Date Published: May 23rd, 2026 | Last Updated: May 23rd, 2026
Author: Abby | Category: Travel, USA
Date of travel: Feb 7th, 2026

The town of Alexandria, Virginia, is a historically rich city on the Potomac River that originally started as a tobacco trading post in the mid 1700s and became one of the busiest ports in America. It is famously known as George Washington’s hometown. He surveyed the land at the age of 16 and was a part of the foundational planning of this town and maintained a close relationship until his death in 1799. He lived, dined, worshipped, and conducted business through these historic streets of Alexandria.

Today, the main things to do here is to explore the preserved streets and buildings of Old Town, take a short stroll along the waterfront, check out the converted Torpedo Factory, and visit a masonic temple dedicated to the memorial of George Washington.

Best time of year to travel?

You can visit any time of the year, but the best time to visit will be in Spring or Summer when the weather is warmer and it’ll be nicer to walk around. We came in the middle of winter and a lot of streets were covered in snow.

Where to stay?

Although a very cute lively town, there’s not a ton of nightlife in Alexandria, so it’s not imperative to stay in the middle of old town, unless you really want to be within walking distance to a few restaurants or bars. We chose a cheaper option about a 10 minute drive away off the side of the freeway and just drove into Alexandria to save on hotel costs.

Getting Around & Where to Park?

Driving will be your best option to explore the main sites around Alexandria. Old Town will be the main attraction and is a very walkable town. We found the cheapest parking to be in the underground parking garage at Market Square underneath City Hall (address: 108 N. Fairfax Street Alexandria, Virginia). It was $2/hour, maximum $10 per day. You can also park on the street, but parking is limited and has limited hours.

There is a free “King Street Trolley” that you can take around town. We didn’t take it because the places we wanted to visit were relatively close together and very walkable within Old Town. You can find out more about the trolley service and routes here: https://visitalexandria.com/plan/king-street-trolley/ .

How many days do I need?

Alexandria is a pretty small town and it only takes about 20 minutes to walk from one end of the main street to the other, but there are plenty of restaurants, shops, and a few historic sites to keep you busy. 1 day will be enough time to see all the highlights here. Check out the sample itinerary below to help plan your day.

If you haven’t already, consider visiting the nearby Mount Vernon (the historical home of George Washington) – it’s only about a 30 minute drive North:

Things to Do:

The main things to explore in Alexandria, Virginia are: the streets of historic old town, the waterfront walk, the torpedo factory, and the George Washington Masonic National Memorial. If you have time you can also visit the Jones Point Lighthouse.

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial

Address: 101 Callahan Dr, Alexandria, VA 22301, United States
Hours: 9am-5pm Thursday through Monday, closed Tuesdays & Wednesdays
Tour times (1hr long, included in admission cost): 9:30am, 11am, 12:30pm, 2pm, 3:30pm (check the website to reserve tickets and updated hours)
Admission: $20 per person (pretty steep if you ask me)
Parking: Free, on-site
Website: http://gwmemorial.org/
How much time to spend here: roughly an hour to go through everything

I will preface this by saying that you absolutely must have a reserved tour time if you plan to visit. Unfortunately we didn’t know about the tours and we came just after the last tour finished and couldn’t go up the tower where some of the exhibits are and missed a lot of what was offered including the grand views from the observation deck at the top. We paid full price admission ($20) for essentially a self-guided walk-through of the main floor and a small museum room. It didn’t feel worth it for the admission cost, but when you look on their website, there were a lot more things we could have seen. Check it out here: https://gwmemorial.org/pages/tours .

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial is an active Freemasons temple that also incorporates a memorial to George Washington, one of their most notable and famous historic members. They have deemed him the ultimate example of a freemason:

To American Freemasons, George Washington’s life symbolizes the reward of virtue and morality dedicated to public service. He is the culmination of striving to overcome the rough human nature to be perfect in service to family, neighbor, nation and God. His life exemplifies the transition from rough to perfect ashlar.

We’ve driven past many masonic lodges in our travels, some looking like a small shack, but this is the most grand one we’ve come across. This building has mutiple purposes not just a Masonic temple, but also a research library, a cultural space, and a performing arts center. You can walk here from Old Town Alexandria (roughly a 30 minute walk from the Torpedo Factory Arts Center) or drive here (free parking on site).

