Sights:

1. National Museum of American History

Between 14th St. NW and 12th St. NW on Constitution Ave. NW on the National Mall; www.americanhistory.si.edu
Undergoing construction expected to be completed in 2008, the revamped space will include a grand staircase connecting the first and second floors, a spacious central atrium illuminated by a skylight, and a new welcome center. Many of the museum’s star exhibits such as its First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image, and Sports: Breaking Records, Breaking Barriers, are now on tour across the country.

2. National Museum of Natural History

Between 12th St. NW and 9th St. NW on Constitution Ave. NW on the National Mall; 202/357-1729; www.mnh.si.edu
Construction on the Neoclassical building began in 1903 when the Smithsonian Institution needed more space for its already crowded collections. Today, the museum, which attracts 15,000 visitors a day, houses more than 125 million cultural artifacts and natural science specimens (including 1,500 specimens of dinosaurs).

3. National Mall

South of Constitution Ave. NW, between 14th St. NW and 3 rd St. NW
The heart of Washington, D.C., the National Mall is a 300-acre green expanse dotted with memorials and framed by the capital’s museums. Renowned architect Pierre L’Enfant created the pedestrian-friendly design in 1791, but his plans were never fully realized until 1901. Since then, the Mall has served as the marching grounds for many historical demonstrations, including the African-American Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War Moratorium rally and the Million Man March.

4. National Sculpture Garden

Between Ninth St. NW and Seventh St. NW on Constitution Ave. NW; 202/737-4215; www.nga.gov/feature/sculpturegarden/general
The 6.1-acre outdoor space features 17 contemporary sculptures,including works by Spain’s Joan Miró and by American artist Joel Shapiro;a garden brimming with native American plants; and an ice skating rink in the winter months. Stop for a slice of pizza or a sandwich at the outdoor Pavilion Café, and, in the summer, catch an evening of live "Jazz in the Garden."

5. National Gallery of Art—West Building

Between Seventh St. NW and Ninth St. NW on Constitution Ave. NW; 202/737-4215; www.nga.gov
Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon commissioned famed American architect John Russell Pope, who also designed the Jefferson Memorial, to build the National Gallery of Art in 1935. The Neoclassical building, marked by its large dome and columns, houses the majority of the museum’s older works, including Ginevra de' Benci, the only oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Western Hemisphere.

6. National Gallery of Art--East Building

Between Fourth St. NW and Third St. NW on Constitution Ave. NW; 202/737-4215; www.nga.gov
Both inside and out, the National Gallery’s East Building is striking. In contrast to its neighbor, the straight lines and geometrical exterior of the I.M. Pei-designed space foreshadow the building’s modern art collections, which include works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, and a series of Henri Matisse’s rare papiers coupes, or paper cutouts. States and Variations: Prints by Jasper Johns, is on view until October 28, 2007.

7. Ulysses S. Grant Memorial

This memorial, sculpted by Henry Merwin Shrady and completed in 1920, honors former President of the United States U.S. Grant in his role as a general and a commander of the Union forces. The full statue--General Grant mounted on his horse and the nearby depiction of Union soldiers in battle--sits on the edge of the Capitol Reflecting Pool.

8. The National Museum of the American Indian

On the National Mall, at the corner of Fourth St. NW and Independence Ave. SW; 202/633-1000; www.nmai.si.edu
This museum is the first-ever institution of its kind dedicated to the history of American Indians. The base of the collection is a trove of 800,000 objects from Native American tribes from all over the Western Hemisphere. The building, which opened to the public in the fall of 2004, is made of Kasota limestone from southern Minnesota, and is designed to mimic sacred rock formations.

9. National Air and Space Museum

On the National Mall, Sixth St. NW and Independence Ave. SW; 202/633-1000; www.nasm.si.edu
Originally created as the National Air Museum, the Smithsonian Institution added the "space" element in 1966. The museum now holds more than 50,000 historic space—and aircraft artifacts, the largest collection in the world. This includes the first plane in flight, the 1903 Wright Flyer, and the first successful U.S. satellite, Explorer 1. Its IMAX Theater and Albert Einstein Planetarium are particularly popular spots for the museum’s record-breaking number of 9 million tourists a year, more visitors than any other museum in the world receives.

10. Hirshhorn Museum

On the National Mall, at the corner of Seventh St NW and Independence Ave. SW; 202/633-4674; hirshhorn.si.edu
Architect Gordon Bunshaft designed the 1974 museum as "a large piece of functional sculpture." The cylindrical mass has a hollow center, allowing natural light to illuminate the art--primarily collections of contemporary works. Alongside the Sculpture Garden, there is a Garden Plaza divided into six spaces that display the museum’s larger pieces such as Spanish artist Juan Muñoz’s The Last Conversation Piece, a series of "gossiping" bronze figures.

11. Freer Gallery of Art

On the National Mall, Jefferson Dr. SW at 12th St. SW; 202/633-4880; www.asia.si.edu
Founder Charles Freer, a Detroit-born railroad car manufacturer, collected Asian and American art, and his vision shaped what became the first Smithsonian Institute for Fine Arts in 1923. The pieces span many time periods and cultures, including large collections of Chinese, Near East, Korean, and Japanese works. Well-known collections include the gallery’s series of Biblical manuscripts, Buddhist paintings from the 12th to the 19th centuries, and one of the world’s best collections of ancient Chinese bronzes.

12. Washington Monument

This 555-foot obelisk is one of Washington’s most recognizable landmarks. Construction, which began in 1848 with white marble from Baltimore, was halted because of the Civil War. Building resumed in 1878 with white marble from a quarry in Massachusetts. You can easily distinguish one building period from the other because the top and bottom portions of the monument are different colors.

13. Reflecting Pool

Washington, D.C. has a series of reflecting pools, but this Versailles-inspired pool, framed by the Constitution Gardens, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument, is the city’s most famous. It sits 18 inches deep and holds 6,750,000 gallons of water.

14. Constitution Gardens

South of Constitution Ave. NW, between 17th St. NW and Henry Bacon Dr. NW; www.nps.gov/coga
The centerpiece of this 50-acre park is the memorial island in the middle of a scenic man-made lake. Pop over the bridge and see the island’s large commemorative stones; each displays the name and signature of one of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

15. Look to your left to see The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave.; 202/456-2121; www.whitehouse.gov
In the early 1790s, nine people entered a competition to build the "President’s House." (Not until 1901 did Theodore Roosevelt give the White House its official name; prior to that, it was called everything from the "President’s Palace" to the "Executive Mansion.") The winner, Irish-born architect James Hoban, designed the home that we are familiar with today. Even though the White House has survived two fires, the exterior walls of the building are made of the original stone.

— Stirling Kelso