGTON DCSTANDARD

Fourteenth and U

≈ 5,500 steps2.6 mi · about 3.5 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

The corridor north of downtown that was Black Broadway, burned in 1968, and is now the city's busiest stretch of bars and kitchens. Half a day on foot from a memorial wall of names to a fountain terrace built into a hillside, ending at a staircase most visitors never find.

WASHINGTON DCSTANDARD

Museum Row from the Outside

≈ 4,000 steps1.8 mi · about 3.5 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

The middle of the Mall on foot, from the Castle's lawn to the hill under the Washington Monument. The Smithsonian galleries are free if you want them, but this one is the ground between the buildings: gravel walks, a sunken sculpture garden, a pond with an island and the open rise where the whole plan of the city lines up.

WASHINGTON DCSTANDARD

The Public Side of Capitol Hill

≈ 4,000 steps2.0 mi · about 4 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

Half a day at the east end of the Mall and on the residential blocks behind it, working outward from the Capitol's own grounds to a market street and a neighbourhood park. Every stop is outdoor ground, and the walk between the last two is where the tourist city stops and the city people live in starts.

WASHINGTON DCSTANDARD

The White House Fence After Dark

≈ 3,500 steps1.8 mi · about 3 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

An evening loop of the squares and plazas around the White House, starting at the north fence when the floodlights come on. Three hours at a slow pace, all of it sidewalk and public plaza, with the warning that the Secret Service closes the Pennsylvania Avenue block without notice now and then.

WASHINGTON DCADVANCED

East of the Anacostia

≈ 6,000 steps + 10 mi by car2.8 mi on foot · a full dayAdvanced · 7 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

A full day on the other side of the river, where most visitors never go: Douglass's hill, a neighbourhood landmark you can see from two blocks away, a marsh of water lilies, a burying ground of congressmen and the rebuilt riverfront. You will want transit or a car between the north and south ends.

WASHINGTON DCADVANCED

Georgetown to Arlington

≈ 14,000 steps + 3.0 mi by car6.6 mi on foot · a full dayAdvanced II · 10 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

Two days on both banks of the Potomac, crossing on two bridges. Day one is Georgetown: a bridge guarded by buffalo, the steps from the film, the canal towpath and the waterfront. Day two crosses to Virginia for the wooded island, the hill of the flag-raising and the cemetery. Expect a drive or Metro on the second day.

WASHINGTON DCADVANCED

High Ground and the Creek

≈ 10,500 steps + 5.7 mi by car4.9 mi on foot · a full dayAdvanced · 7 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

Northwest Washington above the fall line, where the city becomes a wooded valley with forts along the ridges. A full day with a car, or a long day of buses: a cathedral garden, the highest ground in the District, a working mill, a stone bridge and the one place a Confederate army reached.

WASHINGTON DCADVANCED

The Potomac, Falls to Mount Vernon

≈ 7,000 steps + 44 mi by car3.3 mi on foot · 2 days or more · + the walk in to 1 stopAdvanced III · 10 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

The hardest thing the capital holds: two days following one river from the gorge above the city to Washington's own porch below it. A car is required. The Olmsted Island boardwalk and the Billy Goat Trail both close when the river runs high, so check conditions first; the Great Falls area charges a vehicle fee and the last stop charges admission.