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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's not cheap, however if you take the Metro and walk, you avoid wasting time with parking hassles, and you see much more if you're on foot anyway.

The Smithsonian Metro station is the most convenient stop because it's located in the 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'll have to do some walking.

Since the memorials are laid out symmetrically, it's easy to make the most of your time and see it all. The best place to start is the Washington Memorial because it's the only monument where you need tickets. They tend to go quickly, so you'll 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's a relatively short walk to the World War II Memorial. After a tour of the WWII Memorial, you'll have to walk along the reflecting pool to get to the other side where the Lincoln, Vietnam Veterans and Korea War memorials are located. It's a bit of a walk, but what better scenery than to stroll among such famous U.S. landmarks? Down on the National Mall, there's not much in terms of food, but there is a kiosk near the Washington Monument and there are usually vendors situated near the Vietnam Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

If you are ambitious, after 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 good hike, but a neat walk. There's a hidden gem along this route, the not highly publicized District of Columbia War Memorial. It's located off Independence Ave (SW), and if you're not looking, you can easily miss this one, so keep an eye out. The memorial commemorates

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