24 Hours In Washington, DC

Washington, DC can be such a frugal vacation, especially when you check out our list of 50+ Free Things To Do In Washington, DC. There are free museums, like the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, memorial parks and statues like the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and more.

24 Hours In Washington, DC

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We’re starting off at lunchtime and ending 24 hours later. You can adjust your day however it fits your schedule best.

Afternoon

Lunch:

Start your Washington, DC trip off with a full belly. You’re gonna need it.

So, head to Honeymoon Chicken (4201 Georgia Avenue NW). It’s a great place for lunch. The best part about the restaurant, of course, is the food. The second best part is that it’s outside of downtown DC, there’s a ton of on street parking around.

Now, the chicken. The easiest way to refer to it is elevated KFC. It comes in a bucket, just like KFC, served with rolls, and you can order sides of potato wedges, mac and cheese, coleslaw, and mashed potatoes. But, this chicken is so good, so fresh, so flavorful, so worthy of the Michelin Bib Gourmand Award it won (which, if you’ve never heard of it, it sort of like a Michelin star, but it’s awarded to less fancy, more frugal restaurants).

The crispy chicken is brined with pickle juice (IYKYK), dredged in a self-rising flour-based coating, then pressure fried. You can get the chicken honey dusted, spicy honey dusted, or honey dipped. You can’t go wrong with any of the options, but the spicy honey dusted is so good. It’s not spicy, but spiced. And the restaurant’s signature Brussels sprouts are the perfect compliment.

Don’t sleep on the honey butter rolls. They’re fluffy pillows of bread with a crispy honey top that crunches when you bite into it and it’s kissed with the perfect amount of sea salt. So, so good.

From there, drive to your hotel to park your car and check in.

We are big fans of booking the Holiday Inn Express anywhere we go because it’s affordable, has free coffee in the lobby, and offers a complementary breakfast. Luckily, there’s a Holiday Inn Express (317 K Street NW) conveniently located into downtown DC within walking distance of the historic sites and attractions that you’ll want to see during your trip.

So, drive to your hotel and park your car. The Holiday Inn Express has valet parking (as do most hotels in the area) and no self-parking. But, that’s okay. Walking is going to be your best way to get around town (or public transportation, depending on where you go), so you won’t really think about your car.

2 pm:

From the hotel, it’s an easy 25 minute walk to The White House (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue). The road in front of the White House is blocked off from cars, but pedestrians can get right up to the gate around the building to get up close to snap a photo of the president’s house.

From there, you can walk towards Tidal Basin (701 E Basin Drive SW). If you’re in town during the spring, Tidal Basin is the best place to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC.

Along the way, you pass the National World War II Memorial and Washington Monument. You loop around to pass the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

These iconic monuments are a great way to pay respect to the brave men and women who sacrificed their lives so that we could be free. The monuments aren’t interactive, so they might not be that interesting if you’re visiting on a family vacation with young children.

3 pm:

Pick a museum.

There are so many free Smithsonian museums in the area, thanks to our tax dollars, so you’ll be able to find one that fits your family’s interest.

​The best for younger kids, in my opinion, is the National Museum of American History (1300 Constitution Avenue NW). It has a huge Spark!Lab with hands on activities for kids. That’s closed Monday and Tuesday, though, so keep that in mind when you’re planning your trip.

The museum is filled a ton of really fun exhibits. There’s America On The Move with cars and a train and other fun modes of transportation. There are gray statues of people around the vehicles, showing period clothing, which was really cool. They were grayed out, so they didn’t take away from the vehicles, but really added to the display.

The Food: Transforming the American Table exhibit has a full replica of Julia Child’s kitchen and teaches about changes in food and culture, including the Mexican food revolution. I loved The Doll’s House, which is a beautiful replica of, well, a doll house.

Our group loved the Entertainment Nation best, seeing things like Dorothy’s shoes from The Wizard of Oz and a replica of Prince’s yellow guitar that you could pretend play. There was Howdy Doody and Cookie Monster on display too. 

Of course, don’t miss the Star-Spangled Banner, the actual original 15-starred flag on display.

Next door is the National Museum of Natural History (10th Street & Constitution Avenue NW), so if you have time, you can visit that one too. It’s probably the most popular museum in Washington, DC.

The top exhibit is Fossil Hall, which has a ton of actual dinosaur bones (and a lot of cast ones too because, well, it’s basically impossible to have a complete skeleton of every single dinosaur).

For kids, there’s a Hall of Mammals, which is filled with, well, animals.

And don’t miss the Hope Diamond on the second floor of the museum (which I have literally missed every single time because I’m always visiting with either a young kid or an old person who has limited time to spend before they get tired).

Both of those are down the block from the National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden, if that’s more your speed.

