Costs nothing
Free Things to Do in DC
The best free attractions, monuments, and cultural experiences in the capital. All of it: zero dollars.
18 results
FreeKennedy Center Millennium Stage
Free, world-class performances every day at 6 p.m.
Lincoln Memorial
The most consequential set of steps in American history. Go at night.
FreeNational Air and Space Museum
Humanity's greatest hits in flight, under one Smithsonian roof — and it is free.
FreeNational Gallery of Art
The only Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas, and it's free.
Tidal Basin
Cherry blossom ground zero, Jefferson Memorial on the far side.
Union Market
40+ vendors, a rooftop, and DC's best one-stop food tour.
FreeWashington Monument
555 feet of marble obelisk. Ride to the top on a clear day.
District Pier at The Wharf
Free live concerts on the Potomac all summer.
FreeDupont Circle Farmers Market
Sunday-morning ritual with the best prepared food in any DC market.
FreeEastern Market
Farmers market, weekend arts & crafts, blueberry buckwheat pancakes.
Guided Tour for Small Parties
A limited official guide-led look inside the Jefferson Building.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Smithsonian's modern art museum. Infinity Mirrors, anyone?
FreeKramers
DC's oldest indie bookstore, with a cafe that stays open late.
Memorials and Moonlight Tour
A pay-what-you-like monuments walk built for the Mall after dark.
FreePolitics and Prose
The bookstore where authors launch books and locals argue about them.
Public Capitol Tour
The official guided Capitol experience, free with timed entry.
FreeRock Creek Park
Central Park's older, wilder cousin. 1,700 acres in the middle of DC.
FreeTheodore Roosevelt Island
88 acres of forest in the middle of the Potomac. Free, quiet, perfect.