Night is the perfect time to see the capital, when white marble monuments and silvery pools glow in the floodlights. See the geometric memorials of the Mall—the imposing rectangular Lincoln Memorial, and the line of the Washington Monument bisecting the sky—as well as the innovative and moving monuments to the veterans of the Vietnam and Korean Wars.

Go on a guided tour of the building where the men and women who have been chosen to represent the citizens of the United States convene to discuss and decide on important legislature.

Walk the halls where some of the most influential Americans have walked and see the courtrooms where some of the most defining decisions in American history have been made.

George Washington so liked his estate at Mount Vernon that he placed the capital nearby so he didn’t have to move when elected president. Tour his gardens and mansion, where George and Martha lived from 1761 until his death in 1799. Don’t look for any cherry tree stumps in the garden, though—Washington never actually chopped down the tree as a lad. (We hate to ruin the story, but we cannot tell a lie!)

Created on the former estate of the family of Robert E. Lee’s wife Mary Anna Custis Lee (herself a descendant of Martha Washington), the Arlington National Cemetery contains the remains of more than 245,000 persons, mainly comprised of veterans and military casualties from every military incursion—from the American Revolution to the Iraq War. At the cemetery, make sure to visit the Tomb of Unknowns. Comprised of Yule marble quarried in Colorado, the tomb weighs more than 75 tons. And see the eternal flame that marks the grave of President John F. Kennedy.

Visit the building that houses the most important documents in the history of the United States, including the Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.

Choose between visiting the Natural History Museum, the American History Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the American Indian Museum, and the American Art Museum. In a tomb in the Smithsonian Castle lie the remains of John Smithson, an Englishman who left his fortune to the U.S. government in 1829 for the establishment of a museum in his name. (The government was a bit at a loss, given that Smithson had never visited the U.S., had no connections to the U.S., and never told anyone why he was leaving his money to the U.S.) Since then, the Smithsonian Institution has grown into 16 museums, covering everything from art to zoology. See the giant squid and the insect zoo in the National Museum of Natural History, or venture with your Tour Director into the further reaches of this world-class institution.

Ford’s Theatre may not be the best place to visit if you’re in government—not only was Lincoln assassinated here in 1865, but 22 War Department clerks were also killed when the floor collapsed in 1893. Tour the infamous theater and see how John Wilkes Booth crept up behind the president’s private box, shot him point blank, and leapt down to the stage below (breaking his leg in the process).

Life in colonial Williamsburg wasn’t all picturesque apothecary shops and hand-dipped candles. Pirates regularly raided the town; thirteen of Blackbeard’s pirates were tried in the courthouse of the impressive capitol building. (Legend claims that the skull of Blackbeard himself was lined with silver and turned into a mug for the nearby Raleigh Tavern.) Fires destroyed buildings on a regular basis, settlers suffering from headaches got prescriptions for rose petals rather than aspirin, and pesky Revolutionaries like Jefferson and Washington provoked the British into full-scale war. Get a look at these Williamsburg secrets and others with a licensed local guide.

Start at the very beginning. Jamestown was the first permanent settlement in America (13 years before the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock) and originally home to Pocahontas and the Powhatan Native Americans. Tour full-size replicas of the three ships that brought the settlers from England in 1607, watch a musket-firing demonstration, explore a Powhatan village, and learn how the colonists survived cold winters, lack of food, and enemy attacks to create the first capital of Virginia.