Downtown

Where: North of the National Mall between the White House and the Capitol.

What’s in a name: Downtown DC has come to signify urban revitalization and the rise of new districts like Penn Quarter, a dining and entertainment hotspot named for its proximity to Pennsylvania Avenue. 

Thumbnail: Museums, theatres and galleries share the streets with hot new restaurants, lounges and hotels in downtown. The neighborhood is full of must-see sights like the International Spy Museum, Newseum, Madame Tussauds, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the new National Museum of Crime and Punishment, Ford’s Theatre and more. DC’s Chinatown is nestled in the heart of the neighborhood, marked by the brightly colored “Friendship Arch” that spans H Street. It’s also home to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and the Verizon Center, which hosts college and professional sports action and star-studded concerts all year round. 

Calling Cards: View a complete collection of presidential portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, and watch art preservationists at work in the Luce Conservation Center. Try your hand at espionage in Operation Spy, an interactive experience at the International Spy Museum. Catch a mid-day production or lecture at the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Center for the Arts.

Getting there: Take Metro to Gallery Pl-Chinatown, Metro Center, Archives-Navy Mem’l-Penn Quarter, or take the Circulator’s east-west or north-south route.