Kirschblüten & das Tidal Basin — Washington im Frühling
The Cherry Blossom Festival (the National Cherry Blossom Festival, held annually in late March-early April in Washington DC — the most-attended annual event in Washington DC, attracting approximately 1.5 million visitors per year): the 3,800 Yoshino cherry trees (Prunus × yedoensis) surrounding the Tidal Basin and the National Mall bloom simultaneously for approximately 1-2 weeks each spring, creating the most spectacularly beautiful public floral display in the United States and one of the most photographed spring displays in the world.
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Tidal Basin Cherry Blossoms — 3,000 Trees in Peak Bloom
The Tidal Basin Cherry Blossoms (the 3,020 yoshino cherry trees surrounding the 107-acre Tidal Basin, a gift from Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki in 1912, the National Cherry Blossom Festival held annually late March–mid April, peak bloom lasts 5–7 days depending on temperature) draw 1.5 million visitors during the 2-week festival — the Jefferson Memorial (the white marble Pantheon-replica rising from the far shore of the Tidal Basin, the most photographed position during blossom season) and the dawn light (sunrise visits, before 7am, avoid the post-9am crowds, the light on the water during golden hour is unmatched) are the optimal viewing conditions; the Peak Bloom prediction is published by the National Park Service 7–10 days in advance.
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Jefferson Memorial — Sunrise and the South Side
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial (South Bank of the Tidal Basin, the neoclassical domed structure designed by John Russell Pope, dedicated 1943, open 24 hours, free, National Park Rangers present 9:30am–11:30pm) houses a 19-foot bronze statue of Jefferson surrounded by excerpts from the Declaration of Independence and his writings on the dome interior — the memorial is least crowded at dawn (the sunrise over the Capitol dome across the Mall is visible from the memorial's north steps) and most dramatic from the water taxi (Tidal Basin Paddle Boats, ¥30/hour for a 4-person pedal boat, March–October, the view from the water at blossom time is the defining Washington spring image).
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National Mall — The 3km Ceremonial Spine
The National Mall (the 2-mile greensward from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, the civic axis of Washington DC, containing 11 Smithsonian museums and 3 major memorials within the 2-mile walk) is the most important public space in the United States — the Smithsonian Institution museums (all free, all on the Mall: the National Air and Space Museum — the most visited museum in the world, 8 million/year — the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of American History, the Freer Gallery, the Hirshhorn Museum, the National Gallery of Art East and West Buildings) make the Mall the most concentrated free cultural zone in any capital city.
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Lincoln Memorial — The Temple at the West End
The Lincoln Memorial (West End of the National Mall, designed by Henry Bacon 1922, the Greek Doric temple housing the 19-foot seated Abraham Lincoln by Daniel Chester French, open 24 hours, free) is the setting for the most significant public speeches in American history — Martin Luther King Jr's 'I Have a Dream' (August 28, 1963, to 250,000 people on the Mall, the phrase repeated at the memorial's steps), Marian Anderson's 1939 concert (after she was denied the use of Constitution Hall by the DAR, Eleanor Roosevelt arranged for her to sing on the Lincoln Memorial steps to 75,000 people), and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall (the V-shaped black granite wall by Maya Lin, 1982, 200m east of the Lincoln Memorial, listing 58,279 names) are the adjacent landmark.
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US National Botanical Garden — The Living Plant Museum
The United States Botanic Garden (100 Maryland Avenue SW, on the Capitol grounds, free, daily 10am–5pm) is the oldest botanic garden in continuous operation in the United States (established 1820 by Congress) — the conservatory (the Victorian iron and glass greenhouse, 1933, housing the orchid collection, the medicinal plant gallery, the rare-plant survivors rescued from deforestation in Hawaii, and the 150-year-old sago palm — one of the oldest potted plants in the Western Hemisphere) and the National Garden outside (the rose garden, the butterfly garden, the regional native plant garden) are the principal spaces; the exterior formal gardens include the Bartholdi Fountain (the 1876 cast-iron fountain by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the Statue of Liberty sculptor).
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FDR and MLK Memorials — The Southwest Tidal Basin Circuit
The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (the 7.5-acre memorial between the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial on the southwest bank of the Tidal Basin, 4 outdoor rooms representing Roosevelt's 4 terms, with bronze sculptures, waterfalls, and quotes, open 24 hours, free) and the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial (the 4-acre memorial completed 2011, the Stone of Hope — the 9m carved granite likeness of King emerging from a boulder, the first memorial on the National Mall dedicated to a non-president, adjacent to the FDR Memorial, open 24 hours, free) are best visited as part of the Tidal Basin circuit walk (3.2 miles, 90 minutes walking, from the Washington Monument to the Jefferson Memorial and back via both memorials).