Washington DC trip Need help..

[DaystarPrincess]

I'm planning a trip to Washington DC with my family for four days, we no nothing about the area and need help planning. Hotels? Close to the museums. Which are the must to see and does any of these museums cost. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

 

[Ngwira]

I'm planning a trip to Washington DC with my family for four days, we no nothing about the area and need help planning. Hotels? Close to the museums. Which are the must to see and does any of these museums cost. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

Dates? Will also be following this thread. We're going 4th of July holiday.

 

[DaystarPrincess]

We are going for the week of April 17th..Also have a good size group of family members 7 adults with one child 8 yrs.

 

[HeatherC]

Highly recommend the Residence Inn Capital Hill...walking distance to the Smithsonian Museums...which are all free. They offer two bedroom suites.

Further out check out the Residence Inn Pentagon City....right near the metro....lots of shops and restaurants around but need to take Metro to get to museums.

We like the Residence Inns for large families. They offer free breakfast and have kitchens.

 

[afan]

It depends on what you want to see. I would look at the Smithsonian site and there's also a good guidebook but I can't remember the name. I'll look when I get home.

What worked well for a group of 3 was deciding what we wanted to see, maybe see and then not see. The maybe list was there if we had time. If we decided to split up once inside the museum we agreed on a time and place to meet back up. If we needed to book a tour or be there by a certain time other things were planned around it.

If you plan to tour the capitol I would get signed up soon as that's a busy time. I'm already planning a few days ill be there in late May.

Use the metro and your legs to get around. It's a pretty easy city to navigate just plan things together like you would at wdw so you aren't going back and forth.

 

[perditax]

I also stay at the Residence Inn / Capitol when I'm in DC.

Keep in mind traffic can be a real bear around there. Learn the metro system and use it, it's pretty simple once you get the hang of it.

Prepare for a LOT of walking.

Last but not least--large chunks of the city are closed during weekends. Unless I'm misremembering the part of town, there are lots of little diners and shops around that Residence Inn--and they're all closed on weekends. Our dining options were pretty limited within about a five block radius (and they are BIG blocks). Even the closest Starbucks was closed on Sundays. This is the area a few blocks south of the Smithsonian museums--I guess it's just a real "work week" area. Maybe it'll be different in spring break.

 

[TwoMisfits]

I'd stay on the VA side, just so you'd have some evening options for dinner/etc (plus, I prefer VA over DC at night just for safety - Arlington and Fairfax Counties have some of the lowest crime rates anywhere). I'd also stay by the Metro (within walking distance or by free hotel shuttle).

As for activities, it depends what you like. There are many free sites, many free sites that require reservations, many pay sites, many pay sites that require reservations. Also, you will be in DC during the Cherry Blossom festival, so there are those activities, too.

If it were me, I would plan one day for a tour of the Capitol (https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/plan-visit/book-tour-capitol), including possibly seeing it in session, and a tour of the Supreme Court (https://www.supremecourt.gov/visiting/touringthebuilding.aspx). I'd plan one day for a tour of the Smithsonians - favorites are Natural History, American History, and Air and Space, but all of them are pretty awesome - you might want two days for this item if you love museums. Then, I'd plan a day enjoying the cherry blossoms and pay sites - maybe a day at the Newseum, the Spy Museum, a boat ride (or kayak) on the Potomac, Madame Tussaud's, etc. And I might spend a day in VA at either the Pentagon (again, they do tours - sign up ahead), Mount Vernon, Arlington National Cemetery, Air and Space in Dulles (which is better than the DC one if you have to pick), etc. Of course, there's still 100 of other free sites (Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Archives, the National Arboretum, the White House, etc), but that would already fill up the 4 days pretty fully...

I wouldn't pick more than 1-2 pay tourist things, b/c there are so many nice free options everywhere (but the pay options ARE worth it - you just don't have enough time to even see all the free stuff...and I would not continually criss-cross the city - do one area for a day and save the next area for the next...like the Capitol suggests if you have a day...

"Start with the Capitol tour, visit Exhibition Hall, watch Congress in session, and then take some time to explore the offerings of our Capitol Hill neighbors, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the U.S. Botanic Garden."

Last piece of advice - I wouldn't do all the same thing. So, I wouldn't spend 4 days in museums, or 4 days touring government offices, etc. I'd want to have a little of everything, indoors AND outdoors, since it should be really nice during late April.

