Alexandria

Alexandria needs 1 day: walking through Old Town, the historic district with cobblestone streets and 18th-century Georgian buildings, and strolling along the Potomac River waterfront, with views of the District of Columbia just 10 km away, the same afternoon. April-June and September-October bring the mildest weather. It's expensive, due to its immediate proximity to Washington D.C. Founded in 1749 as a tobacco port, it preserves its colonial layout almost intact and was George Washington's home before he became president, with his church and Masonic lodge still standing just as he knew them.