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Tidal Basin

Photo: Jay Wald / CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

🎡 Attractions

Tidal Basin

Washington, DC · National Mall

About

The most photographed water in Washington, a man-made inlet ringed by roughly 3,000 Yoshino cherry trees that Tokyo gifted the city in 1912 and that erupt into pink for about two weeks every spring. A flat 2.1-mile loop strings together the Jefferson, FDR, and Martin Luther King Jr. memorials, and from mid-March you can rent a pedal boat and drift out under the blossoms. Walking the basin is free and open year-round, with peak bloom and the National Cherry Blossom Festival turning late March into the busiest, prettiest weeks on the Mall.

Highlights

Cherry blossom peak bloom (late March)2.1-mile memorial walking loopPedal boat rentals (mid-March on)Jefferson, FDR & MLK Jr. memorialsFree, open year-round

Getting there

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Washington D.C. Attractions23 places

Washington D.C. Attractions

No city packs more world-class attractions into a walk than Washington, and most of it is free. The Smithsonians line the National Mall like a museum mile, from the moon lander hanging in Air and Space to the Hope Diamond and the Wright Flyer. Between them stand the monuments and memorials: Lincoln gazing down the reflecting pool, the Washington Monument over the Tidal Basin cherry trees, the marble halls of the Capitol and the Library of Congress. Bring good shoes and a full day, and you still will not see it all.