Things to do in Washington, splurging
Big-name dinners, serious cocktails, and the best of DC from Penn Quarter to Georgetown.
This is Washington for someone who wants the real table, not the tourist trap: José Andrés two nights in a row feels less like repetition and more like understanding a city through one chef's obsession with it. The plan moves through Penn Quarter, Adams Morgan and Georgetown in a logical arc, with enough room between stops to actually enjoy each one. It suits a traveller who books ahead, orders the tasting menu and is still curious about what's in the glass.
Day 1: Penn Quarter, anchored downtown
The day runs from a quick espresso at Gregorys through the Hirshhorn's contemporary collection, a mezze lunch at Zaytinya and a grand evening at Old Ebbitt Grill, closing with avant-garde cocktails at barmini.
- 9:30 AM
Gregorys Coffee
Solid neighbourhood espresso stop right in the Penn Quarter corridor to kick off the day.
Map - 10:15 AM
Mount Vernon Square
A leafy square around the 1903 Carnegie Library, restored with a free public reading area inside.
Map - 12:30 PM
Zaytinya
José Andrés's Greek, Turkish and Lebanese mezze; order the puffed pita, the hummus and the lamb.
Map - 2:30 PM
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Free contemporary art in Gordon Bunshaft's concrete drum on the Mall; walk the sculpture garden too.
Map - 7:30 PM
Old Ebbitt Grill
DC's oldest saloon, by the White House: oysters at the bar, then crab cakes in the brass-and-wood room.
Map - 9:30 PM
barmini by José Andrés
Barmini is José Andres' own avant-garde cocktail bar, theatrical, inventive drinks and the perfect nightcap.
Map
Day 2: Adams Morgan to Kennedy Center
A slower morning in the neighbourhood leads through a Brazilian lunch at Cana, a Potomac terrace detour at the Kennedy Center, and a splurge-worthy Uruguayan tasting menu at Ceibo followed by serious drinks at Reynolds Bar.
- 9:30 AM
Potter's House
A bookshop café run as a community space since 1960; coffee among the shelves in Adams Morgan.
Map - 12:30 PM
- 2:30 PM
Dumbarton Oaks Park
A wild wooded valley below the Dumbarton Oaks estate, with streams and meadows; free.
Map - 4:30 PM
Kennedy Center
National Symphony, Washington National Opera, touring musicals. Go early for free Millennium Stage and Potomac terrace.
Map - 7:30 PM
Ceibo
Uruguayan cooking over fire on 18th Street; order the chivito and whatever comes off the parrilla.
Map - 9:30 PM
Reynold’s Bar
Reynolds Bar is the best cocktail room in the neighbourhood, serious drinks, late enough to cap the night.
Map
Day 3: Georgetown and the canal
Start with a cult bagel at Call Your Mother, walk the C&O towpath, eat Nancy Silverton's Italian at Osteria Mozza, pay dues at the Lincoln Memorial, then wind down with great-value Mexican at Amparo Fondita and a Belgian nightcap at The Sovereign.
- 9:30 AM
Call Your Mother Deli, Georgetown
Cult Georgetown bagel spot, grab a coffee and something from the case before hitting the canal.
Map - 10:15 AM
C&O Canal Towpath
Flat, shaded towpath walk along the Potomac, do the casual 5 to 6 mile stretch starting right in Georgetown.
Map - 12:30 PM
Osteria Mozza DC
Nancy Silverton's DC outpost, lively, top-rated Italian right in the neighborhood for a proper lunch.
Map - 2:30 PM
Lincoln Memorial
Read the Gettysburg Address carved on the wall, then look down the Reflecting Pool to the Washington Monument.
Map - 7:30 PM
Amparo Fondita
Christian Irabién's Mexican home cooking; order the mole and the masa dishes made in house.
Map - 9:30 PM
The Sovereign
Georgetown's best Belgian beer bar, deep draft list and a great crowd for a nightcap.
Map
Where to stay
The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown puts you steps from Day 3's canal walk and Osteria Mozza, and close enough to Dupont and Penn Quarter to work the whole plan.
Fairmont Washington DC Gold Experience
The Fairmont sits between Georgetown and Dupont Circle, making it a clean base for all three days without a long ride to any of them.
Make Washington your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- National Museum of African American History and Culture: weeks ahead
- Planet Word: a few days ahead
- International Spy Museum: a few days ahead
- National Air and Space Museum: a few days ahead
- George Washington's Mount Vernon: a few days ahead
- Shenandoah National Park: a few days ahead
Skip these
- National Mall food trucks and cart hot dogs, overpriced and mediocre. Walk five minutes off the Mall and eat properly.
- Founding Farmers as a destination dinner, enormous and loud with long waits. The same money eats better at Le Diplomate or L'Ardente.
- Georgetown Cupcake line. Baked and Wired on Thomas Jefferson Street is the local answer, with better coffee.
- Hop on hop off buses as transport, slow and pricey. Metro plus feet beats them.
The full Washington travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around