Happenin’
Places › Washington DC › National Mall › World War II Memorial
World War II Memorial

Photo: Carol M. Highsmith / Public domain

🎡 Attractions

World War II Memorial

Washington, DC · National Mall

About

Set between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, this is the National Mall's grand open-air tribute to the 16 million Americans who served in World War II. A ring of 56 granite pillars, one for each state and territory, wraps around the oval Rainbow Pool, with Atlantic and Pacific arches anchoring each end and a Freedom Wall of 4,048 gold stars marking the fallen. It is free, open 24 hours a day, and best at dusk when the fountains catch the last light and the whole plaza quiets down.

Highlights

56 state and territory pillars around the Rainbow PoolAtlantic and Pacific triumphal archesFreedom Wall with 4,048 gold starsFree and open 24 hoursFountains and reflecting pool views at dusk

Getting there

Related places

Lincoln Memorial Attractions

Lincoln Memorial

Washington, DC · National Mall

Anchoring the west end of the National Mall, this marble temple frames Daniel Chester French's 19-foot seated Lincoln, who gazes out past the Reflecting Pool toward the Washington Monument. Climb the steps and you stand where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered "I Have a Dream," with the Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural carved into the side chambers. It is free and open around the clock, and the view back down the Mall at dusk is the one people remember.

National Gallery of Art Attractions

National Gallery of Art

Washington, DC · National Mall

One of the great free museums anywhere, sitting right on the Mall in a pink-marble palace with a domed rotunda you could mistake for the Pantheon. Inside hang Leonardo da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci, the only Leonardo painting in the Americas, alongside rooms of Vermeer, Rembrandt, Monet, and Van Gogh, plus a glass-tunnel walk over to I.M. Pei's sharp-angled East Building. Out back, the Sculpture Garden trades its summer fountain for a winter ice rink, and admission never costs a cent.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Attractions

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Washington, DC · National Mall

Sheathed in a three-tiered bronze corona that catches the light differently every hour, the Smithsonian's African American history museum rises on the National Mall in sightline of the Washington Monument. Start at the bottom of the History Galleries, where ramps carry you up out of the dark of slavery through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the civil rights years into the music, sports, and art on the upper floors. Admission is free, though same-day and advance timed-entry passes go fast, so reserve before you go.

More in National Mall

Others worth the drive in this corner of Washington DC.

All of National Mall →
Lincoln Memorial Attractions

Lincoln Memorial

Washington, DC · National Mall

Anchoring the west end of the National Mall, this marble temple frames Daniel Chester French's 19-foot seated Lincoln, who gazes out past the Reflecting Pool toward the Washington Monument. Climb the steps and you stand where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered "I Have a Dream," with the Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural carved into the side chambers. It is free and open around the clock, and the view back down the Mall at dusk is the one people remember.

National Gallery of Art Attractions

National Gallery of Art

Washington, DC · National Mall

One of the great free museums anywhere, sitting right on the Mall in a pink-marble palace with a domed rotunda you could mistake for the Pantheon. Inside hang Leonardo da Vinci's Ginevra de' Benci, the only Leonardo painting in the Americas, alongside rooms of Vermeer, Rembrandt, Monet, and Van Gogh, plus a glass-tunnel walk over to I.M. Pei's sharp-angled East Building. Out back, the Sculpture Garden trades its summer fountain for a winter ice rink, and admission never costs a cent.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Attractions

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Washington, DC · National Mall

Sheathed in a three-tiered bronze corona that catches the light differently every hour, the Smithsonian's African American history museum rises on the National Mall in sightline of the Washington Monument. Start at the bottom of the History Galleries, where ramps carry you up out of the dark of slavery through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the civil rights years into the music, sports, and art on the upper floors. Admission is free, though same-day and advance timed-entry passes go fast, so reserve before you go.

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Attractions

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Washington, DC · National Mall

This is the place where the actual machines of flight hang overhead: Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, the Wright brothers' 1903 Flyer, and the Apollo 11 command module Columbia that carried three astronauts to the Moon and back. A phased reopening is rolling out all-new galleries and a renovated planetarium for the building's 50th anniversary on the Mall. Admission is free, though you should grab a free timed-entry pass online before you go.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Attractions

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Washington, DC · National Mall

The big domed limestone hall on the north side of the Mall is where the Hope Diamond glints behind glass, a 45-foot ocean hall is anchored by a life-size right whale overhead, and the Deep Time fossil hall walks you from the first cells to the last mammoths. Start in the rotunda under the African bush elephant, then pick your rabbit hole: gems and minerals, the live butterfly pavilion, or a wall of insects you can hold. Admission is free, no timed pass needed, and you can lose a whole afternoon without spending a dime.

Tidal Basin Attractions

Tidal Basin

Washington, DC · National Mall

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.

Part of these collections

Curated guides that feature World War II Memorial.

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.