Union Station

Daniel Burnham's monumental Beaux-Arts railway station of 1907, once the largest in the world, restored in 1988 after decades of decline. The barrel-vaulted Main Hall with its coffered ceiling, gold leaf and legionnaire statues is one of the grandest interiors in the city and free to walk through. Still the busiest Amtrak station outside New York and the eastern terminus of the DC Circulator. Worth 15 minutes on the way to or from Capitol Hill, which is a five minute walk south; the plaza in front frames a good view of the Capitol dome. Restaurants and a food court inside.