Self-guided Sightseeing Tour #7 in Washington, United States

Legend

Churches & Art
Nature
Water & Wind
Historical
Heritage & Space
Tourism
Paid Tours & Activities

Tour Facts

Number of sights 27 sights
Distance 9.7 km
Ascend 180 m
Descend 215 m

Experience Washington in United States in a whole new way with our self-guided sightseeing tour. This site not only offers you practical information and insider tips, but also a rich variety of activities and sights you shouldn't miss. Whether you love art and culture, want to explore historical sites or simply want to experience the vibrant atmosphere of a lively city - you'll find everything you need for your personal adventure here.

Individual Sights in Washington

Sight 1: United States Capitol

Show sight on map
United States Capitol Martin Falbisoner / CC BY-SA 3.0

The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government. It is located on Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Although no longer at the geographic center of the national capital, the U.S. Capitol forms the origin point for the street-numbering system of the district as well as its four quadrants.

Wikipedia: United States Capitol (EN), Website

714 meters / 9 minutes

Sight 2: James A. Garfield Monument

Show sight on map
James A. Garfield Monument

The James A. Garfield Monument stands on the grounds of the United States Capitol in the traffic circle at First Street and Maryland Avenue SW in Washington, D.C. It is a memorial to U.S. President James A. Garfield, who was elected in 1880 and assassinated in 1881 after serving only four months of his term. The perpetrator was an attorney and disgruntled office-seeker named Charles J. Guiteau. Garfield lived for several weeks after the shooting, but eventually succumbed to his injuries. The monument is part of a three-part sculptural group near the Capitol Reflecting Pool, including the Peace Monument and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial in Union Square. The monument is also a contributing property to the National Mall and L'Enfant Plan, both of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites. The bronze statue rests on a granite pedestal that features three sculptures, each one representing a time period in Garfield's life.

Wikipedia: James A. Garfield Monument (EN)

340 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 3: Union Square

Show sight on map
Union Square

Union Square is an 11-acre public plaza at the foot of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It encompasses the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial (1924) and the 6-acre Capitol Reflecting Pool (1971) and is just west of the United States Capitol building. Views differ as to whether the Square is just east of the National Mall or is itself the eastern end.

Wikipedia: Union Square (Washington, D.C.) (EN)

362 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 4: National Museum of the American Indian

Show sight on map
National Museum of the American Indian

The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers.

Wikipedia: National Museum of the American Indian (EN), Website, Facebook, Instagram

492 meters / 6 minutes

Sight 5: Museum of the Bible

Show sight on map
Museum of the Bible

The Museum of the Bible is a museum in Washington D.C., owned by Museum of the Bible, Inc., a non-profit organization established in 2010 by the Green family. The museum documents the narrative, history, and impact of the Bible. It opened on November 17, 2017, and has 1,150 items in its permanent collection and 2,000 items on loan from other institutions and collections.

Wikipedia: Museum of the Bible (EN)

501 meters / 6 minutes

Sight 6: Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial

Show sight on map

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial is a United States presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. honoring Dwight David Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and the 34th President of the United States.

Wikipedia: Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial (EN), Website

332 meters / 4 minutes

Sight 7: Delta Solar

Show sight on map
Delta Solar

Delta Solar is a public artwork by Venezuelan sculptor Alejandro Otero located outside of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, United States. Delta Solar is meant to pay homage to modern technology and the Inca sun cult.

Wikipedia: Delta Solar (EN)

151 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 8: Upright Motive No. 1: Glenkiln Cross

Show sight on map

Upright Motive No. 1: Glenkiln Cross is a bronze sculpture by Henry Moore, cast in a number of copies in 1955–56. It was the first of a series of narrow vertical sculptures by Moore, who compared them to totem poles.

Wikipedia: Upright Motive No. 1: Glenkiln Cross (EN)

125 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 9: Are Years What? (for Marianne Moore)

Show sight on map

Are Years What? is a sculpture by American artist Mark di Suvero. It is in the collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, in Washington, D.C., United States. The sculpture is named after poet Marianne Moore's "What Are Years". From May 22, 2013 through May 26, 2014, the sculpture resided temporarily in San Francisco, as part of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's Mark di Suvero exhibition at Crissy Field.

Wikipedia: Are Years What? (for Marianne Moore) (EN)

2 meters / 0 minutes

Sight 10: Voltri XV

Show sight on map

Voltri XV is an abstract sculpture by David Smith.

Wikipedia: Voltri XV (EN)

26 meters / 0 minutes

Sight 11: Eros, Inside Eros

Show sight on map

Eros, Inside Eros (1986) is a bronze sculpture by Arman.

Wikipedia: Eros, Inside Eros (EN)

48 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 12: Brushstroke

Show sight on map

Brushstroke is a sculpture by Roy Lichtenstein. There are two copies. The original was created in 2001 for the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain. The second was delivered to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, on September 16, 2003, and dedicated on October 25, 2003.

Wikipedia: Brushstroke (EN)

54 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 13: For Gordon Bunshaft

Show sight on map
For Gordon Bunshaft Original work: Dan Graham Depiction: 19h00s / Fair use

For Gordon Bunshaft is a 2006 sculpture by Dan Graham, installed at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., United States. The work, which refers to American architect Gordon Bunshaft, was installed by the reflection pool of the Bunshaft-designed sculpture garden at the Hirshhorn on May 30, 2008.

Wikipedia: For Gordon Bunshaft (EN)

18 meters / 0 minutes

Sight 14: Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden

Show sight on map
Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden / PD

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the Smithsonian Institution. It was conceived as the United States' museum of contemporary and modern art and currently focuses its collection-building and exhibition-planning mainly on the post–World War II period, with particular emphasis on art made during the last 50 years.

