A mini travel guide for a weekend trip to Washington DC

This past weekend me and a few of my friends went to visit our other friend who’s currently attending grad school in Washington DC and it was so much fun!

And so, I came up with a mini guide that consists of some of the best things we did and the best places we ate. It’s not incredibly thorough, but hey, it’s a great jumping-off point if you’re planning a mini trip to DC any time soon!

From where to eat to what to do, here’s my travel guide for a weekend trip to Washington DC.

A vague itinerary for two days in Washington DC:

Stop at B Too for brunch (but skip the coffee)

One day for brunch we went to B Too. I recommend making a reservation in advance, it was quite crowded! I ordered their signature Doffle sandwich, which was a sandwich with sugary, glazed donuts pressed in a waffle maker as the buns and it was filled with a sweet and spicy sauce, egg, cheese, bacon bits, and a sausage patty.

Seriously, it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten!! The prices in this place weren’t too bad either, but I do suggest skipping the coffee. It tasted like bland water and it cost $4! Sneakily, the coffee wasn’t on the menu…totally overpriced.

Visit during cherry blossom season if you can, but be sure to find some magnolia trees

Honestly? The best places to take photos with these pretty, pink-flowered trees were random streets we found. We ended up passing a lot of parks and streets lined with these beauties and stopping for a mini photoshoot was always part of our itinerary.

Personally, I found that the magnolia trees were more beautiful than the cherry blossoms! But, both trees make for some awesome photos.

Grab a bite to eat at Tonic at Quigley’s

Oooof! This place is loaded with students and I suggest making a reservation. This place had some amazing food. I got a beef burger that was topped with a fried onion ring and pulled pork and it was deeelicious. It was also served with some great kettle chips.

This place is known for their tater tots and although I didn’t try them, they looked pretty tasty.

Get dessert at Georgetown Cupcakes

This place is just a staple! I tried so many cupcakes from here and brought back a bunch for family and friends. I’m not the biggest fan of cupcakes, but the lemon cupcake and the red velvet one were quite tasty, especially the red velvet because I’m a sucker for cream-cheese frosting.

The cupcakes are around $3.50 a pop and I suggest checking their daily menu before you go. They swap out new flavors each day of the week.

Kick off your day with some scones and drinks from Bourbon Coffee

This small, crop-to-cup chain had some amazing and affordable coffee. Plus, they had plenty of smoothies, breakfast foods, and my personal favorite…they had scones! The cheese and chive scone was delicious. I was pleasantly surprised to get a giant (medium-sized) coffee and a scone for under $6.

Check out some plants at the US Botanic Garden

As a head’s up, this place isn’t very big. I think we walked the entire thing in under an hour. But, there were a lot of really gorgeous plants to see! My friend and I almost watched a daring selfie-taker fall into a small pond, so that was fun, too.

My personal favorite room was the desert room with lots of tiny cacti! The best part of this place is that it was free.

Get a meal at Ted’s Bulletin 14th street (but skip the dessert) 

Oooof, this was the first place we went out to eat and it was amazing. I ordered the chicken and biscuits served with a giant hashbrown and it was amazing. There was seriously so much food on the plate!

My friends and I also brought home every flavor of their famous homemade tarts but they were a bit overpriced (about $4 or $5 each) and none of us enjoyed them much. We felt they tasted underbaked and bland. Pass on the tarts, but definitely grab a meal.

Cool down at Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams

This place was so cute! It’s also super aesthetically pleasing. It’s two floors with lots of seating and the whole place was colorful with white marble accents. There were so many flavors to try from brambleberry crisp to ooey-gooey butter cake. I got a kid’s scoop of dark chocolate ice cream on a sugar cone and it was amazing! It’s a bit pricey but worth it.

Maybe Skip:

Go to U Street during the day for a little bit, but not at night

During the day, U Street was kind of fun to walk along. I mean, we saw wall art and passed some great eateries. Buuut overall, if you’re tight on time, don’t bother going. It’s not that exciting, in my opinion. There aren’t many shops to pop into or peruse.

At night, my friends and I tried to go out dancing and bar-hopping on U Street, as per some local recommendations, but it was a bust. It felt unsafe and there weren’t many places we wanted to visit so we ended up going home. Honestly, I felt safer on Bourbon Street in NOLA or on the streets of Manhattan than I did on U Street. Not quite my scene.

Don’t visit the monuments at night

Also, visiting the White House, Capitol Building, and Lincoln Memorial at night was a shit-show. You’d think these monuments would be brightly lit but they’re not. There’s also, uh, like no security? I was surprised at how unsafe all of the monuments felt.

People were literally using flashlights to see everything. Seriously, you could’ve fallen into the water in front of the Capitol if you weren’t using your phone flashlight to see. It felt dangerous and, honestly, the monuments looked quite disappointing at night. I feel they are disappointing during the day, too, but I’m just someone who isn’t particularly impressed by stuff like this. I mean, when I travel, items of historic value aren’t usually on my itinerary.