Guides · Alexandria
Alexandria
34 places · 6 areas · a free route, then $4.99 for the whole city · offline map 4.4 MB
The free route
Free in the app, permanently, before you pay anything. 8 stops, 1 day, about 1.1 km, planned by the app's own engine.
Day 1 · ~1.1 km
1
Gadsby's Tavern Museum
A 1785 tavern and 1792 City Hotel where Washington attended his birthnight balls, with a restaurant still next door
Walk through the tavern rooms and up to the ballroom where Alexandria held its birthnight balls for Washington, on a guided tour or at your own pace. Then eat in the restaurant in the 1792 building next door, which still serves in the old dining room.
2
Carlyle House Historic Park
John Carlyle's 1753 Georgian stone mansion, where General Braddock met five colonial governors in 1755
Join the 45-minute guided tour, which starts on the hour, through rooms furnished from Carlyle's 1780 inventory, then sit a while in the garden behind the house, a quiet walled space a block from King Street.
3
Alexandria Visitor Center at Ramsay House
The city's visitor center in the house of Scottish merchant William Ramsay, one of Alexandria's founders
Start a walk here: pick up a map and the day's event listings, buy tickets for the city museums, and ask the staff which houses are open that day. Then look at the old frame house itself from King Street.
4
Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum
A Quaker family apothecary founded in 1792 and run in this building from 1805 until 1933
Look over the ground-floor shop with its rows of hand-blown bottles and drawers of botanicals, then take the 45-minute guided tour, the only way to see the second floor.
5
Athenaeum
An 1852 Greek Revival bank at the head of Captain's Row, a free art gallery since 1964
Look at the four Doric columns from Prince Street, then step inside the high single room to see the current show; from September 17 to November 1, 2026 it is Plein Air Sketches.
6
Captain's Row
The cobblestoned 100 block of Prince Street, its row houses rebuilt after the fire of January 1827
Walk the block of Prince Street between Union and Lee Streets slowly, uphill from the river, looking at the doorways and brick fronts, then turn at the top for the photo down the cobbles toward the water.
7
Waterfront Park
The riverside lawn at the foot of King Street, between Wales Alley and Prince Street on the Potomac
Come down King Street to the river, walk out along the bulkhead and watch the boats come and go on the Potomac. Sit on the lawn at sunset, then take the waterfront path north to the Torpedo Factory or south to Captain's Row.
8
Torpedo Factory Art Center
A Navy torpedo plant begun in 1918 on the river, since 1974 three floors of artist studios and galleries
Wander the three floors of studios, where painters, potters, jewelers and printmakers work with their doors open and will talk about what they are making. Find the Mark XIV torpedo on display, then climb to the third floor for the Alexandria Archaeology Museum.
More of the top sights
A few of the 34 places in the full guide. Each one has its own written guide in the app: what to do, what to notice, the history, and why it hits.
George Washington Masonic National Memorial
A 333-foot Masonic tower on Shooter's Hill, built 1922-1932, with Washington relics and a ninth-floor observation deck
Christ Church
The 1773 Georgian brick church where Washington kept a pew, with its colonial interior and churchyard intact
Areas
Lower King Street · Waterfront · South Fairfax and Prince Street · Christ Church and Parker-Gray · Duke Street and Masonic Memorial · South End and Jones Point
Illustrations are drawn for the app. Place descriptions are written by hand and checked against a primary source; facts draw on Wikidata (CC0) and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors.