Washington DC 7 Day Itinerary (No Traps)

Seven days nests the 6-day plan exactly, then closes with Harpers Ferry, genuinely one of the better car-free day trips near DC despite the multi-state geography sounding complicated. Drop back to the 6-day itinerary without it, or start shorter with the 4-day version if a week is more than you need.

Book these before you go:

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
6 Day trip: Baltimore’s Inner Harbor 40 mi / 35-45 min by MARC or Amtrak from Union Station
7 Day trip: Harpers Ferry 65 mi / roughly 1h15 by car, or daily Amtrak from Union Station

Day 1: The National Mall and the memorials

Land at Reagan National (DCA) if possible, 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. Check current tickets on GetYourGuide . Evening in U Street and Shaw.

Day 5: Mount Vernon and Old Town Alexandria

Mount Vernon sits 16 miles south, roughly 30-45 minutes by car, tour bus, or a seasonal Potomac riverboat; $30 adult admission, 9am-5pm April through October, covering the mansion, the working farm, and Washington’s tomb in a genuine three hours. Old Town Alexandria needs no car, just the Blue or Yellow Metro line to King St-Old Town, about 20-25 minutes.

Day 6: Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

MARC or Amtrak from Union Station runs about 35-45 minutes to Baltimore, a genuinely different, bigger city than the small-town Virginia stops. Spend the day at the Inner Harbor and the National Aquarium , $49.95 adult with required timed entry. Head back to DC by early evening.

Day 7: Harpers Ferry, where three states meet

Is Harpers Ferry worth a full day without a car? Yes, one of the better car-free day trips near DC. Amtrak’s Capitol Limited runs seven days a week and stops there, departing DC roughly mid-afternoon; a single daily train each direction means building the day around its timetable rather than assuming Metro-style frequency. MARC’s Brunswick Line also reaches Harpers Ferry but is weekday-commuter-only and unusable for a weekend trip.

The historic town sits at the Potomac and Shenandoah confluence, about 65 miles or roughly 1h15 by car if you’d rather drive. Hike up to Jefferson Rock for a genuine three-state view (West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland), then explore the preserved 19th-century town before your train back. This closes the trip with something the city itself can’t offer: real elevation and river gorge scenery within a single day of downtown DC.

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. Days five through seven run on Metro plus a car or riverboat, MARC or Amtrak, and Amtrak respectively; confirm each schedule before you build the day around it.

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 don’t count on MARC for a weekend Harpers Ferry trip; Amtrak’s daily Capitol Limited is the reliable option.