There are enough attractions in Washington to spend up to a couple of weeks here.

Its a city of monuments more like outdoor museums, really to great American figures such as George Washington, Franklin Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson among others. See these imaginative memorials illuminated in the twilight when their whiteness looks spectacular. Touring the White House is a must, though its closed during times of national emergency such as the current war on terrorism. You dont see that much, but the state and reception rooms you do see are impressive.

Washington is also a city of museums and theyre virtually all free.

Lining the grassy mile-long Mall which runs between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial are the terrific museums of the Smithsonian Institute.

The Air and Space Museum is the most-visited museum in the world youll see famous sights from the skies such as the Enola Gay which dropped the atomic bomb on Japan, the Wright Brothers Spirit of St Louis, parts of the Apollo XI moon-landing rocket and other famous flying crafts. There are planes suspended from the ceiling everywhere you look.

Other Smithsonian museums worth a visit include the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Natural History (including the Hope Diamond), the Museum of American History and the National Zoo with its pandas.

Theres also the Holocaust Museum which offers a harrowing memorial to those who died at the hands of the Nazis.

On a similar note, you cant miss the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a long black wall into which is carved the name of all 60,000 US servicemen lost in that war.

You couldnt visit Americas capital without touring a presidents house and theres a choice of two. Theres George Washingtons beautiful Mount Vernon, his country estate just outside the city, and Woodrow Wilsons town house in the majestic Embassy Row district. Both are superb museums with high-quality guides to show you round.

You can also go into Fords Theatre and see the box where President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865. And talking of Presidents, the graves of John F Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline lie on a gentle hillside in Arlington Cemetery overlooking the Potomac River and the Mall. His Attorney-General brother Robert lies nearby. Go early or late in the day the Eternal Flame can get crowded.

All in all, theres a bundle to see, and you wont spend much money. Which was fine with me.