Washington DC 
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Experience the full scope of what the National Mall and Tidal Basin have to offer in this in-depth walking tour. Starting with the National Mall, you'll see iconic buildings and monuments, like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Reflecting Pool. Among many other fascinating landmarks, you will even see the White House! From there, it's off to the Tidal Basin, where you'll visit the Jefferson Memorial, the FDR Memorial, the MLK Memorial, walk along DC's famous cherry trees, and even see the Pentagon from across the river. As you go, you will be regaled with fascinating stories and anecdotes, and let in on little known secrets about the history of DC and America.
Note: A max of 5 people can book at a time as per our partner's strict group booking policy. If you are group of 6 or more and place multiple bookings to go around our partner's restriction, our partner will immediately cancel your bookings. As this tour is no cost upfront, you have the opportunity to name your price depending on how you value the tour, pay-what-you-wish is for every budget! This tour works on the honor system, so please understand that if you make a reservation and don't show up without 24 hour notice, future tours will be placed on stand-by status.
National Mall and Tidal Basin Tour
What to expect
- Explore the buildings and monuments of the National Mall and the Tidal Basin
- Visit the Washington Memorial, Reflecting Pool, Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the FDR Memorial
- Discover the secrets and stories hidden in the nation's most iconic sites
- Get an inside look at the history of Washington, D.C.
Booking Calendar
| Date | Start Time | Duration | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Sep 16 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Wed, Sep 18 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Fri, Sep 20 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sat, Sep 21 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sun, Sep 22 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Mon, Sep 23 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Wed, Sep 25 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Fri, Sep 27 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sat, Sep 28 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sun, Sep 29 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Mon, Sep 30 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Wed, Oct 2 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Fri, Oct 4 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sat, Oct 5 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sun, Oct 6 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Mon, Oct 7 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Wed, Oct 9 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Fri, Oct 11 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sat, Oct 12 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sun, Oct 13 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Mon, Oct 14 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Wed, Oct 16 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Fri, Oct 18 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sat, Oct 19 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sun, Oct 20 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Mon, Oct 21 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Wed, Oct 23 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Fri, Oct 25 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sat, Oct 26 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Mon, Oct 28 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Wed, Oct 30 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Fri, Nov 1 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sat, Nov 2 | 2:00pm | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
| Sun, Nov 3 | 10:00am | 3.8 hours | $0.00 |
Ready to Book?
Select a time slot first! (212) 858 9559About this Activity
Key Highlights
| Price | Free! |
| Duration / Session | 3.8 hours |
| # Sessions | 1 |
| Rating | 20 positive reviews |
Cancellation Policy
Cancellation must be given at least 24 hours prior to the start of the tour. Failure to do so will result in future bookings being placed on stand-by status.
Reviews
(out of 20 votes)
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Beth L.
National Mall and Tidal Basin Tour August 16, 2017Im on my first vacation in over a year with my ex. We go on a road trip every year and last year did Philly and discovered DC BY FOOT free tours so we knew we had to book this one too. I booked it originally for Monday but we couldn't make it so switched to today. It was roughly 1000 degrees and even though me and Eric woke up early we still were late by a few minutes. Now lets talk about Dan King. HE"S THE BEST. Seriously,,,he kept us his energy and didn't break a sweat the entire 4 hours. He made us laugh the entire time and the tour went by super quick. We did the All in one National Monuments and basically everything tour. I have really really bad feet and did the best i could but by the end of the tour i could barely walk plus it was so motherfucking hot. I highly recommend this tour and get Dan if you can. I would have loved to give him even more of a tip since he was that great. Only thing that ruined it was these 2 little brats that kept climbing on all the monuments and screaming and acting like assholes. Parents did nothing while these two little womb turds ran amok. I am now back at the hotel with ice packs on my poor feet and Drinking an adult beverage. Excellent tour stop reading this and go do it NOW
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Anna G.
National Mall and Tidal Basin Tour August 16, 2017The guide had great energy even in the heat!
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Liv M.
National Mall and Tidal Basin Tour July 23, 2017My family of four enjoyed the two-hr tour of National Mall. The guide was knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly. We loved her energy, knew her history, facts and offered guidance and answered all questions. Awesome experience!
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Ruth G.
National Mall and Tidal Basin Tour July 10, 2017We took a great tour of Embassy Row with Becca -- who had many great stories about the scandals and the history (it was supposed to be about scandals and crimes -- totally appropriate in an evening tour aimed at adults. Very very enjoyable, funny and interesting! She made accommodations for people with walking difficulties and even was thoughtful enough to ask parents of a 12-year-old whether she should tell a particular (mild) story.
