Georgetown: History & Gossip Walking Tour with Local Stories

4.88

(312 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We’d barely turned onto the brick sidewalk when our guide, Canden, pointed out a tiny iron firemark above a doorway — I’d have missed it if she hadn’t stopped us right there. She laughed about how she wrote the book on Georgetown (literally), and honestly, it felt like walking with someone who knew every odd story behind each window box. The air had that old-stone coolness you only get in these neighborhoods, and somewhere nearby someone was roasting coffee — or maybe I just wanted it to be coffee. We dodged a delivery bike and Canden started in on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal; I didn’t expect to care about old locks but watching the water move through those gates was weirdly satisfying.

The Old Stone House looked almost too small to matter at first. Turns out it’s older than DC itself — 1766 — and has seen everything from tobacco traders to car salesmen. There was a couple sitting in the garden eating sandwiches, just quietly taking it in. I liked that nobody rushed us here; we could poke around, touch the rough stone walls, try to imagine this street without all the Teslas parked outside. After that we wandered toward one of the Kennedy houses (they had so many here), and Canden told this story about Jackie throwing dinner parties before everything changed for her. It’s strange how history feels closer when you’re standing right outside someone’s old front door.

I kept noticing little things — gas lanterns still burning in daylight, a faded coal chute cover stamped with some family name I can’t pronounce. There were students sprawled across Georgetown University’s lawn pretending to study but mostly sunbathing; our group lingered by the statue of John Carroll while Canden explained how the university shaped half the neighborhood’s character (and probably its rent prices). We ended up near those famous Exorcist Steps — everyone took photos but honestly my legs were more interested in finding a cold drink by then.

I still think about how layered Georgetown feels: Black families’ stories mixed with immigrant histories, women who just ignored what they were supposed to do. It’s not just pretty houses and politics — there’s gossip tucked into every block if you listen long enough. So yeah, if you want a day trip from DC that isn’t just monuments and marble, this walking tour kind of sticks with you.