2,000 Calories in Washington, D.C.

We toured Washington, D.C. to find the best, most nutritious restaurants the city has to offer. Here's a unique guide to good eating and great exercise for hungry travelers.

How we did the math:

This series is meant as a fun guide to experiencing a city through the Cooking Light lens. All calculations are rough estimates and should be seen as a starting point for your own adventure.

Calorie burns were estimated using this calculator. The approximations are based on how vigorous the activity level is for a 150-pound woman—for example, a stroll around a farmers’ market was calculated at a lower burn than when we tell you to pick up the pace.

We estimated steps at an average of 2,000 steps per mile walked.

All calorie calculations for the meal selections we recommend were rough estimates based on inputting similar dishes and ingredients into this calculator.

Paddle this historic waterway from Key Bridge Boathouse, where you can rent kayaks by the hour, to Nauti Foods, a boat that patrols the river with snacks. Grab a locally made Bullfrog Bagel and a veggie juice on board.

Burn: 340 calories
Eat: 391 calories

Walk 1.6 miles to the Lincoln Memorial. Climb the memorial's 57 steps to pay your respects. Stroll 1.25 miles up the National Mall to the Museum of American History, where you'll find fitness inspiration from Apolo Ohno's skates and Muhammad Ali's gloves.

Burn: 198 calories

Give your legs a break and jump on a bus east to H Street at 14th, NE, a new dining destination thanks to chef-driven restaurants and hip bars mingled with ethnic fare, from Ethiopian cafés to Irish pubs. Stop at Maketto, a restaurant-meets-mercantile that opened this spring. Here chef Erik Bruner-Yang creates dishes inspired by Cambodian street food. Opt for lighter plates, like the crunchy papaya salad, rice paper summer rolls, and samlaw machou kroeung, a spicy beef and eggplant soup. Grab a Vigilante Cofee latte on your way out.

EAT: 1,092 calories
 

Rent wheels at a Capital Bikeshare station–there's one at H and 13th–and cycle south for 2 miles. Drop the bike off at Third and D streets to meet up with DC by Foot for a guided trip around Capitol Hill.

Burn: 168 calories

Make your way to the section of Eighth Street known as Barracks Row to give in to temptation at the Sweet Lobby. Here NIH researcher–turned-baker Winnette Ambrose makes indulgent macarons in Caribbean-inspired flavors such as spiced Creole cacao and coconut.

Burn: 68 calories
Eat: 150 calories

It's just a 15-minute walk to the Anacostia River, the focus of a multimillion-dollar project adding running trails and green spaces. Practice your sphinx pose in one of the free yoga classes held this summer. Up the road, the Bluejacket Brewery makes dozens of brews in house. Order one, along with some fried chickpeas and the Pickle Pot, where classic dills are joined by carrots, cauliflower, and even grapes and kumquats.

Burn: 232 calories
Eat: 685 calories

Don't be surprised to see a line at Rose's Luxury, back on Barracks Row. Try the sausage, lychee, and habanero salad, or the hot chicken–toast piled high with jerk-rubbed chicken, peppers, mint, pineapple, green papaya, and onion. After, walk six blocks to the Tune Inn, a dive bar where you'll rub shoulders with lawmakers. While your hands stay busy with a cold can, keep your ears peeled for Capitol gossip.

Burn: 82 calories
Eat: 638 calories