Washington DC is the perfect place to head if you love an action packed vacation filled with history plus warm weather. I was shocked just how hot it was when I headed south in mid April, aka almost 30 degrees every day I was there! Now that it’s fall, it’ll be a tad chillier, but for the most part, anything is warmer than Edmonton!
Related: What to Pack for a 6 Day Vacation
I was lucky enough to stay with my friend who lives there so I can’t share anything about hotels in the area, but we definitely ate our way around the city. I have already shared a more detailed view of my days in the city here, here and here, including what to wear, but I wanted to make sure there was a more streamlined spot to check out all the activities and food of Washington DC!
Food
This trip required absolutely no planning on my part (which is my FAVE), but we obviously still made sure to hit all the hot spots. That’s definitely a benefit of meeting a ton of people while abroad; I now have tons of people to visit who know all the best places in their cities!
Related: All About My Semester Abroad
Bluestone Lane: Australian inspired and so good! The perfect instagrammable brunch spot. We tried the huevos rancheros and the oatmeal and they were both delish!
Paul’s: A fast service bakery with the best egg, ham and cheese croissants EVER. I begged my friend to go back because they were so good! Apparently this is a chain in a few US cities, but worth the pit stop!
Baked & Wired: This one is all about the cupcakes! I had to snag the Uniporn & Rainho cupcake (lol) after hearing such good things about the cupcake culture in DC. Yeah, I know, it’s a thing, trust me.
Bindaas: An interesting concept because it’s pretty much Indian tapas. Good, but wouldn’t be my first pick!
Barcelona: This was an absolute HOTSPOT with the locals; it was absolutely packed but after our tapas I could tell why. The bread was to die for but the bacon wrapped dates won me over for sure. Make sure to make a reservation because I’m telling you, you’d never get in without one on the weekend.
Masa 14: Bottomless brunch is one of the best inventions ever. I’m telling you, they need to start doing this everywhere because I would make it a weekly thing. A tad pricey obviously because it’s all you can eat, but so worth it when you stay for 3.5 hours… which we for sure did LOL.
RPM: If you’re in the mood for pasta, you need to go here! It is a little more formal than other places we went but if you go early (which I recommend to not wait in line), then casual clothes are more than okay! The pasta was delish and so authentic, I was almost fooled that I was across the pond.
What to do/see
There is so much to do and see in Washington DC that there was absolutely no way we were going to see it all in 4 days. I could have spent a month there and not gotten through all of the museums! That being said, you can definitely see a great chunk of the city on a tight timeline.
The National Mall: A must see in Washington (obviously!) because it encompasses a ton of the monuments like the Abraham Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, Washington Monument and other spots like the White House. Thankfully, these people were thinking when they built it and put it all together in a nice little cross so you can walk it in a day or two (with a good pair of walking shoes, I clocked 30,000 steps that day!).
Renwick Gallery: A modern art museum with a ton of super cool displays. Bonus, it’s free entry!
Smithsonian Museums: Also free entry (score!), but the Smithsonian museums cover a ton of different topics in a ton of museums. The are concentrated on the National Mall stretching out to the Capitol Building. We only went to the Museum of African American History and Culture, but if all of them are as good as that one was, definitely squeeze in a few more!
USA Botanic Gardens: A pretty pit stop near the Capitol Building which also has free entrance!
Newseum: I never made it to this museum but it’s the favourite museum of my friend who lives there. Unfortunately, this museum has closed. They are trying to find a new building to operate out of. If you’re interested in learning more about this museum for the future, more info can be found here.
Georgetown: This is the area of the city to do your shopping. It has a fun atmosphere and a ton of shops to keep you busy.
Union Market: A cute market with a lots of food stalls and a cute local shop. It’s pretty far away from the main part of the city so make sure to schedule at least half a day for it. It also has a ton of cute instagrammable spots like the infamous heart wall!
Nightlife
We ended up going out very single night I was in Washington and I didn’t even get sick of it (which is unlike me!). There was such a wide variety of bars and you could tell the people at them were ready to have a good time. Just make sure not to plan anything for early in the morning!
Hill Country BBQ: A karaoke bar that blew me away! In Edmonton, our karaoke is terrible singers screaming their heart out. In D.C. it seemed like these people were professional singers! Definitely a country vibe but such a fun place to spend a night!
18th Street Lounge: It seemed like the nightlife in Washington was on it’s top game while I was there because this was another super fun spot! It had live reggae music all night long with a rooftop bar and tons of spots to dance.
What’s your favourite spot in Washington DC?! Let me know and I’ll add it to the list!
xx Victoria
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