At the heart of America’s capital, the National Mall is home to many of Washington D.C.’s most iconic sights. Administered by the National Park Service, this is the base for exploring United States history through a series of world-class monuments and museums.

The National Mall stretches from the domed United States Capitol to the historic steps of the Lincoln Memorial, with many an iconic landmark along the way. Several of the Smithsonian Institution’s museums line the Mall’s boundaries on Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue, including the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Air & Space Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian. The Washington Monument towers over its instantly recognisable reflecting pool, surrounded by memorials to veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

The Mall is as centrally located as it gets in the District, as locals call the nation’s capital. Nearby Metro stops include the Smithsonian and the Federal Triangle on the blue, orange and silver lines, the Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter Station on the green and yellow lines and the L’Enfant Plaza station serving all of the above. With connections like that, visitors can easily reach any part of the city.

The concept of the National Mall began with the earliest plans for Washington D.C. In 1791, Pierre Charles L’Enfant planned a grand garden-lined avenue where the Mall now stands. These never came to fruition, but the construction of the current Mall at the turn of the 20th century followed vastly similar plans.