Two weekends back, DCist took a trip to the Old Post Office Pavilion. We weren't there to mingle with tourists in the food court, we went for the view. With the Washington Monument closed for security upgrades, the tower of the Old Post Office is the next best thing. Its free access and normally low traffic is one of the best relatively low-key tourist sites in the city. (Please note that the National Park Service's Washington Monument website says that the monument is "Now Open," but it is indeed closed through next spring.)

When you go up be sure to take a look at the Bells of Congress, a gift from the British government to the U.S. Congress.

The trip up is free and you get a very good view of the city.

The Old Post Office was completed in 1899 and besides monuments and certain government buildings, its tower is one of the most recognizable features on the city's skyline. But it has been the target of demolition plans, first during the New Deal when the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration constructed Federal Triangle and second in the 1970s when Congress appropriated money to have the building torn down. Fortunately, it was saved and we have the building to anchor the mid-section of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Other good vistas of the city DCist enjoys include the National Cathedral, Meridian Hill Park, the roofs at Georgetown University's Village A, the roof terraces at the Kennedy Center and the Hotel Washington, and Custis-Lee House at Arlington National Cemetery.

Where is your favorite vista of the city?