Embassy Row: Divinity & Diplomats
Trip Highlights
See the Impressive National Cathedral
Marvel at the Gilded Age mansions that became Embassy Row
See the Vice President’s home
Description
Most Embassy Row tours don’t venture far beyond Dupont Circle. But ours does. We see it all from top to bottom. This stretch of Massachusetts Avenue used to be called Millionaires Row where Gilded Age robber-barons built grand mansions. Today those mansions house most of Washington’s embassies, along with private clubs and statues of world heroes such as Mandela, Gandhi, and Churchill – and we will be right in the heart of it.
Tour info
The main door of the Washington National Cathedral
Why take this tour?
Embassy Row is an iconic area of Washington, D.C., where over 170 foreign missions are located. Washington’s Embassy Row runs along Massachusetts Avenue from Washington Cathedral down to Dupont Circle plays host to a stunning array of mansions (hence the area’s prior name ‘Millionaire’s Row’) and is packed with power, wealth, and intrigue.
A walk down Embassy Row takes you past three cathedrals, one mosque, and the extravagant homes of Gilded Age tycoons that now house diplomatic missions. We’ll bring this part of the city alive with stories of how this area was born and grew, the tales that you didn’t know before, and other fascinating facts about this unique avenue.
Tour Highlights
- The gothic masterpiece that is Washington National Cathedral.
- A neighborhood with two very different presidential families in close proximity.
- The official home of vice presidents.
- Where the pope stays when he's in town.
- The site of the only state-sponsored assassination in the US.
- The nation's official clock.
Included
Guiding walking tour with a local guide
Photography
Excluded
Tip
Water
Snack
Sun Protection
Things to know
About your guide
David Shaw, who once saw Diana, Princess of Wales be driven up Embassy Row (she waved).
I’m a certified master guide of the Guild of Professional Tour Guides of Washington, DC. I am also a certified guide at Washington National Cathedral and hold a District tour guide license.
David Shaw, who once saw Diana, Princess of Wales be driven up Embassy Row (she waved).
I’m a certified master guide of the Guild of Professional Tour Guides of Washington, DC. I am also a certified guide at Washington National Cathedral and hold a District tour guide license.
What to bring
Comfortable shoes, weather-appropriate clothing, camera, water bottle, hat and sunglasses, questions, and a sense of humor!
Comfortable shoes, weather-appropriate clothing, camera, water bottle, hat and sunglasses, questions, and a sense of humor!
Good to know
The walking is all downhill!
The walking is all downhill!
Availability
This tour is available from Monday to Friday, all year long.
This tour is available from Monday to Friday, all year long.