 

[Araminta18]

I live and work in DC and echo a lot of the recommendations--the Smithsonians are fantastic, the capitol/Library of Congress/Supreme Court are all great as well. Too bad the Washington Monument is closed til 2019. You might be able to get a tour of the White House--contact your congressman.

DEFINITELY check out goldstar.com though for discounts to the museums/things that do charge. The Newseum is great, but super pricey. The Spy museum has cool stuff but is WAY overpriced (and isn't great as a museum--they just have cool stuff).

 

[mom2t]

We stayed in Alexandria over Easter break 6 years ago and rode the metro in each day. Rooms were much cheaper. Be prepared for hoards of middle schoolers on trips. It was very crowded and many were unsupervised and rude. I love kids and am a teacher. We vowed never to go then again. We did mostly the free things. We did pay for the tour at Arlington. My husband actually wanted to walk it. I told him he was crazy. We froze water bottles and took them with us each day. Food can be expensive from the street foid carts.

 

[Teddie]

Following

 

[guinea pig]

We came coNtacted our Senator 6 months prior to the trip and got a private tour of the Capitol . I am from Kentucky so it was through Mitch McConnells office... no political comments please ... but we got to see more things because he is the Senate Majority leader so did get to see more than the regular tour. Like the Majority Leaders office and Bob Dole balcony at the Capital . A private balcony overlooking the front of the capital . We loved our White House tour that was also booked through the Senators office . So I highly recommend contacting your Senator or Congressman to see if you can get any tours through them

 

[afan]

The guidebook I mentioned earlier is the unofficial guide to washington dc. I'm not normally a guidebook person, but this one is super helpful because it has everything in one place so it's easy to go through and read about all museums, paid and free. It talks about tours and other things. Then you can look online for more information. It's also helpful to pass around to others.

Your senators and congressperson will have information on their site about the tours they can do. I was just on mine last week to see what they can plan. I know April is super busy, so you may not be able to get a white house tour at this point. If you do, I would see what info they need from everyone and contact them right away. If you have interest in the new African American History Museum, tickets for April were already released so you'll have to see about getting those now if you want them. They are still free, but the museum is very busy since it's new so they have tickets. May doesn't open until Feb.

The library of congress tour is great, as is the capitol tour. The cafeteria's in the capitol and museums are ok. Theme park price food, but most everything you'll probably do is free so it evens out. It's hit or miss, some places have better things than others. There will probably be some hot dog carts and places to get water when you are walking around the mall but there's not a lot of places to eat within walking of the mall but the museums. Union Station has a decent food courts.

The tour at Arlington is on/off and worth it because it's too big to walk it all.

 

[mom2alix]

We just went over 4th of July last summer. We stayed at the Wyndham timeshare in Alexandria (rented from an owner we found on Redweek.com) It was a great deal for a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom unit with a full kitchen and living room. There was free laundry right down the hall from the room and covered parking. It was a great location right across the street from the Metro station and there were a ton of great restaurants we could walk to in the evening. There's also a free trolley that runs up and down King Street. One night we took the trolley down to the waterfront and then took a cruise up the river past all the monuments to Georgetown, had dinner, and then cruised back.

We applied for a White House tour, but were turned down. The White House visitor center was really neat, though. The Smithsonian museums are all free. We also found the CityPass on Groupon that saved us some money on attractions. My kids really loved the International Spy Museum. We did have cars, so we also ventured outside of the city to see Mt. Vernon and Monticello and I would really recommend both those tours.

We used the Metro quite a bit, but also found that Uber and Lyft were great for getting around. We met some really great local drivers and had a great time talking to them.

 

[clori]

when we went a few years ago we stayed at Embassy Suites in Alexandria which was right across the street from the King St Station. The free King St shuttle was also across the street and the hotel had a free on demand shuttle. The hotel had a nice free breakfast and every night they had free drinks and snacks. There was also a pool and hot tub. We got there on a Sunday and did Arlington National Cemetery including the hop on/off trolley ride inside the cemetery. We left Thursday mornin

We did many traditional touristy places such as Bureau of Engraving and Printing (two of us lined up early one morning for tickets), Ford's Theater with museum and play (cost money), National Archives (got timed tickets ahead of time), toured Congress and Library of Congress (got tickets from our Congressman). Some of us also did a ghost tour in Alexandria. Due to having a few kids with us we opted not to do the Holocaust Museum on that trip. Due to having elderly parents taking turns in a wheelchair as needed we skipped the National Zoo.

