Georgetown Waterfront and C and O Canal

Georgetown is older than Washington itself, a colonial tobacco port that the capital later absorbed, and its waterfront is the best place in the city for a free, unscheduled half day. Start at Georgetown Waterfront Park, a long riverside lawn and promenade along the Potomac with views of the Kennedy Center, Roosevelt Island and Key Bridge, fountains where children splash in summer, and steps down to the water where people sit for sunset. Next to it, Washington Harbour has restaurants on the river, and from mid-November through March its fountain turns into an outdoor ice rink that is especially pretty at night. A block uphill, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal begins its 184-mile run to Cumberland, Maryland. The canal's Georgetown section is lined with old brick warehouses and locks, and the towpath beside it is one of the region's favorite walking, running and cycling paths; historic canal boat rides are currently not offered while restoration work continues along the canal. Under Key Bridge, the boathouse rents kayaks, canoes and paddleboards in the warmer months, and paddling past the monuments is a memorable way to see the city. Above the water, Georgetown's streets reward wandering: M Street and Wisconsin Avenue for shops and cafes, the quiet residential lanes above with Federal-style houses, the Old Stone House (a pre-Revolutionary home run by the National Park Service), and the steep stone stairway made famous by The Exorcist. The honest notes: there is no Metro station in Georgetown, so walk from Foggy Bottom or take a bus or rideshare; and weekends on M Street are crowded. Fit: couples, families and anyone looking for a slower, local side of DC.

The history is visible everywhere. Georgetown was a busy port in the eighteenth century, shipping tobacco and flour, and the C and O Canal was built in the nineteenth century to carry coal and goods from the Allegheny Mountains to the river; it lost out to the railroads and closed in the 1920s, then was saved from becoming a highway in the 1950s after a famous hike by Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. Today the canal is a National Historical Park, and the Georgetown section, with its mule-drawn boat tradition and restored locks, is its urban front door. The neighborhood itself became fashionable in the twentieth century, home to senators, journalists and presidents, and its brick rowhouses and gardens are among the best preserved in the city. Georgetown University's campus sits on the hill at the western edge of the neighborhood, and its historic Healy Hall is visible from the river. Dumbarton Oaks, a historic estate with formal terraced gardens and a fine research library and museum, sits at the top of the hill on R Street and makes a lovely extension for garden lovers in the warmer months.

Visit craft: arrive in the late afternoon, walk the canal towpath west for twenty minutes, then come down to Waterfront Park for sunset over the river and Roosevelt Island. In warm months, book a kayak from the boathouse and paddle toward the Lincoln Memorial for the classic monument view from the water. In winter, skate at Washington Harbour and warm up in a riverside restaurant. Explore the side streets above M Street for the quietest, most beautiful corner of the neighborhood, and save time for the Exorcist steps if you have a film fan with you.

Practicals: the waterfront runs along K Street NW and Water Street between Rock Creek and Key Bridge. The nearest Metro stations are Foggy Bottom-GWU and Rosslyn across the river, both about a fifteen- to twenty-minute walk; buses and rideshares are easier with children. Paid garages are available. Water taxis link Georgetown with the Wharf, Old Town Alexandria and National Harbor in season. Pair it with Old Town Alexandria by boat, or with a Potomac cruise.