Explore D.C. With Free Bike, Foot Tours

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IT'S EASY TO MOCK tourists — and oh so fun! — but the fact of the matter is that trekking all over town with a digital camera, water bottle and five guidebooks is a pretty decent workout. (Even better? Getting lost and wandering a few extra miles.)

So, pull out your fanny pack and prepare for Cultural Tourism DC's WalkingTown event this Saturday and Sunday. With more than 60 free foot and bike tours taking place in all four quadrants, you can burn calories while learning new facts about a few neighborhoods. For the full schedule, check culturaltourismdc.org, but what follows is a list of the ones most likely to help you break a sweat.

» ANACOSTIA BY BIKE: (Sat., 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., meet at the Harbor Police parking lot on Water Street SW) Don't forget your helmet — or your stamina — for this 26-mile trek along the Anacostia River Walk Trail and Potomac Ridge, with stops at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site and the Anacostia Community Museum. (Another Anacostia by Bike tour leaves at 9 a.m. from 1100 Maine Ave. SW, but this shorter ride follows the future Anacostia River Walk Trail.)

» BLACK GEORGETOWN HIKE: (Sat., 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m., meet outside the Old Stone House, 3051 M St. NW) A National Park Service Ranger takes you through historic Herring Hill (gotta love an incline), a section of Georgetown that served as the home to more than 1,000 black families during the 19th century. The 15-block section encompasses the easternmost part of the area south of P Street NW.

» EMBASSY ROW: (Sat., 10 a.m.-noon, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., 1 p.m.-3 p.m., meet at the Dupont Metro's south exit) You won't even notice you're on your feet for two hours while you're gawking at some of the most glamorous buildings in the city.

» HISTORY BEFORE HISTORY: The Geologic Story of Washington, D.C.: (Sun., 1 p.m.-4 p.m., meet at 1845 Harvard St. NW) Ditch the heels, because this two-mile tour, led by a geology instructor, will take you from city streets into Rock Creek Park to examine stone outcroppings that hint at the days of the dinosaurs.

» WHY HAINS POINT? The Creation of Potomac Park by Bike: (Sun., 1 p.m.-4 p.m., meet at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Plaza by the Tidal Basin) If you aren't already taking advantage of the 700-acre park to get some exercise, maybe riding around and learning about its development will get you hooked.

First photo courtesy Cultural Tourism D.C.; second by Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post