Area Attractions
Whatever the reason for your visit to GW, and no matter how long you stay, you’ll never run out of things to do. At the edges of our Foggy Bottom Campus, you’ll find the White House, the Department of State, the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and a number of other cultural, government and entertainment venues. Washington’s most popular attractions are just a walk or a Metro ride away from the campus.
Museums
Smithsonian Institution museums and galleries line the nearby National Mall. They include the museums of American history and natural history, the Air and Space Museum and the National Gallery of Art. The National Archives and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum are in the same area.
Government Buildings, Monuments and Memorials
Along with the White House, the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, you can easily visit the Washington Monument, the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials and the Vietnam, Korean War and World War II memorials. Many U.S. government agencies and departments offer tours for visitors.
Washington, D.C., Neighborhoods
You can spend time exploring our historic Foggy Bottom or Mount Vernon/Foxhall neighborhoods. From both, Downtown, Penn Quarter, Capitol Hill and Georgetown shops and services can be reached on foot, Metro subway, Taxi, or by bus. The Adams Morgan and U Street/Shaw neighborhoods are a melting pot of cultures and home to popular entertainment, clubs and restaurants. The National Zoo, the National Mall and Rock Creek Park are among the city’s many green spaces.
Performing Arts
Washington hosts professional symphonic, opera, theater and ballet companies, including the Folger Shakespeare Theatre. The city is filled with clubs offering a wide range of popular music. GW’s own Lisner Auditorium is D.C.’s busiest and best-known venue for the performing arts.
George Washington
You can explore the Virginia haunts of GW’s namesake by visiting Olde Towne Alexandria, roaming Washington’s Mount Vernon home and traveling to his birthplace at Ferry Farm, near Fredericksburg.
D.C. Sports
Washington is a great sports city. Depending on the season, you can take in baseball with the Washington Nationals, football with the Redskins, basketball with the Wizards, hockey with the Capitals and soccer with D.C. United. If you’re fortunate enough to visit during basketball season, you can’t miss GW’s own Colonials!
Great Side Trips
If you’re traveling to and from GW by car and have the time to wander beyond the city, a number of outstanding attractions are just a day-trip away. They include Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the historic port of Annapolis, Md., beautiful Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park and beaches in Maryland and Delaware.
GW Bookstore
Plan on your visit to campus to include shopping at the GW Bookstore for an assortment of spirited apparel and gifts. Located on the ground floor of the Marvin Center, you will also find residence hall and school supplies, computer-related products, magazines and best sellers, greeting cards, and textbooks and course materials. It is the destination for all things Colonials and Hippo!
The GW Experience
Students
All in the Family
Greg and Heather Hachenburg talk about their undergraduate experience at GW, one of many sibling pairs to share in the Colonials legacy.
Creating Next Generation Leaders
GW program helps female students connect with leading women across a variety of fields and develop their roles as future women in leadership.
Where the City is a Classroom
Freshman volunteers experience life beyond Foggy Bottom...
Faculty
Fighting Neglected Diseases
GW professor works to eradicate diseases that affect the health, education and economic development of the world's poorest people.
Building the Super Computer
Pioneering lab puts GW at the forefront of high-speed computing and offers GW students unprecedented access to science and skills of the future.
Blast From the Past
Students map an ancient—and dramatic—eruption as part of a geological research program in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains.
Alumni
Giving Back to the District of Columbia
D.C. public health director calls GW education the foundation of his career.
GW Opens Doors
A chance encounter with a GW alumna helped give one GW undergraduate, an aspiring broadcast journalist from Texas, his big break.
The Legend Lives On
The $2 million bequest commitment caps a lifetime of philanthropy and service to GW, establishing the Elyse B. and Donald R. Lehman Endowed Professorship in Theoretical Physics.