Planning a weekend in Alexandria, Virginia?
You’re in for brick-lined streets, centuries-old buildings, Potomac River views, fascinating museums, and enough great stops to keep two days packed without feeling rushed.
Just across the river from Washington, D.C., Alexandria has more than 200 years of American stories hiding behind colorful row houses, grand homes, and unexpected landmarks.
This Alexandria weekend itinerary takes you from peaceful gardens and incredible viewpoints to historic rooms where major moments in American history unfolded.
So grab comfortable shoes and clear your camera roll because Alexandria has a lot to squeeze into one weekend!
1. Green Spring Gardens
Green Spring Gardens is a public garden spanning over 30 acres in Alexandria’s Fairfax County, about 20 minutes from Old Town Alexandria, packed with themed gardens, wooded paths, ponds, and colorful seasonal plants.
You can stroll through more than 20 thematic demonstration gardens, check out the native plant garden, watch frogs and turtles around the ponds, or follow easy walking paths beneath mature trees.
History fans should stop at the 1784 Historic Green Spring house, where exhibits and programs share stories from the property’s centuries-old past.
Admission to the gardens is free, and spring brings blooming tulips and peonies, while summer fills the grounds with roses, lilies, and butterflies, making this an easy nature-filled addition to your Alexandria weekend.
2. George Washington Masonic National Memorial
After wandering through Green Spring Gardens, switch flowers for sky-high views at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, a 333-foot-tall landmark on Shuter’s Hill near Old Town Alexandria.
Built to honor George Washington, who was a Freemason, the memorial was dedicated in 1932 and features a massive 17-foot bronze statue of Washington inside Memorial Hall.
A guided tour takes you through elaborate rooms, museum exhibits, and spaces filled with Washington and Masonic artifacts, including a replica lodge room connected to Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22.
Save time for the observation deck near the top, where you can look across Alexandria toward Washington, D.C., and spot landmarks along the Potomac River from one of the city’s best viewpoints.
3. Gadsby’s Tavern Museum
Once you’ve seen Alexandria from above, head into Old Town for a much closer look at its past inside Gadsby’s Tavern Museum at 134 North Royal Street.
The museum occupies two buildings dating to around 1785 and 1792, where travelers once ate, drank, danced, and slept during the early years of the United States.
George Washington attended events here, and you can explore restored dining rooms, bedrooms, a ballroom, and exhibits filled with objects that reveal what an 18th-century tavern stay was actually like.
Keep an eye out for the mysterious Female Stranger story tied to Room 8, then grab a meal next door at Gadsby’s Tavern Restaurant, where the historic setting keeps the colonial theme going.
4. Carlyle House Historic Park
Just a short walk from Gadsby’s Tavern, Carlyle House Historic Park at 121 North Fairfax Street gives you a peek inside one of Old Town Alexandria’s most impressive 18th-century homes.
Scottish merchant John Carlyle completed the stone mansion in 1753, filling it with Georgian details like symmetrical rooms, carved woodwork, and tall sash windows.
Tour the restored house to learn about the Carlyle family, the enslaved people who lived and worked on the property, and the 1755 meeting where British General Edward Braddock discussed plans for the French and Indian War.
Outside, explore the peaceful boxwood garden and grounds, then check the park calendar for guided tours and special programs that dig deeper into Alexandria’s colonial past.
5. Torpedo Factory Art Center
After exploring Carlyle House, walk about five minutes toward the Potomac River to the Torpedo Factory Art Center at 105 North Union Street, one of Old Town Alexandria’s coolest creative stops.
The huge waterfront building opened in 1919 as a U.S. Naval Torpedo Station, and you can still spot a green Mark XIV torpedo displayed inside.
Today, its three floors are packed with working artist studios and galleries where you can watch artists paint, sculpt, make jewelry, create ceramics, and turn glass into colorful pieces.
Admission is free, so take your time chatting with artists, browsing original works for sale, and exploring the industrial building before stepping outside to the waterfront promenade for Potomac River views.
6. Old Town Alexandria Waterfront
Step out of the Torpedo Factory and you’re already at the Old Town Alexandria Waterfront, where the Potomac River runs beside parks, docks, restaurants, and a wide pedestrian promenade.
Walk south through Waterfront Park and Point Lumley Park, stopping to see public art, watch boats cruise past, and photograph the Potomac and views toward Washington, D.C.
For a different view, hop aboard a sightseeing cruise or water taxi from the Alexandria City Marina, with routes connecting Alexandria to destinations such as The Wharf and National Harbor.
Stick around for sunset, then wander back toward King Street, where a mile-long stretch of shops, restaurants, historic buildings, and brick sidewalks makes it easy to keep your Alexandria evening going.
7. Jones Point Park
Keep following the Potomac from Old Town, and about a 6-minute drive will bring you to Jones Point Park, a riverside green space tucked beneath the massive Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge.
Its standout landmark is the Jones Point Lighthouse, built in 1855 and once used to guide ships along this busy stretch of the Potomac River.
You can also find the site of the 1791 south cornerstone that marked the beginning of the survey of the original District of Columbia, plus interpretive signs explaining the area’s shipbuilding and navigation history.
Bring your walking shoes for the Mount Vernon Trail, watch boats from the shoreline, or use the park’s basketball courts and playground before snapping photos beneath the bridge’s enormous concrete spans.
8. George Washington’s Mount Vernon
From Jones Point Park, continue about a 15-minute drive to George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the former home of America’s first president and a fitting finale to your Alexandria weekend.
The 500-acre estate centers on Washington’s famous mansion, where you can tour restored rooms including the New Room, Washington’s study, and the bedchamber where he died in 1799.
Give yourself several hours to explore the four gardens, working farm, Washington’s tomb, museum galleries, and memorial dedicated to the enslaved people who lived and worked at Mount Vernon.
Before leaving, walk down toward the Potomac for sweeping river views from the estate, then stop by the reconstructed gristmill and distillery about 2.7 miles away to see another side of Washington’s business life.
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