DC by Foot offers free walking tours of the National Mall that are both fun and educational. These tours are great for families visiting the Washington D.C. area because the tours include games, fun facts and trivia questions from start to finish. On this tour you will learn about hidden secrets of the area, hear stories and legends and learn valued historical information. The tour with DC by Foot will take you by the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall, the Lincoln Memorial and the Korean Memorial. As of December 2010 the tour was available on Wednesday, Saturdays and Sundays at 11:30 a.m.
Free tours of the U.S. Naval Memorial are given on alternating Mondays from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. The U.S. Navy Memorial tour features "The Lone Sailor," the statue by Stanley Bleifeld and the Naval Heritage Center. Visual exhibits at the Naval Heritage Center include Navy Medicine, Blue Angels, Strategic Systems, Marking Time and Women and the U.S. Navy. The Heritage Center is also open daily for viewing without a tour. Reservations for a tour are required to be made four to six weeks in advance.
Free tours and lectures are available Monday through Saturday at the African American Civil War Museum. The museum showcases the role African American troops played in the Civil War. On display you will see different prints from Harper's Weekly and Frank Leslie's Illustrated, both of which show the importance of the role these troops played in the war. Other items on display include photographs, newspaper clippings, replicas of period clothing, uniforms, weapons and a 1834 bill of sale for a young girl in Wilcox County, Alabama. Tours include a 15- to 30-minute lecture about Colored Troops Role in the war that will be followed by a question and answer session. Once the lecture is over you will be taken on a guided tour of the museum. Reservations for groups of five or more are required.
Free guided tours are available at the Kennedy Center, including the Hall of States, Hall of Nations, the main theaters, the artwork and sculptures that have been donated to the center from foreign countries. Tours will include informative details about John F. Kennedy's presidency and his memorial. Your tour will end with a 360-degree view of the national capital from the Kennedy Center's roof terrace. Tours are available daily by the friends of the Kennedy Center Volunteers and include a variety of tours, including walk-ins, groups, foreign language and VIP.
Guided tours of the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress are offered Monday through Saturday free of charge. You will be able to see the Great Hall, the Main Reading Room and several of the buildings' galleries. Tours are one hour long and led by trained docents who will share the story of the Library's history, collections and services offered to Congress and the nation. The Library of Congress is also home to the Gutenberg Bible and millions of other books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts, making it the largest library in the world. The Library of Congress is closed for Inauguration Day and annually for Martin Luther King Day.
