DC Embassies (2025)

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Went down to DC today for the EU Embassy open houses. Started around 11 AM by going over to the EU delegation in Foggy Bottom to get free waffles (co-located with Belgium, Latvia, and Malta). When we arrived we found a line that was about 2 blocks long and barely moving. We spoke to a few people about halfway up the line who said they had been waiting more than an hour. So, we found a coffee shop and hopped on Metro to go elsewhere.

Last year we went to Italy and also found a huge line, so we figured we'd go to some of the more distant embassies near the Van Ness Metro stop. We started at the Czech Republican which only had a short line (5-10 minute wait). Inside they had a number of WWII US military vehicles on display, along with other displays, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Czechoslovakia at the end of WWII. They also had wine, beer, and food for sale but no give-aways. We stayed for a bit and went over to the Hungarian Embassy just up the street.

There, as you arrive, you must walk past a stand selling what looked like cinnamon buns, fried and hollowed out, and filled with various sweet ingredients. We passed on that but did get goulash for lunch (which was fantastic). For $10 they gave a hearty portion along with some bread. They also had a Hungarian deli selling various cured meats, and they had live music and dancing, which they pulled visitors into. They also had some sweets for sales. The highlight was a gathering of Hungarian Puli and Vizsla dogs. We spoke to one of the dog owners who said anyone can bring their dogs to the event. There were probably about 5-10 dogs running around on the back lawn.

From there we walked about a mile to the Netherlands, which was a cluster. The event map indicated the event was at the Netherlands Worldwide near Van Ness, but it was actually at the Embassy a couple of miles away. Unfortunately we didn't learn this until just before we arrived at the Worldwide location as others were walking back after also discovering they were at the wrong spot.

From there we walked up past UDC to the Slovakian and Austrian Embassies that were doing a joint event (they are next to one another). There was no line for either. Slovakia had wine and mead tasting (free), plus cookies, as well as various food for sale. They had a spiced mead that was outstanding. Austria had a variety of strudels for sale and a bunch of cultural displays.

We left and hopped back on Metro to see if we could make it to the EU Delegation on the hope that the line had dissipated, but we go there too late as it had closed already.

Overall, a much better experience than the long lines we experienced at the Embassy Row embassies in past years.

My son went last Saturday (May 3) for the Around the World Tour of more than 60 embassies and made it about 8. His favorite was The Philippines where they had a ton of giveaways of food, treats, and sodas. I'm planning on joining him for that one next year.

[English Natsie]

Now...how would it be if the embassies really reflected their country. Belgium would be fighting each other, as they want to be two embassies - Flemish and French. Italy would only allow in people they liked - everyone else would be dumped on an island off the coast. Latvia would be too much of a fortress, because of the Russians next door. Malta - everyone would ask 'are you actually in the EU?' Hungary would be making life as difficult as possible, for all of the other embassies, to please their old mate Vladimir. The Netherlands would be plotting how to ban Islam - or not...Austria would be celebrating the fact that the largest political party, at the last election, was formed from a Neo-Nazi group - strangely enough, there wouldn't be any queues to visit...    

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Now...how would it be if the embassies really reflected their country. Belgium would be fighting each other, as they want to be two embassies - Flemish and French. Italy would only allow in people they liked - everyone else would be dumped on an island off the coast. Latvia would be too much of a fortress, because of the Russians next door. Malta - everyone would ask 'are you actually in the EU?' Hungary would be making life as difficult as possible, for all of the other embassies, to please their old mate Vladimir. The Netherlands would be plotting how to ban Islam - or not...Austria would be celebrating the fact that the largest political party, at the last election, was formed from a Neo-Nazi group - strangely enough, there wouldn't be any queues to visit...    

Israeli Embassy would be in with the Euro embassies for purposes of the tour even though it should be among the Asian embassies by geography. 

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

At least Hungary wasn't doing a bromeopathic tanning display...

[imref]

Israeli Embassy would be in with the Euro embassies for purposes of the tour even though it should be among the Asian embassies by geography. 

We walked by the Israeli Embassy, it was very quiet. I didn't realize it was so close to UAE and Egypt. It is located near a number of other Middle Eastern embassies.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Back in the 80s you always knew when there was a crisis brewing in the middle east because the lights were on late at night.  They would never be off if that were still the case.

[Count Walewski]

Embassy open houses in May are a huge deal for our family. This year on the non-EU day we did Uzbekistan, Trinidad and Tobago, The Philippines, and Tunisia and on the EU day we did Greece and Croatia.

A few tips and tricks from our many years of doing this with a small child:
- The EU Open House day is a MUCH bigger event than the non-EU Open House day, even though more embassies are open on the latter offering a more diverse set of experiences
- You can roughly gauge how long the lines are going to be based on how frequently Americans visit that country for tourism, most people assume the countries that are fun to vacation in have the best embassy experience
- In my experience, the countries that put on the best experience are often countries that are having rocky relations with the USA, as they want to impress Americans. Saudi Arabia was great a few years ago when they were on the outs with the USA over human rights in Yemen and then really lame the year afterwards when they had patched things up with us. Bolivia put on a great party last year despite generally being critical/hostile to the USA.
- Start EARLY, especially for the EU one. Lines are usually around the block by 11:00 AM.

For the EU day, I agree that the Van Ness embassies (Czech Republic and Hungary) are a bit of a cheat code because they usually put on a good show but are less popular than the Mass Ave ones. For non-EU Open House, Ethiopia and China are also around there. There's also Austria and Slovakia who are way up there in parts of DC tourists normally don't visit, we did those in 2024.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

The 2018 Saudi embassy drain exhibition stood out.

[imref]

Back in the 80s you always knew when there was a crisis brewing in the middle east because the lights were on late at night.  They would never be off if that were still the case.

You used to be able to tell if the US was launching a military strike by cars in the Pentagon parking lot at night and pizza deliveries as well.