Tour Details
- Duration
- 3 hours
- Product Type
- Tour
- Venues
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- Washington Monument
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- Lincoln Memorial
Photos & Highlights
- Learn about how America's capital city memorializes critical moments and characters throughout history
- A local historian leads your Private Tour of the National Mall
Select a date
Tour Description
Embark on a 3-hour odyssey through the heart of Washington DC, the iconic National Mall. Led by a local historian, uncover the Mall's fascinating fabric, from its perfectly designed quadrant streets to George Washington and Pierre Charles L'Enfant's creative design.
Explore the evolution of landmarks like the White House and the Capitol Building, witnessing the seamless marriage of eighteenth-century majesty with twenty-first-century energy.
This epic journey goes beyond the familiar, venturing to lesser-explored memorials like FDR, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Vietnam War.
Discover the National Mall's 300-acre canvas, where history unfolds against a backdrop of festivals, demonstrations, and entertainment.
Join the conversation about America's ongoing challenges and ideologies, as this tour unveils the enduring symbolism and cultural resonance of this monumental landscape.
Want to visit America’s Front Yard with kids? Consider our National Mall Tour for Kids, designed especially for younger learners.
- You want to connect to a deeper level of history to frame the rest of your trip
- You’re hoping to discover the city through the eyes of a local expert
- You're a history lover wanting to follow in the footsteps of famous historical figures
National Mall - The National Mall and Memorial Parks preserve more than one thousand acres of federal parkland in Washington, DC.
General Information
- The tour starts outside the Botanical Garden, then visits the main sites along the National Mall and ends at the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial.
- Time spent and the actual venues visited can vary per guide and depending on the client's interest and pace.
Tickets
- This tour will only cover external visits to the monuments, so no entrance fees are included.
Resources
- If you're keen to expand your knowledge about the National Mall before your tour, explore our online lectures and audio guides.
Accessibility
- This is a very walking-intensive tour, but covers almost entirely flat terrain and all the major monuments and memorials of the National Mall are wheelchair accessible.
For more information about Context Tours, please visit our FAQs.
Does this tour go inside of the Lincoln Memorial?
No, it doesn't usually go inside of the Lincoln Memorial because the site is so crowded. Instead, we recommend visiting at nighttime since there's often no one there.
Does this tour include the museums of the National Mall?
No, this tour doesn’t include the museums, however, for clients interested in art, we do have a focused tour of the National Gallery of Art.
Where You'll Start
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56 Reviews
Reviews can only be left by Context customers after they have completed a tour. For more information about our reviews, please see our FAQ.
Abram our tour leader was very good and presented an excellent history of the Mall. He answered any and all questions clearly and openly. Abram provided a much more detailed and insightful tour than most general walking tours. He was also very mindful of the very hot weather and made sure we were in shade whenever possible for our discussions.
Marjorie
Jun 14, 2015
Although the mall itself was a bit torn up, everything about the Context-controlled aspects of tour was perfect, thanks to our fabulous docent.
Cathy
May 30, 2015
Abram is fabulous! We were a bit late for him but he had a huge smile on his face when he saw us. He engaged the children and the adults equally in an amazing manner. His knowledge is superb and he is a pleasure to spend time with. Can't wait to be back in DC to do another walk with him. Thanks Context for having such fantastic docents!!!
Lory
May 26, 2015
