Family hotels
Things to do
Near the MallHotels near the MallRestaurants 76Hotels 28Playgrounds and things to do 124Changing tables 6Kids' menu 14Wheelchair accessible 12Cribs 28Pool 16Free breakfast 3Connecting rooms 19Fridge in the room 23Separate bedroom 26Restrooms 4Free 30Shade 6Water play 28All-suite hotel near the convention center, with a cooked-to-order breakfast included, connecting rooms and an indoor pool.
All-suite hotel a short walk from the National Mall, with a heated indoor pool.
All-suite hotel with a cooked-to-order breakfast included and an indoor pool.
Luxury hotel with kid-size robes and smaller dishes for kids, and an indoor pool for after a day out.
Big historic hotel on large garden grounds, with a seasonal outdoor pool.
Luxury hotel with rooms of two double beds and a saltwater pool under a skylight.
Waterfront hotel with suites, some with a pull-out bed, and a heated outdoor terrace pool.
Waterfront luxury hotel with roomy suites and an indoor pool.
Hotel a few blocks from the Mall museums, with a kids' corner of arcade games and foosball.
Waterfront hotel with a heated rooftop pool and rooms looking over the river.
Big hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, central for the monuments, with suites.
Grand downtown hotel with suites that can be joined to a second room.
Central hotel by a Metro hub, with a heated indoor pool.
Hotel with a saltwater pool under cover, on a quiet, leafy street near the river.
Hotel with connecting rooms and cribs, plus books and toys for kids.
Hotel in a grand former bank building near the downtown sights, with family rooms made of two connecting rooms.
Quiet boutique hotel on a residential stretch of downtown.
Free playground beside a large complex of sports fields, with shade and picnic tables.
Luxury hotel with a Ritz Kids welcome and discovery activities. The pool here is for adults only.
Boutique hotel that hands out art kits, has a book butler and lends musical instruments to kids.
Roomy downtown hotel near the main sights.
A kids' concierge for 11 and under and a library of kids' books.
Relaxed hotel with a big lounge and suites with a sofa bed.
A pirate-ship climber by the river, next to a skating pavilion where admission and skate rentals are free.
Every room has a kitchen for snacks, breakfast and quiet evenings in.
Loaner cribs, baby baths and swings at the front desk.
Fully fenced and shaded by trees, with a climbing rock for bigger kids and a canoe slide for smaller ones.
The play structures are modeled on city landmarks, so kids can climb the sights.
Small luxury hotel with suites and townhouses for more room.
Two fenced play areas, one for ages 2 to 5 and one for 5 to 12, so a toddler and an older sibling each get their own space. Plus a big field for running.
A big climbing area plus a train-themed play section beside the park paths.
Modern downtown hotel with rooms of two queens and suites.
The climbing equipment is turtle-themed, so small kids get something to pretend with while they climb.
Big downtown hotel with freshly renovated rooms and suites, central for the museums.
Boutique hotel in a historic building, with sofa-bed suites near the downtown museums.
Shaded neighborhood playground with climbing, spinning play, swings and a sandbox.
A labyrinth set into the ground for kids to trace, and wide paths along the river.
Two play areas with river views at the far tip of a long riverside park.
Neighborhood playground with slides and play structures, with some shade.
A huge seated Lincoln with his famous words carved on the walls beside him. Kids can read along while you look up.
A fenced playground for ages 2 to 5 on soft rubber, next to a community garden.
The founding documents themselves, with interactive displays that explain them.
Galleries inside and a sculpture garden outside, with room to walk among the big pieces.
Dinosaur skeletons, animal halls, minerals and ocean displays under one roof.
Giant pandas, a kids' farm of cows, goats and alpacas, and a carousel.
A glasshouse of tropical plants and desert displays, so kids can go from jungle to cactus in a few steps.
Small, shady playground run by its neighbors.
Small playground on the site of an old trolley turnaround.
Playground beside an open lawn on the bike trail.
Recreation center with a spray park and a playground.
Spray park at the community center.
Pinball and arcade games set up around the tables.
Neighborhood pub with a kids' menu, and kids eat free one night a week.
Two fountains to play in: a shallow cascade for toddlers and a plaza of jets for bigger kids.
Spray park at the community center.
Recreation center with a spray park and a playground.
Recreation center with a playground, a tot lot and a spray park.
Small playground by the Metro and the market.
Spray park at the recreation center.
Playground beside neighborhood courts.
Recreation center with a playground, a tot lot and a spray park.
Spray park at the recreation center.
Neighborhood spray park.
Neighborhood playground with slides and a small climbing area beside a green.
Renovated playground with climbing and slides and space to run around.
