Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other'. New York Times

Full of color images and only the best of the city, Lonely Planet's Encounter Washington DC is the on-the-road necessity to get you to the heart of the city. Find the best attractions, restaurants, shops, theaters, galleries and more with our hyperlinked maps, top highlights and itineraries for short stays. With content broken down by neighborhood, Encounter guides make city travel easier than ever.

Our experienced, passionate team of authors and local experts immerse themselves in each city they visit, finding and sharing the unique experiences, and practical and honest advice, so you come away informed and amazed.

Sure it might feel like it's all politics and Obama, but DC's so much more than that. It's museums, chili dogs, salsa and discovering up-and-coming neighbourhoods like Columbia Heights and Northeast.

Local expert perspectives include Executive Director of DC WritersCorp on what makes DC fertile ground for writing novels, a real estate developer on the next best 'hood, and a political journalist on the best celebrity- and Obama-spotting locations.

Lonely Planet's Washington DC Encounter guide gives you twice the city in half the time.

Inside Washington DC Encounter:

• Full color styling and images

• Maps

• Recommended points-of-interest – covering eating, going out, shopping, activities and attractions

• Short stay itineraries – so you can make the most of every moment

• Local experts reveal the city's secret gems

• Top 10 highlights – the definitive list of the not-to-miss city experiences

• City snapshots – peak inside the city's subcultures with information on the arts, history, going out and more.

Special eBook enhancements:

• Scalable maps – zoom in on Lonely Planet maps for greater detail without losing resolution (does not require internet access)

• Geo-referenced Google Map pinpointing – enabling you to view any point-of-interest on Google maps (requires internet access).

• Comprehensive interlinking – hundreds of links to enable you to seamlessly flip between pages, jump between maps and reviews, or visit the websites of places we recommend

• Search – go straight to what you are looking for with the inbuilt search capability

• Add notes – touch a word to add notes and personalize your guidebook

• Bookmark – use bookmarks to quickly return to a page

• Dictionary –look up the meaning of any word

• Plus pinch and zoom images and scalable font size

Written and researched by Adam Karlin