This city, which calls to mind politicking, back-scratching, and delicate diplomatic maneuvering, is itself the result of a compromise. Tired of its nomadic existence after having set up shop in eight locations, Congress voted in 1785 to establish a permanent Federal city. Northern lawmakers wanted the capital on the Delaware River, in the North; Southerners wanted it on the Potomac, in the South. A deal was struck when Virginia's Thomas Jefferson agreed to support the proposal that the federal government assume the war debts of the colonies if New York's Alexander Hamilton and other Northern legislators would agree to locate the capital on the banks of the Potomac. George Washington himself selected the site of the capital, a diamond-shape, 100-square-mi plot that encompassed the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers.

It took the Civil War -- and every war thereafter -- to energize the city, by attracting thousands of new residents and spurring building booms that extended the capital in all directions. Streets were paved in the 1870s, and the first streetcars ran in the 1880s. Memorials to famous Americans like Lincoln and Jefferson were built in the first decades of the 20th century, along with the massive Federal Triangle, a monument to thousands of less-famous government workers.

Washington is one of the world's few planned capitals. It also happens to be one of the most beautiful. And though the federal government dominates many of the city's activities and buildings, there are places where you can leave politics behind.

Most of the sights travelers want to see are in fashionable Dupont Circle, Georgetown, the Downtown area, the eclectic Adams-Morgan neighborhood, The Mall and Capitol Hill, Cleveland Park, and Foggy Bottom. Arlington and Alexandria, both in Virginia, are equally important for visitors to see.