US President Joe Biden arrived at the White House on Wednesday, walking the last block with members of his family through streets that were eerily empty because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Under tight security, military bands and an escort of police motorcycles led the presidential motorcade to the White House down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Biden was riding in a limousine with the license plate "46" -- he is the 46th US president -- flanked by six mask-wearing Secret Service agents before emerging to walk the final steps to the White House.

"It feels like I'm going home," he told a reporter from NBC News along the route. 

Biden's arrival was followed shortly afterwards by that of Kamala Harris, the first woman vice president of the United States.

The 78-year-old Biden was sworn in at the Capitol about four hours earlier, calling for "unity" in his inauguration speech.

Instead of going straight to the White House, Biden and Harris visited Arlington National Cemetery to pay respects to US military war dead at a ceremony attended by former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.