Wikipedia: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (EN)

63 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 15: Nymph (Central Figure for The Three Nymphs)

Show sight on map
Nymph (Central Figure for The Three Nymphs)

Nymph is a bronze sculpture, by Aristide Maillol. It was modeled in 1930, and cast in 1953, it is at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Wikipedia: Nymph (Central Figure for "The Three Graces") (EN)

9 meters / 0 minutes

Sight 16: Monumental Head

Show sight on map

Monumental Head is a 1960 bronze sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, installed at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The abstract work measures 37 x 11 3/4 x 14 3/4 inches and depicts a roughly modeled head with an extended neck. Other casts of Monumental Head from this period are found in the collections of other institutions, including the Phillips Collection and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Wikipedia: Monumental Head (EN)

8 meters / 0 minutes

Sight 17: The Drummer

Show sight on map

The Drummer is a bronze sculpture, by Barry Flanagan.

Wikipedia: The Drummer (Flanagan) (EN)

97 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 18: Spatial Concept: Nature

Show sight on map
Spatial Concept: Nature Original work: Lucio Fontana Depiction: 19h00s / Fair use

Spatial Concept: Nature is a series of bronze sculptures by Lucio Fontana designed between 1959 and 1960. A series of these sculptures cast in 1965 is installed at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., United States, and a set cast in 1961 is owned by the Walker Art Center and installed in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis, United States.

Wikipedia: Spatial Concept: Nature (EN)

211 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 19: The Mall

Show sight on map

The National Mall is a landscaped park near the downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institution, art galleries, cultural institutions, and various memorials, sculptures, and statues. It is administered by the National Park Service (NPS) of the United States Department of the Interior as part of the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit of the National Park System. The park receives approximately 24 million visitors each year. Designed by Pierre L'Enfant, the "Grand Avenue" or Mall was to be a democratic and egalitarian space—the complete opposite of the gardens of Versailles where only royalty and nobility accessed similar spaces in size and scope. It was to be flanked by gardens and spacious accommodations for foreign ministers.

Wikipedia: National Mall (EN)

249 meters / 3 minutes

Sight 20: Andrew Jackson Downing Urn

Show sight on map

The Andrew Jackson Downing Urn, also known as the Downing Urn, is a memorial and public artwork located in the Enid A. Haupt Garden of the Smithsonian Institution on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Wikipedia: Andrew Jackson Downing Urn (EN), Inscription Url

136 meters / 2 minutes

Sight 21: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Show sight on map
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery TimothyJ / CC BY 2.0

The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., focusing on Asian art. The Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. The Freer and Sackler galleries house the largest Asian art research library in the country.

Wikipedia: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (EN), Website

106 meters / 1 minutes

Sight 22: National Museum of African Art

Show sight on map

The National Museum of African Art is the Smithsonian Institution's African art museum, located on the National Mall of the United States capital. Its collections include 9,000 works of traditional and contemporary African art from both Sub-Saharan and North Africa, 300,000 photographs, and 50,000 library volumes. It was the first institution dedicated to African art in the United States and remains the largest collection. The Washington Post called the museum a mainstay in the international art world and the main venue for contemporary African art in the United States.

Wikipedia: National Museum of African Art (EN), Website

501 meters / 6 minutes

Sight 23: International Spy Museum

Show sight on map
International Spy Museum

The International Spy Museum is an independent non-profit history museum which documents the tradecraft, history, and contemporary role of espionage. It holds the largest collection of international espionage artifacts on public display. The museum opened in 2002 in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and relocated to L'Enfant Plaza in 2019.

Wikipedia: International Spy Museum (EN), Website

1508 meters / 18 minutes

Sight 24: Jefferson Memorial

Show sight on map

The Jefferson Memorial is a Founding Father and presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. It was built between 1939 and 1943 in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, a central intellectual force behind the American Revolution, a founder of the Democratic-Republican Party, and the nation's third president.

Wikipedia: Jefferson Memorial (EN)

573 meters / 7 minutes

Sight 25: George Mason Memorial

Show sight on map

The George Mason Memorial is a memorial to Founding Father George Mason, the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights that inspired the United States Bill of Rights. The Memorial is located in West Potomac Park within Washington, D.C. at 24 E Basin Drive SW, which is a part of the Tidal Basin. Authorized in 1990, with a groundbreaking in 2000 and dedication in 2002, the memorial includes a sculpture of Mason, a pool, trellis, circular hedges, and numerous inscriptions. It was the first memorial in the Tidal Basin area to be dedicated to someone who was not a former President of the United States.

Wikipedia: George Mason Memorial (EN)

1588 meters / 19 minutes

Sight 26: Navy – Merchant Marine Memorial

Show sight on map
Navy – Merchant Marine Memorial

The Navy – Merchant Marine Memorial, located in Lady Bird Johnson Park on Columbia Island in Washington, D.C., is a monument honoring sailors of the United States Navy, Coast Guard, the United States Merchant Marine, the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and others who died at sea during World War I and other times.

Wikipedia: Navy – Merchant Marine Memorial (EN)

1489 meters / 18 minutes

Sight 27: Gravelly Point Park

Show sight on map
Gravelly Point Park

Gravelly Point is an area within the National Park Service's George Washington Memorial Parkway in Arlington County, Virginia. It is located on the west side of the Potomac River, immediately north of Roaches Run and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Wikipedia: Gravelly Point (EN)

Share

Spread the word! Share this page with your friends and family.

Disclaimer Please be aware of your surroundings and do not enter private property. We are not liable for any damages that occur during the tours.

GPX-Download For navigation apps and GPS devices you can download the tour as a GPX file.