Old Town Alexandria boasts a beautiful waterfront, gorgeous al fresco dining spots, whimsical gift shops, and rich historical landmarks. As the holiday’s approach, it’s famous King Street fills with festival lighting and a town Christmas Tree. While it’s getting colder, Old Town’s streets are a great way to spend a day sightseeing and wandering.

Starting in Rockville, it’s either a 45-minute drive via the highway or an approx. 1-hour metro ride along the Red and Yellow lines. Park or get off at King Street. There’s plenty of parking and it’s free on Sunday. If you’re taking the metro, it’s only $2.50 one-way!

Most of the main shopping and dining is along King Street. The sidewalks are cobblestone, giving the town a very quaint feel. Be wary of the streetlights, as vehicle drivers do speed through the supposed 25-mph street. As you make your way to the waterfront, here are some of the worthwhile stops I made along the way.

First, I made a stop at Shop Made in VA. This gift shop specialized in local, small-batch home goods and artisan pantry items. Additionally, they host group events for painting and other crafts. Something super unique about this store is that the individual makers have little plaques depicting their “story”. It was such a charming space! Despite not getting one of the “Crush the Patriarchy” candles (haha!), I was eye-ing some of the humorous holiday cards.

From there, I walked into Lily’s Chocolate & Coffee. I love stopping by here – it’s instagram-able and the hot chocolate is. so. good. You can try lockmas here – deep-fried dough balls covered in chocolate. Lily’s has different types of chocolates, include a black-and-white so you can really indulge.

With my Lily’s hot chocolate in hand, I continued walking down the main street. Then, I took a turn into the small shopping square across from the Farmers Market. Inside, was the Spice & Tea Exchange of Alexandria. While there are other locations, the Alexandria location feels like it’s meant to be there. Sampling teas and getting a little bag of specialty salt was very fun! Right next to it, was the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum. Running short on time, I did not partake in the 30-minute tour. However, I did glance at the botanicals on display.

The last shop I entered before hitting the waterfront was the iconic Paper Source store. While it’s a chain, it was a beautiful store filled with holiday gifts, cards, wrapping paper, and everything stationary. I really wanted to buy these christmas-themed window gels, but decided against it last-minute.

The waterfront was serene as always. The hustle and bustle of King Street died down as the streets opened up. I went into the free-to-enter Torpedo Factory. It is no longer a torpedo factory. It is now an art collective where artists rent out studio space. People can wander along the three-story building and look at over a hundred artists creating, displaying, and selling their artwork. All styles welcome, from detailed landscapes of mountains to pop-art 3-D eggs. I even saw a paper-mache T-Rex!

I decided I was getting hungry afterwards. Thankfully, I had agreed to meet up with some friends at Augie’s Mussel House and Beer Garden. This place had plenty of Belgian and American-style pubgrub alongside 11-distinct flavors of mussels. Augie’s is a great place to catch up with friends (large parties can be accommodated!) as well as watch a sports game. I’d 100% recommend the Green Curry Mussels.

If you’re looking for somewhere to spend an afternoon, Old Town Alexandria is a great spot! I’ll be returning next weekend as the Christmas Tree becomes lit. Hopefully I’ll have enough room in my stomach to some ice cream at one of the many creameries.