Evening

Dinner:

For dinner, get to Chaplin’s Restaurant and Bar (1501 9th Street NW) in time for happy hour drinks. It’s not that hard since most of the Smithsonian museums close at 5:30 pm and you’ll probably be taking ride share over to Chaplin’s because it’s a manageable but not a short walk from the museums.

During happy hour (4 pm to 7pm), you can get half off draft cocktails, wine by the glass, and draft beer. So that’s a good way to save a little money, but you’re really coming here for the food.

It’s modeled after an old fashioned Japanese ramen shop, so of course, you’re gonna want to order a bowl of ramen. They’re all delicious, but if you want a recommendation, the Chaplin is a classic tonkotsu ramen with pork belly. The Miso and Shoyu ramen are classic flavors too. The Shoyu here doesn’t come with an egg, so I would add that.

I would also add the fried pork gyoza because, when I went in 2017, I said it was the best things I ate all year. And I still stand by that.

Nighttime:

If dinner is a little far for you to walk since you’ve been walking all day, you might want to take the subway or ride share back to the hotel. That’s fine. But you’ll miss out on seeing all the government buildings and monuments lit up at night.

They’re gorgeous with all the lights shining on and through them that it makes your evening walk so magical.

If you’re looking for something free to do, the Kennedy Center (2700 F Street NW) is actually open until midnight and there’s free admission to the Arts And Ideals exhibit (a permanent immersive exhibit/memorial honoring President John F. Kennedy).

The Kennedy Center has a variety of performances on its stage. There are paid events that happen there, but there are also a ton of free events on its Millennium Stage. There are free film screenings on Sundays at 3 pm and free performances in the Grand Foyer on Wednesdays through Saturdays at 6 pm. You do need to reserve tickets in advance for those events, so plan accordingly.

The Next Day

Early morning

Grab a cup of complementary coffee in the lobby. You can, of course, have breakfast at the hotel. But, my better suggestion is to take your coffee to go on your seven minute walk to Founding Farmers for breakfast.

Can you even finish your coffee that quickly? I told you this hotel location was convenient.

Breakfast

There are three Founding Farmers locations in the DC area, and the closest one to this hotel is Founding Farmers & Distillers DC (600 Massachusetts Avenue NW).

If you choose a different hotel, you can either visit Founding Farmers DC (in the Foggy Bottom section of DC) or Founding Farmers Fishers & Bakers (in the Georgetown neighborhood of DC).

The food is so good. Everything is made from scratch (from “bread to booze” the website says) and you can taste that care. The restaurants are majority owned by farmers, so you’re getting a high quality product. And the portion sizes are very generous. The prices are so reasonable (reasonable in general, but especially reasonable for Washington, DC) so I thought the portions would be small. Nope. 

If you’re going with a group, share a plate of Uncle Buck’s Beignets. They’re so light and airy and just melt in your mouth. They’re served with raspberry, chocolate, and caramel sauces. Skip the chocolate sauce. This is coming from someone who is obsessed with chocolate and gives it up for Lent every year. But the caramel sauce just goes with the beignet so much better, so save your stomach for that.

I also had the breakfast street tacos, which were perfect. They were filled with scrambled eggs, applewood smoked bacon, cotija cheese, cilantro, onions, and Bucky’s hot sauce, which sounds like its too much for one tiny taco. It’s so well balanced. And when you add the side of salsa, some sort of magic happens. Ugh. So good.

And, if you want another cup of coffee (or if you didn’t take one from the hotel from the walk), Founding Farmers has its own coffee. You can purchase 8 oz. bags of it in the entrance of the restaurant or order it by the cup inside. The cups of coffee are huge. And, if you don’t finish it, they’ll give you a to go cup to take the rest with you.

10 am: 

If you’re looking for something unique to do before you head out of town, especially if you’re with kids or adults that love Instagram, head to the Museum of Illusions (927 H Street NW).

I will be very honest, the Museum of Illusions is small. An hour is more than enough time to experience the entire museum. But, the museum is so fun. It’s filled with optical illusions that play tricks on your eyes. We had such a great time.

You do need to go with a partner because most of the illusions won’t work without two people. And a third person to take a photo is also important because you can’t see some of the illusions until you look at the picture. Both of the main areas of the museum are staffed at all times, though, so if you need someone to snap a picture, a staff member will gladly do it.

It’s really fun to pose in the photos. And they look incredible when you post on social media. So, it’s definitely a fun way to spend the morning.

If you want something completely different, visiting the National Cathedral (3101 Wisconsin Avenue NW) is a great option. If you’re in town on a Sunday, you can actually go to Sunday mass there (which I did a few Palm Sundays ago).

Any other day of the week, you can take either a guided or self-guided tour of the cathedral, which was the site of four presidential funerals. The tours are timed and ticketed, so be sure to book that ahead of time.

And that’s it. You’ve been in town for 24 hours, so now it’s time to go.