Washington National Cathedral — Attraction in Washington

I’ve often felt that compared to all the monuments and attractions that D.C. offers, that the National Cathedral is unfortunately overlooked and underestimated. For statistical purposes, roughly 25 MILLION tourists travel to the capital each year and this national gem only gets 270 thousand visits a year (not limited to tourists). I have only been probably four times in the past 20 years.

I remember taking my grandmother who is a world-traveler and has seen monasteries, temples, cathedrals, and ruins from the “olden days.” She didn’t seem enthusiastic about going, but acquiesced after I pressured her, after all she was there to see me, so she didn’t much care where we were. In addition, the construction of this building began in 1907 in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt and finished over 80 years later in the presence of President George H. W. Bush, which sounds great for most but not quite exciting to a foreigner who’s seen it all. Entering, she found herself surrounded by tremendous, vaulted ceilings, beautifully adorned with impeccable details including the brilliant glass-stained windows, her jaw dropped, and she was speechless (which is unheard of). She shuffled around uttering unfinished thoughts at me and methodically investigated every piece and detail, while absorbing the entirety with wonder in her eyes. That’s the best way I can think of describing the majestic place which is our National Cathedral.

This year, I was pleasantly surprised to have visited during mass. It gives the place a whole other level of spirituality and the choir’s angelic music ripples through the immenseness through low grumblings and sky-high voices. Goosebumps prickled me and I found myself tearing up from the absolute beauty and awesomeness surrounding me and flowing into me.

Ok, administration: there usually is a fee to enter, I believe it was around $6 but for some reason we weren’t charged, so I don’t know how accurate that is. There is an underground parking lot, which also charges, but it was open and free that day. It has an elevator, and everything is wheelchair friendly. There is more to the Cathedral’s inside. Outside it is surrounded by a bunch of grounds with luscious grass, seating areas, big colossal trees and there is a café which I dubbed “Hagrid’s Café” or “Dumbledore’s Inn” just from the looks of it. It was closed so I can’t comment on that. Right next to it we ran into (almost literally) a robust botanical garden full of flowers, herbs and other flora. It was full of people, including a photoshoot of a model, an art student working on her next masterpiece while listening to music in her earbuds, a young family with children were sharing Chinese takeout, an older gentleman sat in an interesting (hopefully comfortable) position under one of the old trees reading a book, and a young couple laid head to head on one of the benches taking selfies of themselves and giggling quietly.

Go visit and make sure you have time to fully explore and awe. Fun tip: One of the grotesque gargoyles found one of the gablets by the tallest pinnacles is designed as Darth Vader. Who ever said that the Church doesn’t...

A beautiful location to visit if you are coming to Washington DC. I live down the road from here so am a frequent walker, biker and visitor to this location. The Cathedral construction began back in 1907 but they really only finished it in 1990!! Work is still continuing on the repairs from our earthquake in DC back in 2011 and its been a costly but wonderful repair job. It is designed in the Gothic style and sits among beautiful gardens with lots of seating, benches, pathways, walkways and grass and plenty of shade from trees so is a lovely location to just sit and "be" in the moment or read a book, say your prayers and/or just enjoy the location, tourists and visitors. The inside of the cathedral is as impressive as the massive vaults and gothic decorations on the outside. If you hapen to catch a service, regardless of your religion, it touches you, both for the peace it brings but also the acoustics, stain glass windows and general feeling of peacefulness. There are services on Sundays at 11.15am (at this time) and also prayer services, choir practices, bell ringings, etc which happen during the week and weekdays.

I happened to stop by spontaneously this past weekend as my lovely elderly neighbor had passed away and I felt a need to say a prayer in her memory and lo and behold there was a scottish band playing the bagpipes and playing some old traditional scottish and british tunes. She was from the UK and came to the USA as a nanny so I took it as a sign that she knew I was thinking of her and I saw the band play in her honor!

If you wish to explore the cathedral and do the full tour, you can get a guided tour and by tickets on site. At time of writing I think they are still $15 for an adult and $10 for kids upto age 17 (and over 5). Kids under 5 are free. Tour schedules and services vary so keep that in mind and check online before you make formal plans in case there is an event. I was up at the Cathedral for several funerals and saw many well know political leaders here (e.g. John McCain's funeral I saw Obama, Biden, Clintons, etc).

To get to the metro you can do so using the hop-on/hop-off buses during summer/tourist months or from downtown get a 32/33 bus up Wisconsin Avenue. The closest metro is Tenleytown and then hop on a bus (32/33) back down towards the city - only takes about 10 mins from Tenleytown metro.

There is a lovely gift store and cafe on location along with toilets and it is wheelchair friendly around the grounds (and I believe accessible (main floors) for...

It was George Washington's dream to have a national house of prayer, worship, and healing. Unfortunately, his dream wasn't realized until after he died. You do not have to be of any particular faith or belief to enjoy and appreciate this landmark. This place is very family-friendly and there's something here for every family member. It has traditional Gothic style architecture. The stained glass windows were the highlight of my visit. The rainbow of colors casting across the cathedral was mesmerizing. Peak performance is during the fall months. I strongly recommend taking one of the free tours available. Our docent was fantastic and energetic with sharing information about the cathedral. She genuinely enjoyed her job. I recommend buying tickets ahead online. You can also buy tickets at the entrance. It's $15 per adult. There's stories to be told around every corner. The attention to detail is incredible. Note of interest: This is the final resting place for President Woodrow Wilson, Helen Keller, and Matthew Shepard, among hundreds more. The biggest surprise for me is the donated moon rock from Neil Armstrong that is encased and on display in one of the stained glass windows. Along with biblical stories, there's also American stories portrayed in the stained glass windows. There's also access to the 7th floor cloisters that give you a 360-degree view of DC. There's a cafe style restaurant on site. There's also the Bishop's garden open to the public to enjoy. The cathedral has been in repair since the 2011 earthquake. Mainly just cosmetic, not structural damage. One last surprise, there's a head statue of Darth Vader on the dark side of the tower outside. It is definitely worth the time and...