Washington, D.C.: self-guided audio tour through power and memory

This self-guided audio tour explores Washington, D.C. through art, theater, government, and national remembrance. It will appeal to first-time visitors who want more than postcard views and are curious about how the capital tells the American story in its museums, memorials, and public spaces. The route starts at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, then moves through Chinatown, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and the historic stage of Ford's Theatre. From there, you continue past the National Theatre and Freedom Plaza toward the White House area at The President's Park, then head onto the National Mall. The second half of the walk follows the city's most symbolic landscape: the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Women's Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, the Tidal Basin, and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. The tour then turns back toward civic Washington, passing the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Bartholdi Fountain, the United States Capitol, and ending at the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. Along the way, the most memorable experiences include standing beneath the Capitol dome, facing Lincoln across the Reflecting Pool, walking beside the engraved names at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and seeing how art, democracy, and memory meet in the heart of the city.