Washington DC: The Best City In The World?

Washington DC is the best city in the world to visit right now, at least, according to Lonely Planet.

Forbes magazine recently labelled Washington as ‘America’s coolest city’

But then, one former-Lonely Planet writer recently revealed he oft barely visited the countries he wrote about, preferring instead to peal stuff from the web and blow his budget on booze, cocaine and Brazilian prostitutes. Can’t blame him. There’s much worse things to spend money on, Lonely Planet guides for one.

And why does DC – ‘the capital of the free world’ - deserve the top spot, beating fellow Top 10’ers such as Milan, Vienna and Salisbury (yes Salisbury)? Well, according to the guide, museums mostly, and a murder - this year sees the 150^th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination by Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. 

Still, museums, murder and ‘several mixed-use developments’ (mixed-use developments? Come on Lonely Planet) are not reason enough to fly 3,500 miles across the Atlantic. This is a city that has come to realise that fat ties, power-walks and rampant ambition aren’t, well, very cool. Thus, in recent years, Washington DC – with a rising population of millennials driving a raging food, booze and arts scene – has started offering tourists much, much more.

The Capitol from Pennsylvania Avenue

“Washington isn’t only what you see on The West Wing”, says bubbly Kate Gibbs from Destination DC (they’re all bubbly over here, seriously, about everything – it lifts the spirit). “We want people to think of us the way they think of New York: beautiful, exciting, culturally rich, cool.”

Of course, DC will never be NYC; there’s not the pace, nor the attitude, nor that lingering sense of menace. Still, following the 1910 Height of Buildings Act - giving the city its signature low-rise architecture and Nile-wide boulevards - there’s an unusual sense of light and expanse strolling through DC, rare for a city with so much clout.

U Street - ' DC's 'cool corridor'

The District now spends $20 million a year trying to convince people that Washington DC is as much a destination as the Big Apple. It’s working too. Forbes magazine recently labelled Washington as ‘America’s coolest city’, while tourism numbers are at a record high with twenty million visitors bringing in a $7 billion spend last year.

So there’s never been a better time to visit Washington D.C., and with United Airlines now flying daily from Manchester to Washington Dulles (prices start from £560 return) getting over there is a doddle. Here’s what you need to know…

WHEN TO GO

The weather here is notoriously brutal from May and September which brings out armies of mosquitoes. The best time to visit is around April, or October before the chill kicks in mid-November. However, if a hot, sticky city doesn’t faze you, you’re likely to find the best hotel rates around August. You’ll also find deals around December and January – but pack your woolies.

WHERE TO STAY

If you've got the readies, the Loews Madison Hotel is a classy five-star affair with large, modern rooms, a fantastic bar (an old favourite of Frank Sinatra) and newly opened Argentinian steakhouse, Rural Society, headed-up by TV chef James Beard. The hotel was also a favourite of Elizabeth Taylor and, according to Gibbs, every president since JFK has been through here (get used to hearing this) since it opened in 1963. The hotel is located in the heart of downtown D.C. on 15^th street NW, a few doors down from The Washington Post, meaning the White House, national monuments and even Georgetown are walkable. Rooms start from around £115 per night.

Loews Madison Hotel

Georgetown

WHAT TO DO

The sights in style(ish) – Washington has a dizzying number of monuments, museums and other patriotic sights, so getting around them all can swallow valuable time. If you don’t mind looking like a prize wally, bike rental firm Bike and Roll now lead tours of all the bits you really should see via Segway – an absurd electric two-wheel human transporter. The White House (not that big), the Capitol (very big), the Lincoln Memorial (oddly eerie) and the Washington Monument (stark) all ticked off in less than three hours. Not one for the image conscious. (£40 for three hours – no under twelves)

Stroll Around Georgetown – The city’s oldest neighbourhood is also its trendiest. Quaint row houses line leafy streets, yummy mummies roll out of M Street’s fine restaurants and into fashion boutiques while hipsters tap away in the district’s myriad backstreet cupcake stores and coffeehouses. Take some air along the handsome C&O canal towpath, browse the antique stores and flea-markets before catching a live show and grabbing some supper at Georgetown’s renowned jazz club, Blues Alley.

