A weekend in Washington

[Part of an occasional series of FAQs about traveling to Washington, D.C. For more, please click on the "dc-faqs" tag above.]

Unlike other cities, you’re here in Washington not to understand a city, but to understand a country, so there’s no way that I would recommend that someone skip the usual monumental sights. Let’s start with what the experts recommend.

• Lonely Planet’s 2 days (the Mid-Atlantic Trips book has an edgier 2-day itinerary)
• Jennifer Barger’s 2 days for National Geographic Traveler
• Neal Learner’s 3 days for United Airlines’ Hemispheres
• The Washington Post’s online visitor guide includes three different 3-day itineraries: monuments, city neighborhoods, and suburbs
• TripAdvisor has a comprehensive list of attractions
• AirBNB has an up-to-date photo tour of local neighborhoods

To which I’d add these personal favorites among the monuments, memorials, and museums:

• the Smithsonian American Art Museum: be sure to spend time curating your own art experience at the library-like Luce Center on the third floor, and stop in to admire the magnificent Renwick Gallery across from the White House
• the Library of Congress has consistently fascinating public exhibits, and getting a reader card to explore the reading rooms’ vast reference collections — and just maybe request a book, any book — takes just a few minutes
• the National Gallery of Art’s East Wing has a tremendous collection of Calder mobiles, housed in a soaring space tucked into a corner of the concourse-level gallery
• most assume that the Smithsonian’s collections of Americana would overshadow its collections about the rest of the world, but in fact its connected Freer, Sackler, and African Art museums have some of the finest collections in their respective fields anywhere
• whenever I’m feeling homesick for Chicago, the simulated “L” ride at the American History museum takes me right back to the Loop
• between the Kennedy Center, nearby cinemas (from Hollywood blockbusters at Georgetown AMC Loews to indie documentaries at West End), natural Theodore Roosevelt Island, and a waterfront park boasting both pubs and boathouses, there’s something for all tastes along the Foggy Bottom-Georgetown waterfront
• if a Hollywood blockbuster is showing at the Smithsonian’s [true] Imax screens, it’s really not worth seeing anywhere else (plus, these are the closest cinemas to my house)

Personally, I also find the monuments at the west end of the Mall to be too widely spaced for a comfortable walk. Instead, use bike share and this handy Monuments by Bikeshare route, which uses  off-street paths or low-traffic roads.