Old Post Office Clocktower

DC's Best View Is Back (and Still Free)

One of my favorite free things in DC quietly came back this summer: the National Park Service reopened the Old Post Office Clocktower, the 315-foot tower rising out of the old 1899 post office building on Pennsylvania Avenue. A ranger rides the glass elevator up with you, and the observation level puts the whole city at your feet: the Capitol one way, the Washington Monument the other, planes sliding into National in the distance. The windows are big, open-air through wide grates, and exactly at kid height. It's the view people pay for in other cities, for free, four mornings a week.

Here's the part my kids actually talk about: on the way up you pass the Bells of Congress, ten huge change-ringing bells that were a gift from England, and you can see the giant clock mechanism from the inside. The catch is the schedule. Tours run Wednesday through Saturday, 9am to noon only, no tickets, first come first served. Go right at 9 and you'll practically have the tower to yourselves. The entrance is on the 12th Street side of the building; look for the NPS signs and give yourself a minute for the security line.

Parent Tips 💡

• ✓Go at 9am sharp. The morning-only window is short and tour groups drift in by 10.
• ✓Play find-the-landmark. Give each kid a monument to spot from the top. Buys you ten quiet minutes of view.
• ✓Stack it with a museum. You're 5 minutes from the Natural History Museum and the Mall.
• ✓Check before a special trip. Hours can shift with events in the building; the NPS page has current status.
• ✓Bring the camera up. The grates are wide enough for photos, and morning light is the good light.