Welcome to Washington, DC, our nation’s hometown. It houses the White House, Capitol Hill, numerous museums and memorials, and countless activities for all ages. There is a thriving tourism industry, and the DC metropolitan area has been nicknamed “the melting pot” for the extent of ethnic diversity it boasts. With such a mixture of government, culture, history, and symbolism, our nation’s capital is one of the premier places to visit, live in, and pursue an education.
The District of Columbia is 67 square miles with a population of over 588,000. It is divided into four quadrants: Northwest, Northeast, Southwest and Southeast. The Capitol Building, home to Congress, is located at the center meeting point of these sections. The streets are numbered (running north-south) and lettered (running east-west), and streets named after the states run diagonally. Metropolitan Washington also includes five counties in Virginia (Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon, Prince William and Stafford) and seven counties in Maryland (Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's).
The Washington, DC area is full of exciting attractions to enjoy. Some of the most popular places to visit include the White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam and Korean War memorials, Arlington Cemetery, the Smithsonian museums and the Capitol Building. Bus, train, and walking tours are offered to guide you; or, if you are feeling adventurous, grab a map from one of the many information kiosks and navigate yourself around town. When you get hungry, there’s cuisine from every corner of the earth to choose from.
Alongside the many tourist attractions, you’ll find a variety of other activities to enjoy in Washington. Professional sports, first-rate theatrical and musical entertainment, beautiful parks and cultural events abound in this unique city. We invite you to discover everything that DC has to offer!
Many visitors choose to plot a course through the Metro system instead of driving. This is a system of buses and trains that run throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area, and is probably the quickest way to get around town. The train system runs both above and underground, and has five color-coded routes (red, orange, yellow, green, and blue) to make navigation easy. There are literally hundreds of buses and convenient routes that include connections to the train and park-and-ride stations and shuttles to and from the airport. On the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority's Web site, you can find Metro maps, schedules, fares and more.
Here’s some other helpful links to the Washington, DC area: