Book your flight to Washington, D.C. with Icelandair from GBP564*

Power players, marvelous monuments and museums that can fill days of exploring: oh boy, you know this city is important. Washington D.C. is a place that's at the center of many things, and it can’t help but electrify you with its muscle.

Icelandair offers cheap flights to Washington D.C. from Europe and the UK for a taste of politics, power and much more. This city is dressed to impress.

Before you tour the US Capitol Building, how about visiting the place where Vikings established the first democratic parliament, over a thousand years ago? When you book flights to Washington D.C. with Icelandair you have the opportunity to add a stopover in Iceland at no additional airfare.

Pivotal landmarks, patriotic institutions

The White House, the Capitol, the Pentagon, moving memorials and monuments to presidents, war efforts and brave soldiers - there is a lot to fill your sightseeing days. Plan your time well, because you may also wish to dedicate hours to the Smithsonian Institution.

This incredible organization is the world's largest museum, education and research complex. There's a head-spinning 19 world-class museums and galleries under its umbrella (not to mention gardens and a zoo). Sightseers, start your engines!

The Smithsonian's Natural History Museum and American History Museum brilliantly fill minds with knowledge; the Air and Space Museum provokes wonder and awe (and has a planetarium and IMAX theatre too). In a spirit of goodwill, all these museums are free.

Flavors of the world, unite!

No surprises: this city is home to a very international population - expats, diplomats, students, and locals rub shoulders and eat well, on cuisines from all over the world and all over the USA.

You can track down swanky places where political deals are brokered, Georgetown cafes and bars where well-heeled students and residents congregate, and fun budget bites (and awesome jazz clubs) in the vibrant U Street Corridor.

Logan Circle is fertile hunting ground for excellent mealtime options amid historical charm.

One local delicacy to seek out: the half-smoke. It's somewhere between a sausage and a hot dog, but usually larger, spicier and coarser.

Food trucks and carts sell it to go, and debate rages over the city's best half-smoke joint.

Shopping markets and museum gift stores

All those glorious museums have excellent gift stores attached, for all your Americana needs and political souvenirs, but also for thoughtful themed offerings. The pick of the bunch is the store at the Air and Space Museum.

Markets are fun for browsing and snacking - there's a weekend flea market that sets up next to Eastern Market near Capitol Hill, and you can trawl for vintage treasures and artworks, along with local crafts and produce.

The leafy and lovely Georgetown neighborhood ranks high in browsing appeal - boutiques and cafes line M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, and while you're in the area drop by Cady's Alley, a cobblestoned lane dotted with design stores.