The best times to come are during April’s National Cherry Blossom Festival and the more temperate months (May, June & Sept). The nation’s capital puts on quite a display for its guests, and, best of all, admission to all major attractions on the National Mall is always free; the most famous sites include the White House, memorials to four of the greatest presidents and the superb museums of the Smithsonian Institution. Between the Mall and the main spine of Pennsylvania Avenue – the route that connects Capitol Hill to the White House – the Neoclassical buildings of the Federal Triangle are home to agencies forming the hub of the national bureaucracy. In recent years, even the once-blighted area known as Old Downtown (north of the eastern side of the Mall), has had a dramatic uptick in visitors and nightlife around its Penn Quarter, centred around 7th and F streets. West of the White House, Foggy Bottom is another cornerstone of the federal bureaucracy.