Spray park at the recreation center.
Nature-themed play area beside open fields.
Recreation center with a playground, a tot lot and a spray park.
Spray park at a therapeutic recreation center.
Two playgrounds in a neighborhood park.
Boardwalks run out over the ponds, so kids can look straight down into the water. The lotus blooms are a summer thing.
Two play areas with paths nearby.
Spray park at the recreation center.
Park with a spray park.
Neighborhood playground with climbing equipment and a sand play area.
Play area with shady paths in a city park.
Spray park at the recreation center.
Playground and lawn in a neighborhood park.
Portraits and a courtyard, plus Explore, a hands-on space for 18 months to 8, so the youngest have their own room.
Neighborhood play area beside community gardens.
Neighborhood spray park.
Neighborhood spray park.
Neighborhood spray park.
Spray park at the recreation center.
A playground outside a community center with an outdoor pool and an indoor gym.
Neighborhood spray park.
Toddler playground with low play structures.
Landmark planes and spacecraft overhead, and a gallery on how flight works with a plane kids can sit in.
Wonderplace for small kids and Spark Lab for young inventors.
Mail trucks, stamps and interactive stories about how a letter gets to the door.
Tex-Mex taco restaurant with a kids' menu, and kids eat free one night a week.
A tall Wallholla climbing tower packed into a small city park. The tower is what school-age kids head for.
Cultural center with a playground, a spray park and an outdoor pool.
Wide green grounds to run on, garden paths and a bonsai collection to see up close.
Spray park at the recreation center.
Ramen and dumplings, with a kids' ramen bowl.
Classic American restaurant with a kids' menu.
Historic market hall with food stalls, where the blueberry buckwheat pancakes are a kid favorite, and crafts and produce outside on weekends.
American restaurant with a kids' menu.
Hands-on family workshops split by age, inside a beautiful library built around Shakespeare's plays.
Free outdoor memorial of rooms, sculptures and fountains, one for each of the four terms.
Free modern art museum full of strange, big works to talk about.
Lebanese restaurant with mezze to share and a kids' menu.
Family days with hands-on activities drawn from the collections, inside one of the most beautiful buildings in the country.
Free memorial with a huge carved statue and a wall of his quotations.
Free central library with a big reading room and art on the walls.
Free museum of African American history and culture, with galleries on music and sports.
Classic, busy downtown restaurant with a big menu and a kids' menu.
Free language museum with voice-activated exhibits, karaoke and word games, best for ages 10 and up.
Quiet galleries and an art workshop where kids look closely at a piece, then make their own in the studio.
Artifacts and stories from Indigenous cultures, plus the imagiNATIONS activity center where kids get to try things with their hands.
Diner with breakfast all day and smaller portions for kids.
Diner with breakfast all day and a kids' menu.
Seafood by the river and the ballpark, with cheeseburgers, hot dogs and fish sticks on the kids' menu.
Casual tavern with burgers and a kids' menu.
Free round memorial with columns and a tall statue, on the edge of the Tidal Basin.
Holocaust history told through one boy's life, made for kids eight and up.
Free memorial of pillars for every state around a big fountain plaza.
Neighborhood playground.
Triangle park with a playground.
Neapolitan pizzeria with small plates in a lively room.
Neighborhood playground.
Balkan restaurant with small plates for sharing and trying lots of flavors.
Recreation center with a playground.
Recreation center with a playground.
Recreation center with a playground.
Belgian restaurant with waffles and shareable dishes at brunch.
French bistro with a busy dining room.
Indian curries and street-food dishes for sharing, with butter chicken the one kids tend to love.
Korean fried chicken and rice dishes.
Recreation center with a playground and a tot lot.
Park with a playground and a tot lot.
Duckpin bowling next to the sandwich counter, so lunch comes with a few frames.
Bagel shop with sandwiches, near the old market.
Restaurant with shelves of books and a long menu.
Tex-Mex restaurant in a lively room.
A bright new museum with a story time for young children, full of songs and play.
Italian restaurant of huge platters of pasta served for the whole table to share.
Neighborhood park with a playground.
Community center with a playground and a tot lot.
Recreation center with a playground and a tot lot.
Pizza and ping pong tables, so kids can play a game while it bakes.
Recreation center with a playground.
Recreation center with a playground and a tot lot.
Casual pub with burgers and shareable dishes.
Park with a playground and a tot lot.
Taco restaurant with colorful decor.
Recreation center with a playground and a tot lot.
Detroit-style square pizza for sharing.
Park with a tot lot.
Counter-service falafel bowls, wraps and hummus, quick and easy on the wallet, with tables outside.
Neighborhood playground.
Park with a playground and a tot lot.
