Washington, D.C.

Welcome to The Washington, D.C. MetroGuide service, your source for information on the Greater Washington, D.C. area. The Washington, D.C. MetroGuide is a member of the MetroGuide Network, a collection of information sites, all using a similar interface, for major metropolitan areas worldwide.

In 1791, Capt. Pierre Charles L'Enfant, a U.S. Army engineer and designer of Washington, D.C., gazed north from the banks of the Potomac River to envision a "pedestal waiting for a monument."

Greater Washington, D.C has since become a fascinating city combining grand, neoclassical government buildings, monuments, memorials, museums and the National Mall along with colorful neighborhoods. Boasting an all-American line-up of cultural and artistic events at venues from the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the famed Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. has more theater seats than any other U.S. city except the Big Apple. The best of world-class shows and homegrown performances are on tap, and only in Washington, D.C. can visitors tour the Capitol Building and Washington Monument by day and take in the National Symphony Orchestra and world-class opera by night.

Well-known annual festivals and special events attract thousands from all over, flocking to see the elegant cherry trees ringing the tidal basin with spring blossoms. In May on Memorial Day Weekend, America's main street -- Pennsylvania Avenue -- makes way for a Taste of DC, with food from more than 40 of Washington's diverse restaurants accompanied by tastes of music and the arts on a trio of entertainment stages. On the Fourth of July, crowds congregate along the National Mall for spectacular fireworks lighting the skyline.