What is Freemasonry? That’s a loaded question. Honestly, I had always assumed it was some sort of secret cult like they depict in that episode of the Simpsons where homer joins the Stonecutters. In being exposed to it more over the years and coming across a few masonic lodges and reading about historic Freemason members, the best I can simplify and summarize my understanding is that it’s an adult men’s club where their “primary purpose is to improve men”. I think of it like Boy Scouts but for adults and without the wilderness training 😅 – that’s probably a bit too simplified. They meet, they discuss, they plan in the goal of “self-improvement, moral discipline, and brotherhood”. They have deep roots that started in Britain as far back as the 1600s. It’s not so much a secret society, but the rules, rituals, and traditions they follow are kept a secret from non-members. Here’s another excerpt from the museum that may help explain it a little more:

Freemasonry differs from stonemasonry, however, in that it teaches men virtues and moral truths, rather than arts and skills. While operative masons use tools to fashion stone and construct buildings, speculative Freemasons use rituals and symbols to improve themselves. Just as a new stonemason learns his craft as an apprentice, journeyman and finally a master mason, a Freemason is initiated through three degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason.

When you first enter the building, there’s a reception desk where you can purchase tickets and get more information. The whole building is 9 floors high, but without a tour, you cannot enter the tower portion and only have access to the first 2 floors. The first floor has a (relatively) small museum of the history of the Freemasons in America. The information here is quite dense and took us some time to get through it all. It covers historical members and their morals and beliefs.

The second floor has a big statue of George Washington with 2 large murals and a replica meeting room for the Freemasons.

There’s also a theatre for the community and a decent sized Freemasons gift shop before you exit, which was surprising for this secret but not so secretive club!

In summary, if you’re into learning about the Freemasons and see some cool murals and a statue of George Washington in his masonic clothing, then come for a visit. If for nothing else, come to get a great panoramic view of the town of Alexandria from the top floor of the temple (but remember that you can only get access to the tower with a guided tour)!

Historic Old Town

Historic Old Town is a very walkable area. The main street to explore is King Street, with the most exciting area between West Street and the Waterfront. It takes about 15-20 minutes to from one end to the other.

Although it’s not a large area to explore, there are a ton of historical buildings and sites here that can be easy to miss. Check out this website from the town of Alexandria for self-guided tours/maps: https://www.alexandriava.gov/SelfGuidedTours#WalkingToursofOldTownHistory

Tip: There’s a scavenger hunt map in the link above. If you complete it and bring it back to the visitors center, you get a free prize!

If you’re here for George Washington history, there’s also a map in the link above that focuses just on notable places where George Washington lived/worked/dined/worshipped.

Shopping on King Street:

There are tons of shops on King Street to explore. My favourite was “Shop Made in VA” which had unique souvenirs made by local Virginian artists!

The Hollensbury Spite House

Address: 523 Queen St, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA

The Hollensbury Spite House is the skinniest historic house in the US, measuring at just 7ft and 6 inches wide (229cm) and 325 square feet! Why is it called a spite house, you ask? Prior to 1830, this place was an alleyway and local brickmaker, John Hollensbury, owned the buildings adjacent to the alley. He was tired of people loitering here and the horse and wagons scraping against his buildings and damaging the brick, so his solution was to purchase this narrow alley (for a little over $45!) and built this house to block the walkway.

This spite house is located at 523 Queen Street. There’s no signage and can be easy to miss, so just punch the address into Google maps to guide you. It’s currently a private residence (so don’t go knocking) – which probably explains the lack of signage.

Fun fact: Although the Hollensbury Spite House is the most famous for being the most narrow, there are actually 3 other spite houses in Alexandria – check out this article here: https://alexandrialivingmagazine.com/home-and-garden/queen-street-spite-house-alexandria-va-historic-alley-homes/

Christ Church

Address: 118 N Washington St, Alexandria, VA 22314, United States
Hours: closed Mondays, 9am-4pm most days except Wed and Sun (check the website for updated hours)
Website: https://www.historicchristchurch.org/
Admission: free, also free tours available, donations accepted

Christ Church was built in 1773 and is still operating today. There is no charge for admission and they also offer free tours daily (check website for updated hours). This is where George Washington came to worship and he even purchased his own pew box (back in the day, the pews were inside boxes and you can purchase a box to ensure that your family members could sit together). Another notable parishioner was Robert E. Lee, whoever later became the general of the Confederate army.

The church is a walkable distance from King Street, but you can also drive here with free street parking in the vicinity.

Captain’s Row (cobblestone road)

Address: no exact address. It’s located at the 100s block on Prince Street (houses in the ‘100s’) between S. Union Street and S. Lee Street (see map below). You can type in ‘100 Prince Street, Alexandria’ in Google Maps and it’ll take you to the corner of S. Union Street.

