Near Northeast, Washington, D.C.: neighborhood guide

Near Northeast sits between Capitol Hill to the south and Brookland to the north, roughly bounded by North Capitol Street, Florida Avenue, F Street and 15th Street NE. Two parts matter to visitors. The Atlas District is H Street NE between North Capitol Street and 15th Street NE — a strip of bars, restaurants and small venues named after the Atlas Theater, which opened in 1938 and is now the Atlas Performing Arts Center. NoMa is the newer, glassier zone just north of Union Station around the NoMa–Gallaudet U Metro station.

The neighbourhood was a settlement area for immigrants, became predominantly African-American by the 1950s, and was badly damaged in the 1968 riots. Revitalisation came later: the Atlas Theater was renovated in 2004, a local entrepreneur bought and converted properties on H Street NE in 2006, and Union Market was renovated and re-tenanted in 2012. The result is a nightlife strip that draws a somewhat older, more local crowd than some other D.C. entertainment districts.

Gallaudet University, the world's only university designed around the needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing students, anchors the middle of the area at 800 Florida Avenue NE. Its campus is a National Historic Landmark District with North American High Gothic buildings; Chapel Hall is the centrepiece. Guided tours exist, but unless you give about three days' notice they are given in American Sign Language, and self-guided tours are also available.

Yes, if your trip is built around evenings out and you want a base that is one Red Line stop from downtown rather than in the middle of it. Union Station gives you Amtrak to New York, Baltimore and beyond, plus the Metro, and NoMa has the densest cluster of hotels. H Street NE is walkable from both.

No, if this is a first visit and your days are monuments, museums and the National Mall. From Near Northeast that is a Metro ride or a 25–35 minute walk, and you will spend the trip commuting to the things you came for. Capitol Hill, the East End or a hotel nearer the Mall suits that plan better.

It is also a weaker fit if you want a car-free, everything-on-foot holiday with restaurants outside your door at 7am. Parts of H Street and the blocks around Union Market are still patchy, and some stretches feel empty after dark away from the main strip.

H Street NE is the reason most visitors come. Expect American comfort food, barbecue, Ethiopian and other immigrant-run kitchens, cocktail bars and small live-music rooms, mostly between 12th and 14th Streets NE. The Atlas Performing Arts Center at 1333 H Street NE has an art gallery open Tuesday to Sunday, noon to 6pm, and shows in the evening.

Union Market, the warehouse-style indoor market west of Gallaudet University, is the daytime counterpart: stalls, counters and a food-hall layout that works well for a group that cannot agree. It is a short walk from NoMa and easy to combine with a Red Line stop.

Near Union Station you will find more chain restaurants and hotel dining, which is convenient but not the reason to choose the area. For a wider choice of restaurants, Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan–Columbia Heights are a Metro ride away.

The Red Line is your backbone: Union Station and NoMa–Gallaudet U are both a short walk from the H Street NE nightlife. From Union Station you are one stop from Judiciary Square and two from Metro Center, which puts the Mall and downtown within a few minutes.

The DC Streetcar runs from Union Station along H Street NE through the Atlas District, roughly every 10–15 minutes Monday to Saturday. Metrobus also serves the neighbourhood. A bicycle is a good option for the parts that are awkward by Metro, including the National Arboretum, which is reached by bus B2 to Bladensburg Road at Rand Street and then a short walk.

A car is not needed and parking is limited, though driving is the quickest way out of the city eastwards on US-1 or US-50 towards the I-495 Capital Beltway. If you do drive, expect the diagonal avenues to be confusing.

The United States National Arboretum, with entrances at 3501 New York Avenue NE and 2400 R Street NE, is free and open 8am to 5pm daily. It holds a Japanese garden, a bonsai collection and the original columns from the Capitol Building's first incarnation, now standing like Roman ruins. It is also a calmer place to see cherry blossoms than the Tidal Basin, with more than 30 flowering cherry varieties.

Gallaudet University is worth a look for the architecture alone, and NPR's headquarters at 1111 North Capitol Street NE has lobby exhibits and a gift shop, with weekday tours at 11am that need advance registration.

For the classic D.C. sights — the Mall, monuments, Smithsonian museums — plan on the Metro. Capitol Hill is a 15–20 minute walk south from H Street NE.