The grounds in front of the National Academy of Sciences feature DC’s most huggable monument: Robert Berks' bronze 1978 statue of Albert Einstein. The larger-than-life, sandal-shod, chubby bronze reclines on a bench, while little kids crawl all over him and frolic on a granite ‘star map’ dais depicting the heavens that his theories reshaped for humanity.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. National Academy of Sciences

0.07 MILES

Made up of approximately 2000 members, including almost 200 Nobel Prize winners, these are the folks the government hits up for scientific advice (whether…

2. Vietnam Veterans Memorial

0.09 MILES

In a city of classic, white-marble monuments, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial stands out on the National Mall for its stark modernism. Designed by 21-year…

3. Three Servicemen Statue

0.11 MILES

In 1982, opponents of Maya Lin’s Vietnam memorial design insisted that a more traditional sculpture be added to the monument. As a result, sculptor…

4. Vietnam Women's Memorial

0.13 MILES

The tree-ringed Vietnam Women's Memorial, showing female soldiers aiding a fallen combatant, was added to complement the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1993.

5. State Department

0.16 MILES

The headquarters of the American diplomatic corps is a forbidding, well-guarded edifice – modernist, monolithic and unfriendly. In stark contrast are the…

6. Federal Reserve

0.16 MILES

‘The Fed,’ is the Olympus of the Gods of the American Economy. Housed in a monolithic white building that closely resembles a Soviet ministry, it is…

7. Lincoln Memorial

0.22 MILES

Anchoring the National Mall's west end is the hallowed shrine to Abraham Lincoln, who gazes across the Reflecting Pool beneath his neoclassical, Doric…

8. Reflecting Pool

0.3 MILES

Henry Bacon, who designed the Lincoln Memorial, also conceived the iconic Reflecting Pool, modeling it after the canals at Versailles and Fontainebleau…