Best Tidal Basin Day Trips & Things to Do

The West Potomac Park man-made strait developed in the 1880s between the Washington Channel and Potomac River is the location of the Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Martin Luther King memorials and is lined with 600 enchanting pastel pink Cherry Blossom trees. Every spring, the Tidal Basin hosts the National Cherry Blossom Festival celebrating the 3,000 Cherry Blossom trees given to the Capitol city in March 27, 1912 as a gift from Tokyo, Japan. Many tourists and residents rent paddle boats at the Tidal Basin. Show All