Discovery shuttle at the Air & Space Museum

World Famous Ben's Chili Bowl

Hit U-Street - Cringely referred to as D.C.'s 'Cool Corridor', U Street in north west Washington is the city's creative quarter and features a number of jumping music venues and bars, off-beat galleries and mouth-happy ethnic food including some of the best 'soul food' anywhere. The world famous Ben's Chili Bowl, first opened in 1958, pulls in indie rockers and liberal suits alike to gobble what has become a DC icon - the 'Half Smoke' hotdog (half beef, half pork, full on fiery). Also head to Stetson's dive bar to for good beer, darts, pool, foosball and bop along to the old jukebox.

Do The Museum Thing – There’s around 200 museums in Washington D.C. - that’s a fair bit of chin-stroking - so pick wisely. The best of the lot is the Newseum (£16 entrance fee), an interactive museum of journalism on Pennsylvania Avenue costing somewhere in the region of $480m. The museum features a disfigured antenna from the top of the World Trade Center, a section of the real Berlin Wall and an FBI exhibit exploring some of the bureau’s top cases and most dangerous targets.

There’s nineteen Smithsonians dotted around D.C. (eleven along the Mall alone), the most fascinating of which are the two Air and Space Museums. If you can only visit one head to the Steven F. Udar-Hazy Center near Dulles airport (ideally make a little time before your return flight) which boasts a Concorde, the space shuttle Discovery and the Enola Gay (the plane which first dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima) amongst hundreds more in its vast hangars. This one is a jaw-dropper.

Charlie Palmer''s

WHERE TO EAT & DRINK

Big Stakes... and Steaks - Beneath the shadow of Capitol Hill, power brokers take power lunches in the steakhouse of Charlie Palmer - a prolific American restaurateur and TV chef. Palmer's is an upmarket affair with a strangely cool and elegant feel, for a steakhouse at least. The restaurants boasts an ultra-modern and imposing wine cellar, a vast roof terrace and perhaps the finest filet mignon ($28) you'll ever taste. CP's certainly looks expensive, but pop in for the lunchtime prix fixe and get three courses for only $25. 101 Constitution Ave.

Golden Oldie - The Old Ebbit Grill is supposedly Washington's oldest saloon, dating back to 1856 (call that old?). No one seems entirely sure this is true, but the Grill has moved locations so many times that nobody can be bothered to check. Still, no matter, for OEG boasts an impressive wine list, raw bar (think London's Balthazar) and does the best oysters in town (half price from 3pm to 6pm too). Tourists can be a problem, mind. 675 15th Street NW.

The Willard's Round Robin bar

Meaty bliss  - Red Apron has two sites in DC, the newest of which sits in the busy Penn Quarter neighbourhood. Popular with meat-lovers and those in the market for primal snacks, Red Apron is primarily a butchers serving breakfast and lunchtime sandwiches, alongside burgers, meatball subs and a smidge of salads. Boo. Their Italian tigelle breakfast flatbreads, stuffed with hot sausage, cheese, egg and mustard are dreamy. The shop also has an adjoining 80-cover bar and restaurant, The Partisan, if you want to linger awhile longer. 709 D Street NW.

Lobbying - Once considered to be the centre of Washington power play (more so than even the White House or the Capitol), The Willard Hotel is credited with the beginnings of the term 'lobbyist', as eighteenth president Ulysses S. Grant would often sit in the hotel lobby, cigar and brandy in hand, being pestered by petitioners. The Willard's Round Robin and Scotch bar is the stuff of DC legend and regularly makes 'World's Best Bar' shortlists. Mark Twain and Charles Dickens have imbibed here, while the DC mint julep was first mixed here. One for whisky-buffs, offering over 100 malt whiskies in grand mahogany surrounds. 1401 Pennsylvania Ave NW.