Great way to spend your evening in DC! -
Jackie O.
National Mall and Tidal Basin Tour June 4, 2017These tours are awesome! They're perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about the area but have no idea where to start. Pick a tour and let the learning begin! I love that it's a name-your-own-price. I like the concept because it allows an opportunity for families to avoid overpaying for other tours in the area. With this concept, you pay what you can/what you thought the tour was worth. That being said, if you CAN afford to pay a little extra money, be sure to give a generous amount. Still, I appreciated that these tours consider a majority of people that can't drop $50+ on a tour. It also encourages the tour guides to give great tours since you haven't already pre-paid them.
My husband and I had Matilda for the 7pm Lincoln Assassination Tour and for the all-in-one National Mall tour. She is an awesome tour guide--upbeat, funny, well-informed, and ready to answer any question.
The Lincoln tour was by far our favorite. So interesting and eery, we loved every bit of it. We also enjoyed the all-in-one tour because we wanted to see a lot of the sights in D.C. but did not know where to begin. This tour was great for newbies like us! -
Gwyneth C.
National Mall and Tidal Basin Tour May 6, 2017This is my first time to D.C. So I decided to do the all in one D.C. tour! I have done similar walking tour is other city. But D.C. By foot truly exceeded my expectation. The tour was so worth it. My tour guide is Erin. She is very friendly and super knowledgeable about the history of D.C. I'm so impressed by how much details she provided! The pace of the tours was just right even though we hit a lot of places, we get good amount of breaks that the walking is not unbearable. Still it's a lot of working!
The weather was very hot and humid, which was not unusual in DC even tho it's just May. Make sure you have a pair of good walking shoes and plenty of water :)
I will definitely join their tours again, they also offer tours in other locations as well. -
Maggie T.
National Mall and Tidal Basin Tour December 9, 2016Highly highly recommend the monuments tour that starts at 7pm. I've never been to DC before and was busy during day, so the night tour was the one that worked for me. And good thing it did - they are beautiful lit up at night.
We saw the Washington monument, WWII Memorial, Vietnam memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and Korean Memorial up close, and saw the south law of the White House and the Capitol from afar. As a law student and history enthusiast who had never been to DC, I was fascinated by the stories and the amount of history located in this small area.
Dan King was an awesome, knowledgable, and entertaining tour guide. This tour was so cool, check it out! -
Jenn G.
National Mall and Tidal Basin Tour July 17, 2016I recently took the All In One (National Mall & Tidal Basin) Walking Tour with Jared as the tour guide and I absolutely loved it!
The All in One tour is 4 hours with mini breaks as well a 40 minute lunch break. It's lot of walking but have no fear because it's not very fast paced and there are a lot of spots to rest. Jared was also amazing because he made sure we were in the shade and not basking in the sun.
The tour covers a lot. The first stop is the Washington Monument followed by the National WWII Memorial, then the Reflecting Pool, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Korean War Veterans Memorial, Tidal Basin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin. They also cover the White House and Capitol from a distant.
Jared was an amazing tour guide. He was very informative and covered a lot of history in the tour. He had a lot of interesting trivia as well as some funny jokes too in between. You could really tell that he knew his stuff and that he really loves the city. He was passionate about each and every stop on the tour.
Aside from being informative of the various sites we saw, Jared was very helpful in answering any questions all of us tourists had. A lot of folks were asking about the best restaurants to eat. From the historic restaurants to the best beer pubs around, he had a suggestion. Because of him I found out that Washington D.C has the best Ethiopian food outside of Ethiopia. What a bonus it was to learn all about Washington D.C food trivia.
I highly recommend Free Tours By Foot. These tours are free to take and you decide what to tip the tour guide. It's definitely well worth your time and amazing way to see Washington D.C. I fell in love with the city because of this tour! (I was actually so impressed that I'm looking into doing other Free Tours By Foot in other cities now!) -
Theresa C.
National Mall Walking Tour October 10, 2014Tried this out for National Mall based on other reviews and it was perfect. Becca was great. Really knowledgable, low-key yet enthusiastic. Perfect for us. Will use again.
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Rafael D.
National Mall Walking Tour September 30, 2014Great tour, very informative. We took the 2 PM National Mall tour w/Dan King, who was awesome, charismatic and informative. If you can get on any tour with him, please do so.
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Laura B.
