Chosen as the US Capital in 1790 by then-President George Washington (his Mount Vernon estate is just to the south across the Potomac River), its political and patriotic landmarks – as well as the huge web of always-free, always engaging Smithsonian galleries and museums (+12023572020, www.si.edu) centered around the National Mall (Independence and Constitution Avenues, bordered by the Washington Monument and US Capitol) – attract constant throngs of camera-toting tourists.

Must-sees around the Mall include the Washington Monument, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. The moving United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW, DC 20024, +12024880400) is also nearby. But those coming to the District for pleasure should balance soaking up its symbolic grandeur with its neighborhood intimacy: robust enclaves from Foggy Bottom to Dupont Circle, Shaw to LeDroit Park and the revitalized Chinatown corridor, which lies adjacent to the recently-built sports and concert arena MCI Center (601 F Street NW, DC 20004, +12026283200, www.mcicenter.com) and the wildly successful International Spy Museum (800 F Street NW, DC 20004, +12023937798, www.spymuseum.org). But in a city with many famous museums, the hands-down winner in stomach-churning oddities is tucked away in the Upper Northwest: National Museum of Health and Medicine (6825 16th Street NW, DC 20306, +12027822200).

Though the city welcomes about 19 million visitors a year, its first priority is the business of government, making it a very different destination. Visitors experience frequent disruptions, from demonstrations to the moment’s notice security-lockdowns that have become a way of life since the 2001 terror attacks which also ended the daily public tours of the White House, once known as ‘the people’s house’.