How Safe Is Washington DC for Travel?

Welcome to the United States capital city – Washington, D.C. While it’s not technically a state – it is the “District of Columbia.” The constitution clearly outlines the specific requirements for the nation’s capital size and space limitations. Washington shares a metro area with Virginia and Maryland and is the core of most government entities in the country. This is also a city rich in history and monuments, with more than 20 million people visiting each year. While many people are drawn to the National Mall, White House, and the U.S. Capital building, there are neighborhoods that feel nothing like a buttoned-up town of politicians, and D.C. actually has some great nightlife if you like to let loose. There are also waterfront neighborhoods with fresh seafood, eclectic art houses, and a district to explore your creative side. Whether you’re looking for trendy, hipster, cultural, or laid-back neighborhoods, Washington has something for everyone, and if you can’t find it here, there’s plenty more to explore across the river. To see what’s trending on social media, search #MyDCcool for the latest posts. Tours are also available by boat, ranging from fancy dinner parties looking at the skyline to exploring the cherry blossoms. You can even cruise between the biggest spots in history.

Washington.org is the official tourism website for the District of Columbia. The website includes a live chat function to ask questions as you review different sections. Review the neighborhood map on the website, too, so you can see where each one is. You want to stay close to where you’ll be visiting, and getting a cheaper hotel in a distant neighborhood will cost more in transportation fees. From that website, look at the Washington D.C. Sightseeing Pass option. This will offer bulk discounts on attractions, and some even include public transportation in the price. By planning in advance, you’ll learn more about the city’s layout and be more comfortable getting between the different areas. You can also order a Visitor’s Guide, get a DC Insider monthly newsletter with discounts, and/or get the DC on the Go-Go weekly email. Each of these offers insight into city events with special deals and seasonal events. The National Mall and Capital Hill are so popular and well-known that I don’t want to dive deep into those topics. As a solo traveler, I’ve walked the National Mall several times and never once felt uncomfortable. Well, except for when I wore two-inch heels instead of comfy shoes. Adams Morgan is the neighborhood for you if you’re looking for nightlife. You’ll find Michelin-rated restaurants here with unique shops. There’s also the uber-chic LINE DC hotel housed in a church over a century old. If you want an all-day brunch, even in the middle of the night, check out the Diner DC. Dupont Circle is a sophisticated neighborhood with great people-watching disguised as relaxing. I can’t help but laugh the first time I was in Dupont Circle. I saw the cutest squirrel scurry by in a blur, and I commented to my colleague, “That was the largest squirrel I’ve ever seen.” He paused a few moments before he said, “That was a rat.” Rats aside, you’ll love this charming slice of history, and the 17th Street section is famous for its LGBTQ+-owned businesses. Georgetown brings cobblestone streets and a sense of history as fresh baked bread scents fill the air. There’s a canal that runs through the neighborhood, or you can go to the park along the river. This is a shopping destination too, but don’t let that keep you from seeing some of the historic homes and museums in this neighborhood. Another thing to remember when visiting D.C. is to schedule extra time than you normally would at a museum. Since many of the attractions here, like the National Arboretum, represent a national scale, they will be much larger and more detailed than a museum in Peoria.

The easier way to stay out of dangerous neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., is to stick to the areas designed for tourism, entertainment, and history. While the southeast section of the city is among the more dangerous, there are some pockets just north of the tourist areas a tourist who doesn’t know the city well could end up in. Here’s one of the best ways to address this question that I’ve seen in my journalism career. The Metropolitan Police Department has a “Crime Cards” system that is quite remarkable. You will complete this sentence: “I want to explore ((types of crime))) over the past ((enter a time frame)) on a ((type of display)) map.” The heat map function is very helpful because you can zoom in on the area and see the crime layer over the map layer. You will get dashboards of information about that area, like how much crime has been up or down in the past week/month/year. Then at the bottom of the page, you have all the contact information for the seven districts of the police department. I am unsure if I could think of a better way to help you see the higher-crime neighborhoods during your visit. Another great example, even when looking past violent crime, was that I discovered the neighborhood with the greatest risk of my car being broken into is Logan Circle. Knowing that – I can use extra caution when I visit there, or maybe I’d opt to use a rideshare instead.

I could go on and on about specific crime data et al., but the police do a great job of laying that out for you online, and you’ll be able to get much more updated data than I have from 2021 (the official numbers, at least). You should know that Washington has a high violent crime rate – about 65% higher than the national average. Thefts are more than two-and-a-half times the national average. The major concern for law enforcement in D.C. isn’t if crime is going up or down. The crime that is happening – even when statistics remain steady – is getting more dangerous. “It’s not just [the] snatching of the purse, it’s putting a gun in somebody’s face and robbing them, and that’s what people feel. That’s what people fear. That’s what people see in communities, day in and day out,” police Chief Robert Contee told the D.C. Council. Another factor right now is that the criminal code in Washington is being redefined as of this publication. This will be a complete overhaul of the original criminal laws written more than a century ago. Opponents say the reduction in minimum time for certain crimes could put offenders back on the streets to re-offend. Others claim the new code is too punitive and simply locks up a problem but doesn’t solve the root cause of crime or help an offender be rehabilitated. Now, as a tourist, you won’t need to get into the weeds of the policy changes. You should just know that your safety largely depends on having common sense and situational awareness while researching the different areas and limiting your time out at night alone as much as possible.