Do you realize what’s in your own backyard?  This morning I came across impressive Washington DC travel guide, DestinationGuideDC.com, and decided to write a quick review from a local perspective.

According to DestinationGuideDC, the purpose of the site is:

“to provide a complete and informative overview of [Washington DC], enhanced with friendly, helpful commentary from our travel experts. We want you to get the most out your trip, or even discover things and places you never knew about in your hometown.”

The site has an easy-to-navigate layout and clean design patterns. I found the content to be insightful and well written.  The site content is organized by category (i.e. attractions, activities, events, etc). If you want to get a sense of what the site has to offer quickly, check out the information page, which reads like an executive summary.

The DestinationGuideDC travel experts have done an excellent job cataloging all of the museums, monuments, bars and restaurants in DC. There is even a “free in DC” section that I’m sure will be popular, given our current economic environment. I was surprised to see that there is not much opportunity for user participation.  No user comments, reviews, ratings or voting opportunites.

Without a doubt, DestinationGuideDC is wading into a red ocean.  Other already popular, similar sites include CityGuideDC and the non-profit DestinationDC.  On the other hand, as ShopDC demonstrated last year, there is money to be made in this market.

Overall, I found DestinationGuideDC to be a worthwhile site to check out, especially if you are contemplating a day trip into the city.  Remember, Occoquan is only 21 miles south of Washington DC!