A day in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia

This past summer while I was with my family in Washington, DC, we decided to take the easy trip out to Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. It’s easy to reach with public transport – an easy stop on the metro.

From the metro station, we enjoyed the pleasant summer day for a walk through the city’s old town and towards the harbor – alongside the Potomac River.

The small city of about 160,000 is only 7 miles/11 km outside Washington, DC. It was officially established in 1749, and was an important point of inspections on the tobacco trade along the Potomac River. Its name derives from Captain Philip Alexander II (1704–1753), whose tobacco estate consisted of 500 acres of tobacco and became a central part of the new township.

Now it’s a popular place to live for employees of DC – close to work, but allowing for that small town vibe.

I hadn’t been to Alexandria for years, and for my family it was the first time. We enjoyed wandering the historic town – walking from the metro station along the main shopping street to the harbor along the Potomac.

Despite the hot weather, we enjoyed a lunch al fresco – and my Italian kids loved the Chesapeake crabs.

We walked off lunch on the trails of the walking path along the Potomac River.

Afterwards, we decided to return to DC via water taxi (my first time!) – a great way to enjoy views over the Potomac and to understand how close it is to Washington, D.C. Will write about this next week…

All in all, a really enjoyable day. When you’re next in D.C. and looking for an easy dat trip, be sure to go out for the day to Old Town Alexandria.