Washington's position makes day trips easy. Charlottesville, Virginia (about 2 hours by Amtrak or car) holds Monticello, Jefferson's house, and the University of Virginia campus — two of the country's finest examples of Palladian-influenced American architecture. Annapolis, Maryland (45 minutes by car) is the state capital and a handsome colonial port town with the US Naval Academy and good seafood. Mount Vernon, George Washington's plantation estate on the Potomac south of the city, is accessible by boat from the southwest waterfront or by car and makes a worthwhile half-day trip.
