by Leigh Goessl

Created on: July 03, 2009   Last Updated: February 16, 2011

A trip to Washington D.C. isn't complete without a tour of the monuments and memorials located on the National Mall and along the Potomac River. One of the great things about D.C. is the National Park Service doesn't charge entry fees for the monuments.

The best way to navigate the district is on foot and by Metro. Parking is free by the monuments, but unless you're a real early bird, spots fill up pretty quickly and some lots limit parking hours. Paid parking is farther away and it is not cheap, however if you take the Metro and walk, you avoid wasting time with the parking hassles, and you see much more if you are on foot anyway.

The Smithsonian Metro station is the most convenient stop because it is located right in the midst of the National Mall, close to center of the museums, monuments and the Capitol building. Plan to wear a good pair of walking shoes because while the monuments look close together on a map, in reality you will have to do some walking.

Since the memorials are laid out symmetrically, it is easy to make the most of your time and see it all. The best place to start is the Washington Memorial because this is the only monument where you need tickets if you want to go inside and climb to the top. Tickets tend to go quickly, so you will want to secure these as early as possible. Tickets are free and distributed on a first-come, first-served basis; you can get these at the 15th Street and Jefferson Drive kiosk. If you wait too long to get them, there may be no availability or a wait of several hours to get inside the memorial, taking away time from seeing everything else.

After you get tickets, it is a relatively short walk to the World War II Memorial. After a tour of the WWII Memorial, you can walk along the reflecting pool to get to the other side where the Lincoln, Vietnam Veterans and Korea War memorials are located. This a bit of a walk, but what better scenery than to stroll among such famous U.S. landmarks? Down on the National Mall, there is not much in terms of food, but there is a kiosk located near the Washington Monument and there are usually vendors situated near the Vietnam and the Lincoln Memorials.

If you are ambitious and want to see most, if not all of the monuments at once, after visiting the Lincoln Memorial, head south to loop around to the FDR Memorial on Ohio Drive and Jefferson Memorial on Raoul Wallenberg Place. This is a bit of a hike, but a neat walk. There is also a hidden gem along this route, the not highly publicized

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>