Captain’s Row is a section of perfectly preserved cobblestone road on Prince Street in Old Town Alexandria. It is the town’s most iconic and historic block, renown not only for its 250 feet of original cobblestone road but the preserved 18th century homes. It is named after Captain John Harper who built many of these homes in the late 1700s and is one of the few surviving surviving blocks of land in Alexandria that represents early American and European style architecture.

Unfortunately for us, since we visited in the middle of winter, only part of the cobblestone road was exposed so we couldn’t quite appreciate the historic picturesque scenery.

Carlyle House

Address: 121 N Fairfax St, Alexandria, VA 22314, United States
Hours: 10am-4pm most days, closed Wednesdays, 12-4pm Sundays (check the website for updated hours)
Admission: $8 per adult, $3 per child
Website: https://www.novaparks.com/parks/carlyle-house-historic-park

Carlyle House is a historic mansion completed in 1753 by wealthy Scottish merchant, John Carlyle, one of the founders of Alexandria. It is one of the most prominent homes in Old Town Alexandria and is architecturally unique. Built in Georgian residential-style architecture with simple but bold features around the windows and doors, the home itself is symmetrical in layout with a central hallway and the left and right sides of the house mirror each other.

Apart from unique architecture, this home also has a lot of historical value. England’s involvement in the French and Indian War was planned at the Carlyle house. The result of that war made young George Washington a hero. The house was also later the site of a hotel and hospital. Check out this cool website for more interesting facts about the Carlyle House: https://ourhistorymuseum.org/blog/the-top-5-most-interesting-facts-about-carlyle-house-in-alexandria-va.

Due to the weather and timing, we didn’t go inside, however just seeing the home from the outside was quite impressive.

Waterfront Walk

This short path along Alexandria’s waterfront gives you views of the dock and provides some greenery (or snowery in our case). Although short, it was a nice quiet little walk that led us to the Torpedo Arts Center from King Street. There are some shops and restaurants around the area as well.

Torpedo Factory Arts Center

Address: 105 N Union St, Alexandria, VA 22314, United States
Hours: 10am-6pm, daily
Admission: free
Website: https://torpedofactory.org/
How much time to spend here: roughly an hour to go through all the shops

The Torpedo Factory Arts Center was one of my favourite places in Alexandria. This 100+ year old building houses the nation’s largest collection of working artists’ open studios all under one roof!

As you may have guessed from the name, this building used to be a torpedo factory that was constructed at the end of World War I in 1918. It produced Mark III torpedos for about 5 years until production stopped during peacetime, but then resumed leading up to the start of World War II. After the war ended, this factory made rocket engines briefly before shutting down permanently in 1946. It was then the Federal Records Center that stored documents, records, and artifacts.

In 1969 the city of Alexandria purchased the building. It took the government a few years to vacate the premises, but by 1973, The Art League had an expiring lease and sought the old torpedo factory as the new site for their plans. After years of planning and renovations, it officially re-opened in 1983 as an artist studio and still continues on today!

The Torpedo Factory Arts Center is like no place we’ve ever been before. It’s an impressive 3 floors of artist studio space where they work and sell their art all in real time. There are artists from different backgrounds making all types of art – painters, sculptors, jewellers, mixed media…etc.- it was really cool to watch them work. Toby got a really cool ring here and the great thing about being in the artist studio is that some of these pieces can be customizable since you’re buying direct from the artist in their shop! It’s definitely a treat to walk around this space and get inspired by all the amazing art around you.

Jones Point Lighthouse

Address: 100 Jones Point Dr, Alexandria, VA 22314, United States
Hours: 6am-10pm, daily

If you have some extra time, The Jones Point Lighthouse in the southern part of town has some far away views of Washington, DC across the river. It’s located within a park setting and you can follow the trail here as part of the riverfront walk and take you all the way up to the Torpedo Factory Arts Center and lead you into Old Town.

We didn’t end up stopping here because the weather was extremely windy and cold so we decided to skip it. The lighthouse looks cute from online pictures.

Some Final Thoughts

• Old Town Alexandria is pretty cool. Lots of shops with many historical sites to see. Follow an online self-guided tour if you want to make sure you don’t miss anything.
• The Torpedo Factory Arts Center is definitely a MUST!
• Book a tour if you’re going to visit the Masonic Temple so you can get to the top of the temple.
• Don’t forget to check out Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington if you’re into more historical places!