Cherry Blossom in Washington DC

Every April, travelers all over the world were thrilled for this one event: Cherry Blossom!

Today, I'd love to share my hanami, cherry blossom viewing, experience in Washington DC with you.

At first I didn't even know cherry blossom could have white color. Here they were, I was able to capture three different colors behind me in the first picture!

When I walked through cherry trees one after another one, some pink flowers started to fall, but they were just like dancing in front of me. I couldn't think of any other word better than romantic to describe this particular moment.

Tidal Basin by far was the best cherry blossom spot in DC because it was such a great spot to have a picnic and there were tons of cherry blossom surrounding the lake. I was able to find a lot of good angles for photo shooting with the Washington Monument or Thomas Jefferson Memorial in the background.

Be aware that this area was filled with full of tourists after 10am, and the traffic started to get worse as each hour went on until the end of the day. I would recommend to get there early in the morning and come back for the sunset.

Little did I know, there were two other variety of pink 5-petal flowers blooming almost at the same time as Cherry Blossom. First one was Plum, and it grew directly on the branches themselves, which flowers didn't have any stem. Second one was Peach. Its flowers usually came in pairs and have short stems. Unlike the Cherry Blossom pictures you see throughout this article, they had long stems and always formed multiple-flower clusters.

The US national park service will announce the date of peak bloom forecasts annually. 

Since the flower is heavily depending on the weather, the peak-bloom date may change from week to week. If you are not flexible with the time, I would wait until the last few days before making a reservation whether it's a hotel stay, flight, or transportation. 

You can check the peak bloom status here

I chose to stay at JW Marriott Washington DC because it's close to a lot of points of interest including Tidal Basin, White House, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and National Gallery of Art, etc.

The hotel lounge didn't open on the weekend, but it had a decent restaurant, Avenue Grill, on the lower floor inside the hotel. I didn't find the property particularly attracted other than its location, but I would suggest to find a stay within the area in the picture shown above.

I spent some time in Georgetown, but the town itself wasn't that special to me. However, the national gallery of art was fantastic on the other hand. It had so many collections, and they were all from many different era. One day wasn't even enough to see half of them.

If you were also interested in high end restaurants, I would recommend three of them, but you needed to make a reservation ahead of time during cherry blossom season.

1. Sushi Taro: 1 star Michelin high-end sushi spot
2. Little Serow: Weekly innovative set menu of Northern Thailand specialties
3. Farmers Fishers Bakers: Farm-inspired American food with great weekend buffet brunch 

Overall, my experience here was amazing. The city consisted of some upscale city vibe while retaining many historical sites. The street were spacious, and the area was unbelievably clean.

Last but not least, cherry blossom was beautiful. Every second here was well worth it!

Would you come to DC for Cherry Blossom next year?

Let me know in the comment below and follow me on Facebook to see what I'm up for next journey.