I am so excited to bring you my SECOND delightful city guide! As travel becomes a bigger part of my life I hope to bring you more tips and advice in addition to stories and pretty pictures, starting with Washington, D.C.!

Of course, the three days I spent in the District weren’t nearly enough to scratch the surface, so I brought in some reinforcements when compiling this guide: Courtney, Kathryn, Danielle and Julia are all good friends of mine whose taste I completely trust, and they all live or have lived in D.C.! I know that this guide will certainly shape my own future visits to the District, and I hope it will help you plan yours as well.

Bold indicates I have been there

Asterisks* indicate that this spot comes recommended by multiple people

Coffee

• Compass Coffee
• Ebenezers Coffeehouse 
• Baked & Wired*
• Tryst
• Filter
• The Coffee Bar
• La Colombe
• Big Bear Cafe

Breakfast

• Ted’s Bulletin (breakfast served all day!)
• Astro Doughnuts & Fried Chicken
• Lincoln’s Waffle Shop

Brunch

• Le Diplomate
• Bearnaise
• Farmers Fishers Bakers*

Lunch

• Nando’s Peri-Peri
• Ben’s Chili Bowl*
• Cafe Bonaparte
• Lincoln Restaurant
• Union Market

Dinner

• Urbana
• Graffiato
• Jaleo
• Zenebech Injera
• Busboys and Poets
• Matchbox
• Old Ebbitt Grill
• Rose’s Luxury*
• Zaytinya
• Taqueria Habanero
• Duke’s Grocery
• St. Arnold’s Mussel Bar
• Daikaya
• Rasika

Dessert

• Dolcezza
• GBD

Drinks

• Room 11

Parks

• National Mall

Do/See

• Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe
• Eastern Market*
• Georgetown & waterfront
• Capitol tour
• Washington National Cathedral
• Arlington National Cemetery
• Bike the Mt. Vernon Trail*
• Library of Congress
• United States Botanic Garden
• Smithsonian’s National Zoo
• Old Town Alexandria

Museums

• The Newseum
• The National Archives and Records Administration
• Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
• Smithsonian Institution Building
• National Museum of American History
• Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History
• National Gallery of Art*
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Smithsonian American Art Museum