To Get to Know a City, Walk It

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated and fact-checked to reflect current visitor and transportation information in Washington, D.C. The author’s original experiences, observations and voice have been preserved.

For many people, travel consists of marking off a checklist of famous places. I can’t count the number of times I’ve observed people driving up to a beautiful or thought-provoking site, snapping a photo and driving away. I’ve done that myself a few times.

But I’ve also found that exploring destinations on foot allows for more authentic and memorable experiences. For example, the day I set out on foot in Cozumel in search of a tiny, local seafood restaurant proved to be a highlight of my cruise.

To understand why Nashville is called Music City, you have to take a stroll from Broadway, with live music cascading from the rooftops and open windows of nearly every establishment, to the stars of the Music City Walk of Fame.

Drawing on these experiences, my husband and I decided to explore the cultural and historical treasures of the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., in ambulatory style.

Walking a City Requires Diligent Planning

Like most Americans, we drive almost everywhere we go. But when we began planning our trip to D.C., we realized that parking could be a problem—difficult to find and expensive.

So, we decided to experience Washington, D.C. without a rental car—just a flight in, public transportation, a hotel near the National Mall and our own two feet.

I knew that our self-imposed carless state would restrict the places of interest we could visit to a reasonable radius around our hotel. Step number one was figuring out how far my companion and I could go in a day.

The White House sat less than a mile from the hotel I’d selected, and the nearest Smithsonian museum lay just over a mile away. These distances we knew we could handle.

Second, we had to figure out how to get to and from the airport. I could call a taxi, but I was eager to try D.C.’s Metro system. That meant learning how to navigate a subway system with a station connected directly to Reagan National Airport.

My final consideration was personal safety. More than one well-traveled acquaintance gave me the side-eye when I told them of our plans. We didn’t take their concerns lightly.

I wanted to know what the routes between our hotel, Metro stations and major sites actually looked like before we arrived.

Virtual Preparation Led to Confidence

In advance of our trip, I used Google Maps’ Street View feature to “walk” the routes I planned to take. I saw a vibrant community and a quaintly historic residential district, both of which I anticipated feeling comfortable in.

I also talked with an acquaintance who lives in the area. She spoke highly of the Metro system and helped put my mind at ease.

With plans in place, we were ready to go.

Benefits of a Walking Vacation

Novel experiences challenge me to pay attention, adapt and engage with my surroundings in ways that ordinary routines often do not. Walking adds physical activity to the experience, which can support thinking, memory and emotional well-being.

When I travel, I’m also more apt to try new things, even to tackle mystifying or disconcerting challenges.

For this trip, I faced an intimidating challenge immediately upon arrival—I would ride the Metro, my first time using a subway system.

I asked for directions and tapped my phone at the turnstile. The Reagan National Airport Metro station is elevated and open-air, defying my media-influenced perceptions of what a subterranean subway station should look like.

The train barreled into the station like a large, angry animal, coming to an obstinate halt. The doors whooshed open, we stepped inside and were soon mesmerized by the architectural patterns on the walls rushing by, reminiscent of the high vaulted ceilings in many of D.C.’s iconic buildings.

I felt jubilant when I emerged into the daylight at Archives–Navy Memorial–Penn Quarter station, having conquered a long-held fear.

We had seen the city’s literal underbelly and were now free to explore the museums and sites that sprawled before us.

A Wealth of Treasures Emerged

The Gutenberg Bible. The contents of Abraham Lincoln’s pockets on the night of his assassination. The Declaration of Independence. A 1297 Magna Carta. A taxidermied specimen of an extinct Australian mammal. Tiny pieces of ancient pottery. Paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Matisse and Picasso. Meteorites you can reach out and touch.

The treasures we encountered were scattered among institutions around the National Mall and Capitol Hill, including the Library of Congress, National Archives, Smithsonian museums and National Gallery of Art.

It was a mind-blowing concentration of information, history, science and art.

But just as thrilling was what we saw between points of interest.

Weary after our first day of travels, we decided to head for our hotel in the mid-afternoon. Our carry-on backpacks made it feel like we were rucking.

But the lush canopy of trees lining nearly every street framed a tableau of familiar facades, including the J. Edgar Hoover Building, long associated with the FBI and immortalized in more than one of our favorite television shows.

There were also historically significant places whose names we recognized: Ford’s Theatre, where John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln, and the Petersen House across the street, where Lincoln spent his final hours.

On subsequent jaunts, we passed the Supreme Court, Senate office buildings, and the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Trade Commission.

We viewed the United States Capitol and the Washington Monument peeking across the skyline from every conceivable angle.

Not only were we more likely to notice these sites at our slower pace, but we also had more time to ponder them.

We had seen them in the media, knew of important events connected to each, and contemplated how these abiding institutions intersected our daily lives.

Experiencing Local Culinary Gems

Walking also helped us discover local culinary gems.

On our first evening in Washington, D.C., we decided we didn’t want to walk far from our hotel. We dined outside at a nearby Italian bistro, watching a melting pot of suited legislative assistants, uniformed officers, construction workers in hi-vis, robed monks, commuting residents and obvious tourists walk by.

On another occasion, we asked our tour guide at the Museum of the Bible for a restaurant recommendation.

At her behest, we found ourselves at José Andrés’ Oyamel, where we encountered chapulines, an Oaxacan specialty of sautéed grasshoppers.

And on another occasion, we chanced upon a Chinatown district that we didn’t know existed in D.C.

That is part of the appeal of moving through a city on foot. Meals, neighborhoods and street scenes become discoveries rather than destinations programmed into an itinerary.

More Benefits of a Walking Vacation

Of course, there are also subtler benefits to a walking vacation—including exceeding your daily step goal and discovering just how much ground you can cover under your own power.

I also felt encouraged to continue putting in daily miles. I want to have the stamina to explore new destinations on foot for a long time to come.

Finally, we found that we remain more connected to a location when we walk it compared with other modes of travel.

Events in Washington, D.C., are frequently newsworthy, and I’m now transported when I see coverage of familiar streets and buildings. I can picture places we passed and understand how one block connects to another because I traveled those streets on my own feet.

There is also much more to discover in Washington, D.C. beyond the National Mall, something walking made us appreciate even more.

If you want to truly experience the flavor of Washington, D.C., or any other city, consider walking it.

You will move slower, see more, talk to people and have a less “touristy” time—even if you’re still hitting the tourist highlights.

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