Getting around
Getting around Washington DC
Most of monumental Washington is walkable, and Metrorail covers the rest of the city and the airports cleanly. A SmarTrip card or phone tap pays for Metro and bus, and Capital Bikeshare fills the short hops the train skips.
Metro and bus
Metrorail is the backbone for visitors: six color-coded lines reach the National Mall, Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle, Georgetown's edges, both Virginia airports, and the suburbs. Trains run frequently on weekdays and a little less often late at night and on weekends, so check the last-train times if you are out late.
Pay with a SmarTrip card or by tapping a phone or contactless bank card at the faregates; the same account works on Metrobus. Fares are distance- and time-based on rail and flat on most buses, so a day of museum-hopping in the core costs very little.
Walking the monumental core
The National Mall, the Smithsonian museums, the Washington Monument, the White House view, and the war and presidential memorials are all within an easy walk of one another — but the distances look shorter on a map than they feel on foot, so wear real shoes and plan rest stops.
From the Capitol at one end to the Lincoln Memorial at the other is roughly two miles, and many first-time visitors underestimate how much ground a 'museum day' actually covers.
Bikes, rideshare, and taxis
Capital Bikeshare docks are scattered across the city and are handy for the flat, short trips between neighborhoods that Metro does not connect directly. Rideshare and taxis are easy to find but slow in midday Mall traffic.
Driving inside the core is the least convenient option: parking is scarce and costly, several streets close for events and security, and the one-way grid around the federal buildings is confusing on a first visit.
Sources
Reviewed source trail
- WMATA — Metrorail and Metrobus — checked 2026-06-18
- WMATA — SmarTrip — checked 2026-06-18
- Capital Bikeshare — checked 2026-06-18
- National Park Service — National Mall — checked 2026-06-18