The 444 acre National Arboretum blooms with all manner of plants; clematis, ponies, rhododendrons and azaleas are among its showier inhabitants. The National Bonsai Collection, National Herb Garden, and an odd and striking hilltop construction of old marble columns from the U.S. Capitol are also well worth seeing.


The 160 acre National Zoological Park is one of the top zoos in the world. Innovative compounds show animals in naturalistic settings, and the ambitious Amazonian recreates the ecosystem of a South American rain forest. Its most famous residents are a pair of giant pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, who arrived from China in 2001.

Rock Creek Park is a cool silver of green jutting down in to the center of the city. Its 1800 acres include picnic sites and trails that wend through groves of dogwood, beech, oak and cedar.