We also went to some of the Smithsonian Museums such as American History, Natural History, and Air and Space Museum. We also saw the Botanical Gardens and Post Office Museum. We also did an evening trolley tour of the monuments which was not hop on/hop off. We got off but had the same driver/trolley each time and the trolley&driver drove us back to the hotel at the end. I think it may be gone now but we went to the Bell Tower at the Old Post Office Pavilion.

I woud recommend going on your congress person's website to see what tickets they offer. Also look at the National Park Service Website which at least when we went offered some advanced tickets for a convenience cost of maybe $2-$3 each.

 

[Nana2Callie]

Following - we are also planning to visit in April. We are planning to stay in Arlington - previously stayed at the Marriott in Arlington with the subway downstairs - and that was really great!

 

[afan]

when we went a few years ago we stayed at Embassy Suites in Alexandria which was right across the street from the King St Station. The free King St shuttle was also across the street and the hotel had a free on demand shuttle. The hotel had a nice free breakfast and every night they had free drinks and snacks. There was also a pool and hot tub. We got there on a Sunday and did Arlington National Cemetery including the hop on/off trolley ride inside the cemetery. We left Thursday mornin

We did many traditional touristy places such as Bureau of Engraving and Printing (two of us lined up early one morning for tickets), Ford's Theater with museum and play (cost money), National Archives (got timed tickets ahead of time), toured Congress and Library of Congress (got tickets from our Congressman). Some of us also did a ghost tour in Alexandria. Due to having a few kids with us we opted not to do the Holocaust Museum on that trip. Due to having elderly parents taking turns in a wheelchair as needed we skipped the National Zoo.

We also went to some of the Smithsonian Museums such as American History, Natural History, and Air and Space Museum. We also saw the Botanical Gardens and Post Office Museum. We also did an evening trolley tour of the monuments which was not hop on/hop off. We got off but had the same driver/trolley each time and the trolley&driver drove us back to the hotel at the end. I think it may be gone now but we went to the Bell Tower at the Old Post Office Pavilion.

I woud recommend going on your congress person's website to see what tickets they offer. Also look at the National Park Service Website which at least when we went offered some advanced tickets for a convenience cost of maybe $2-$3 each.

How did you like the tour at the national archives? It was on my list for the last trip but we didn't get to it so it's on my list for this one.

 

[cedricandsophie]

The holocaust museum is incredible. As are walking the Vietnam war memorial, Second World War memorial, etc. and Lincoln memorial.

 

[clori]

I had 8 people on my trip. My elderly parents, my sister, my husband, dd7 and 11 (both close to turning 8 and 12) and dd's friend 12. All the adults and dd11 really enjoyed it. My dd7 liked it but did have a bit of trouble reading the cursive and wasn't that familiar with some of the papers. The 12 year old was bored out of her mind but she seemed to only like true hands on activities. We did the timed entry but a guided tour sounds nice. Basically if you enjoy history it can be fascinating. I think we were there 1.5 to 2 hours.

 

[dreiwhit]

I had a two week business trip in Fairfax, Virginia back in August 2005. My coworker and I played tourist in D.C. over the weekend! Everyone we worked with in Fairfax stressed to us not to drive in D.C., so we drove to the Vienna-Fairfax station and took the Metro.

If I was doing it all over again, I would book at room in Virginia close to where the Vienna-Fairfax Metro station is located. Then, you can take the Metro to wherever you want to go and then walk. But, be prepared to do some walking - Disney level walking.

There is one Metro station right on the Mall. From there, you can see all the Smithsonian Museums, the Capital, the Washington, Lincoln, Korean and Vietnam memorials. You are also a short walk from the Holocaust Museum. You can also take the Metro to Arlington National Cemetery. My coworker and I also took the Metro to Chinatown to see Ford's Theater, the Peterson House and eat a dinner in Chinatown! BTW, in Chinatown, the Surratt Boarding House where John Wilkes Booth and the consipirators stayed is now a Chinese restaurant, but there is a historical plaque up outside.

What I would do is to make a list of what you would like to see and do, and then use the Metro to get back and forth.

 

[perditax]

Don't forget the Holocaust museum.