Recreation center with a playground and a tot lot.
Restaurant with a big breakfast and American menu, near the downtown sights.
Waterfront restaurant with a long menu and water views.
Park with a playground.
Community center with a playground and a tot lot.
Burger restaurant with games, near the downtown arena.
Philly-style hoagies and cheesesteaks on the waterfront, with chicken strips and grilled cheese for kids.
Recreation center with a playground and a tot lot.
New England seafood on the waterfront, a patio for people-watching, and a kids' menu of fish sticks, tenders, grilled cheese and mac and cheese.
Park with a tot lot.
Texas barbecue ordered at the counter, in a big, loud, casual room.
The pizza oven is in plain view, so kids can watch their pizza go in and come out.
Home-style Indian curries with patio tables.
Museum of spies where kids take on an undercover mission and crack codes, best for older kids.
Seafood tavern with dishes to share in a lively room.
Spanish tapas, lots of small plates to share, and foosball tables you can eat at.
Sandwich and salad shop.
Smash burgers and fries, with purple ube soft serve.
Park with a children's playground, a ballfield and basketball courts.
Small Italian restaurant beside the old market hall, with kid-size pasta plates that come with sliced apples and a green vegetable.
Latin American food hall with stalls from across the region and shared seating.
Quick Japanese counter with noodles, buns and rice bowls.
Pizza and panini on the waterfront.
Italian-American restaurant with dishes served for the table to share.
Cambodian and Taiwanese restaurant with bao buns and noodles, with a courtyard.
Recreation center with a playground.
Old-fashioned tavern with historic wooden booths, including the one where JFK proposed, and fish and chips kids like.
Park with a playground.
Casual pizza restaurant with smaller portions, where kids often get a ball of pizza dough to play with.
Pizza and burgers in a casual room near the downtown museums, where servers hand kids a ball of dough to play with.
Neapolitan pizza from a custom-built oven that kids can watch the cooks work at.
Festive Mexican restaurant with a river-view patio, where kids' meals come with a drink and ice cream.
Persian kebab house with rice and flatbread.
Lebanese street food in a casual row house: shawarma for the grown-ups, Nutella and banana crepes for everyone else.
Rooms of illusions you walk into and pose in, the biggest hit with tweens and teens.
Step into picture-book worlds and read, sketch and build inside them. It's pitched at kindergarten through third grade.
A three-story slide at the entrance, hands-on science and art exhibits, and walled-off baby zones for the littlest crawlers.
Sushi and small Japanese plates, for a special-occasion meal.
Handmade pasta for the grown-ups and a kids' menu of simpler pastas, chicken parm and pizza; kids tend to clear their spaghetti.
Park with a playground.
Mexican small plates and tacos in a bright, colorful room, with guacamole made at the table that kids can help with.
Chinese restaurant with round tables for a shared meal.
A French bistro in the Union Market District, with crepes, pancakes and French toast at weekend brunch.
Italian-American restaurant with bowling lanes and bocce courts.
Peruvian restaurant with plates to share.
Build-your-own poke bowls with cooked and vegetarian options next to the raw fish, fast service and high chairs.
Italian deli with sandwiches, near the old market.
Recreation center with a playground and a tot lot.
Recreation center with a playground and a tot lot.
Hand-pulled ramen and handmade dumplings and bao to share, with something on the menu for everyone.
Field with a walking track, a soccer field and a tot lot.
Diner-style restaurant with breakfast and a long menu.
Carved horses and an accessible chariot for riders who can't climb on, right between the museums.
Steakhouse with shared sides in a lively dining room.
Korean-style tacos and rice bowls where you choose the toppings.
Tea house with rice dishes, snacks and lots of teas.
Diner open around the clock, with all-day breakfast and milkshakes.
Big, lively restaurant with a long menu, near the downtown sights.
Seafood restaurant on the water with river views.
Hand-rolled soft pretzels from plain salted to sweet, plus breakfast sandwiches and tables to sit and eat.
Food hall with counters of different food and shared seating.
Small ramen bar with dumplings and a milder kids' bowl with fewer ingredients.
A wood-panelled tavern with a proper kids' menu (tenders, cheese pizza, buttered penne), brunch all day, and a room loud enough that nobody minds a toddler.
Food hall of many counters where everyone can pick something different.
Recreation center with a playground and a tot lot.
Park with a playground.
Neighborhood park with a playground.
Park with a playground and a tot lot.
Café and market with sandwiches and pastries, a block from a park.
Pizza by the big slice, near the ballpark.
Recreation center with a playground, a tot lot and an outdoor pool with a water slide.
Mediterranean mezze restaurant with lots of small plates to share.
