Union Station Plaza

Washington, DC


This grassy space with a large fountain cascade spreads in front of Union Station. The area is also known as Columbus Circle, since the fountain is a monument to explorer Christopher Columbus.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Washington, DC attractions

1. Union Station

0.06 MILES

DC's main rail hub, a 1907 beaux-arts beauty designed by Daniel Burnham, is an eye popper. The Grand Concourse is patterned after the Roman Baths of…

2. National Postal Museum

0.13 MILES

The Smithsonian-run Postal Museum is way cooler than you might think. Level 1 has exhibits on postal history from the Pony Express to modern times, where…

3. National Japanese American Memorial

0.25 MILES

Tucked back from the road and providing a peaceful sanctuary, the memorial centers on a statue of two cranes bound with barbed wire. During WWII, some 120…

5. Taft Memorial Carillon

0.35 MILES

What is that chiming you hear every hour and quarter-hour? It's the 27 bells of the Taft Memorial Carillon, built to honor Senator Robert A Taft from Ohio…

6. Summerhouse

0.4 MILES

Northwest of the Capitol is the charming 1879 Summerhouse, a redbrick hexagon with black-iron gates and an interior well. This is where women in the late…

7. Supreme Court

0.41 MILES

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8. US Capitol

0.47 MILES

Since 1800, this is where the legislative branch of American government (ie Congress) has met to write the country's laws.