National Mall Walking Tour September 29, 2014Excellent tour. It is worth every minute of your time. My friends and I took the National Mall tour with Dan King and the Lincoln assassination tour with Matilda Hankinson . Both were very informative and interesting. I will definitely take more tours with them next time I am in DC!
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C T.
National Mall and Tidal Basin Tour August 31, 2014You can't go wrong with a tour by Canden. She was funny, engaging, and loud enough for everyone to hear. She knew her historical fact and fiction. What a great guide and a great tour. We did the national mall tour, but now I want go back and do all the tours they offer.
In addition to the great tour, they offer helpful answers before during and after the tour. We were likely going to arrive late, so she gave us her contact number and told us that we could text to ask where they were at the time. Lucky for us we didn't need to do that. She also gave great lunch and local transit advice when the tour was done.
Thank you Canden, and DC by Foot for an excellent tour. -
Amy S.
National Mall Walking Tour July 20, 2014Our tour guide was Dan King and his passionate, inviting tour made our day! Even though I had been to many of the Monuments on the National Mall I learned so much more today that it felt like I was seeing them in a whole new light! We'll look forward to doing more tours with this group for sure.
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Dawn K.
National Mall Walking Tour July 6, 2014Dave led us through the National Mall tour. He was very informative, but made the information sound very interesting. He told great stories, gave us enough time to look at monuments, and ask question if we had any. I would highly recommend this tour!
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Rosemarie D.
National Mall Walking Tour June 6, 2014Loved this tour and would definitely recommend it. Chris was very knowledgable (you can tell he loves his job) and made the tour fun and entertaining. We learned a lot more than we would have every learned by just stopping by the places and googling information.
We did the National Mall Tour. It lasted 2 hours starting from the Washington Monument and ending at the Lincoln Memorial.
It was a GORGEOUS day but I recommend to bring water regardless of the weather... Comfy shoes are also a must. Lastly, sunblock for those sunny days as there are spots where you can't help but be in the sun.
At the end of the tour, we took a 15-20 min walk to the nearest metro (Foggy Bottom) so be prepared for that if you're catching the metro after.
I was a little concerned about the group size (about 30), but Chris' voice was resonant enough that you could hear everything even if you were in the back of the group.
I wish we could do more tours on this vacation but we'll definitely be back.
P.s. tip well! C'mon folks, the tour was free! It definitely was well worth our time. -
Jane H.
National Mall Walking Tour April 23, 2014My husband I enjoyed the Lincoln Assassination tour with Chris to much that we signed up for his National Mall tour for the very next day! :) He was a great story teller and knew his DC facts and history! Each tour was about ~2 hours and although that sounds like a lot of walking, it wasn't bad at all. We did small walks from point to point, so I really didn't notice the full length of the walk.
Being able to pay what we could definitely helped us out with our trip budget. Based on prior reviews and suggestions from others who took the tour, we paid $10/person for each 2 hour tour. If it wasn't for DC by Foot, we probably wouldn't have been able to afford an organized tour, let alone 2! :) -
Sara O.
National Mall Walking Tour September 20, 2013I am not a fan of tours. I usually avoid but after a recommendation from a friend we decided to the National Mall Tour at Night. This is a MUST SEE in D.C. What was perfect is we were given a bit of knowledge about each site and then given 15 minutes to walk around on our own. It was just enough information without feeling like you were listening to a 2 hour history lecture.
The sites at night are just amazing. I have visited DC before but I am so happy I decided to take this tour. I highly recommend. We ended up giving a $20 as it was just fantastic. Tipping is optional but so appreciated! -
Amanda G.
National Mall Walking Tour August 4, 2013CHRISTOPHER (what? he didn't tell us specifically to mention his name in our reviews.....) was a great tour guide for our National Mall tour.
He cracked some very dry jokes, which I appreciated, even if the foreigners didn't really "get" them. He also gave us lots of lesser known facts about the monuments. His spiel about the Lincoln Monument was especially enlightening. He gave everyone an appropriate amount of time to see the sights on their own, but he still kept the pace up for those who needed to abide by the designated start and end times. He also kept his voice at a good level so that everyone could hear.
I'd definitely take another tour with him. The Arlington Cemetery your and the nighttime National Mall tours sound especially enticing.
PS - Chris is better than Becca. :)
Disclaimer: I've never actually met Becca. -
Lisa R.
National Mall and Tidal Basin Tour August 6, 2019Did not leave comment
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Janna S.
National Mall Walking Tour February 21, 2017Did not leave comment
