Washington DC 5 Day Itinerary (No Traps)
Five days is the first version with a day trip. It nests the 4-day city plan exactly, then adds Mount Vernon and Old Town Alexandria on day five, neither of which needs a rental car. Drop back to the 4-day itinerary if that’s plenty, or keep going with the 6-day version , which adds Baltimore.
Book these before you go:
- NMAAHC timed pass : free, same-day passes drop at 8:15am EST and go fast
- Washington Monument ticket : free entry, $1 fee, walk-up currently suspended
- Hotel near the Mall or Dupont Circle : book ahead of cherry blossom season spikes
- Mount Vernon trip : a guided day trip if you’d rather skip the transit planning
- International Spy Museum ticket : the best paid museum in the city
| Day | Focus | Distance / travel time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Mall west end, the memorials, Washington Monument | - |
| 2 | Smithsonian timed-pass museum, US Capitol tour | - |
| 3 | Tidal Basin, Arlington National Cemetery, Georgetown | - |
| 4 | Dupont Circle, Spy Museum, U Street | - |
| 5 | Day trip: Mount Vernon and Old Town Alexandria | Mount Vernon 16 mi / 30-45 min; Alexandria 7 mi / 20-25 min Metro |
Day 1: The National Mall and the memorials
Land at Reagan National (DCA) if you can, directly on the Blue and Yellow Metro lines, 15-20 minutes downtown. Dulles (IAD) reaches the Silver Line in about an hour. Check into a hotel near the Mall or Dupont Circle first.
Walk the Lincoln Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the Korean War Veterans Memorial, a genuine 2.2-mile stretch worth three to four hours.
Do you need to book the Washington Monument ahead? Yes. Entry is free but requires a timed ticket on recreation.gov plus a non-refundable $1 fee, released 30 days out at 10am with a smaller next-day batch at 3pm. Walk-up tickets are currently suspended.
Dinner on U Street at Ben’s Chili Bowl. After dark, the lit memorial circuit runs 24 hours and beats the daytime crowds.
Day 2: Smithsonian and the Capitol
Your timed pass runs the morning; NMAAHC deserves a full three hours, with the Sweet Home Cafe worth the break. Without a pass, the Air and Space Museum’s Mall building (airandspace.si.edu ) or the always-open National Gallery of Art both work.
Book the Capitol tour at visitthecapitol.gov , not recreation.gov. Tours are free, the Capitol Visitor Center runs 8:30am-4:30pm Monday-Saturday, last tour 3:20pm.
Day 3: Tidal Basin, Arlington, and Georgetown
Morning on the Tidal Basin loop, past the Jefferson and MLK memorials. Is peak cherry blossom weekend worth planning around? No; the 2026 festival runs March 20 to April 12 with confirmed peak bloom around March 26, and weekend crowds circle the basin by mid-morning. A weekday dawn visit gets the same blossoms without the logistics.
Midday, Arlington National Cemetery , free, 8am-5pm, timed around the Changing of the Guard. Afternoon in Georgetown, reached on foot or by Metrobus since no Metro station serves it directly.
Day 4: Dupont Circle, the Spy Museum, and U Street
Morning in Dupont Circle and the Phillips Collection , around $16-20. Afternoon at the International Spy Museum , $25-36 for adults depending on demand, the best paid museum in the city. Evening in U Street and Shaw.
Day 5: Mount Vernon and Old Town Alexandria
George Washington’s estate sits 16 miles south of the city, roughly 30-45 minutes by car, tour bus, or a seasonal Potomac riverboat from the Wharf. Mount Vernon runs $30 adult admission, 9am-5pm April through October, and covers the mansion, the working farm, and Washington’s tomb in a genuine three hours; this is a paid historic estate, not a free NPS site, and not the same thing as the Washington Monument bearing his name. Book a Mount Vernon trip on GetYourGuide if you’d rather skip arranging transit yourself.
Do you need a car for this day trip? No. Old Town Alexandria is directly across the Potomac, reached by the Blue or Yellow Metro line to King St-Old Town in about 20-25 minutes, no car required. Spend the afternoon on the cobblestone waterfront and King Street strip before heading back into the city for dinner.
Getting around
Metro (WMATA) covers days one through four; fares run $2.25 to a $6.75 max by distance. The DC Circulator bus no longer exists; it shut down permanently 31 December 2024, replaced by Metrobus on its old corridors. Day five runs on the Metro (Alexandria) plus a car, tour bus, or riverboat (Mount Vernon).
Before you go
DC sales tax runs about 10 percent on restaurant checks, plus an expected 18-20% tip. Carry water regardless of season, and confirm Mount Vernon’s seasonal riverboat schedule before counting on it; it doesn’t run year-round.