I'm planning on spending a week visiting the Smithsonian, monuments, and a tour of the White House. Are there any other must see places and would a 6-7 day visit be enough for my family to take in all the sights. Kids are teen and tween with short attention spans like them all at that age.
Any guidance is appreciated. I haven't been to our Nations capitol since I got my drivers license way back in the early 80's.
The Metro is generally safe, but lately it can be a mess during the rush hours. If possible, try to avoid those periods - I don’t ride routinely anymore, but whenever they have real problems, it seems to happen then.
The Natural History Museum is great fun for kids of all ages.
First, the Smithsonian (always free entry)...the highlight of any tour...it's mind boggling! Pick your areas of interest and go there rather than walking aimlessly around. I headed directly for the WWI aviation displays as this is of interest to me. My son peeled off in another direction to see a special Star Wars exhibit.
Then we went to see the displays of original colonial relics and documents such as the Declaration....plus other historic documents and photographs throughout our country's history. Most educational, uplifting and inspiring!
I read somewhere it would take 7 whole days and evenings to take in the entire Smithsonian.
The next day was the National Gallery of Art (it's really an emotional experience to see originals by the world's greatest masters of art)....then to lunch at a great restaurant (can't remember the name) where senators and such eat....then to brief stops at the modern art museum, Arlington Cemetery (where we caught the changing of the guard), thence to The Wall, the WWII memorial (unique), then back to the hotel. Next morning we were on the way home, I to Florida, my son to Illinois.
Everyone should visit our nation's capitol at least once in a lifetime. It's an awesome experience. I can't recommend it enough!
Leni
If you only have a week, plan a 'day trip' for each of the following: Smithsonian Air and Science and whatever else Smithsonian you can squeeze in, The Capitol and it's environs, especially the Library of Congress. Library of Congress very impressive and worth an afternoon there. It was the surprise of the D.C. visit.
Ford's Theatre worth a stop. Take the tour boat up to Mt. Vernon, really worth it - an all day deal with nice gift shop. Arlington of course, and the changing of the guard. Take one of the Day Trip Bus trips - a guided tour and general survey of the town, you'll see all the basics.
One of my favorites was the National Archives Museum, actually saw the Constitution and Declaration of Independence under glass. Lots of stuff there and a great gift shop.
The Wall, Korean War and WWII Memorials.
Holocaust Museum - interesting but a downer, depends on the ages of your kids.
Felt very safe on the Metro, didn't have any hassles.
Get tickets ahead as much as possible, mainly Ford's Theatre - there was a big line and we walked right in. Also, the Mt. Vernon and the boat, forget the name. Most of the stuff doesn't need tickets, but check. Can order tickets online.
In general, once we figured the Metro out, you can go almost anywhere. Also, go to each areas visitors center or information center to narrow down what you want to see.
Glad you can see the White House. We couldn't go when we went in 2014.
The food was great and hospitality good. We didn't have any hassles and never felt threatened in any way.
There is much good guidance in the post I've read.
Let me add some useful information about the Metro System. It is a safe, comfortable, and reliable system albeit a wee bit crowed during rush hour.
However, the best guidance I can share about the Metro is that they don’t make change, they don’t allow food or drink of any kind, and there are no public restrooms, none, nada, zero.
Personally, my favorite places to go were the Supreme Court (short tour, but magnificent building) and the Library of Congress, which I stayed in all night looking stuff up.
If you can afford it, stay at a hotel with extended-stay suites within a block or so of pretty much any Metro station, though avoiding the south half of the Green Line due to “neighborhood” issues.
With a family, preparing many of your meals or even receiving takeout food in such a suite can ultimately save you money from having to eat all of your meals in restaurants.
Also, staying anywhere on any Metro line is going to save you a great deal of time to bus in and out from anywhere beyond the lines. And it pretty much doesn’t matter time-wise how far out on a line you stay because the trains are really fast for getting around.
Go on the night time tour....it is beautiful. Watch out, cabs are pricey.
Call your Congressman and request a tour. You’ll get to see the Capitol and watch from the Gallery if Congress is in session. Well worth it!
I got that night time tour from the motel I was staying at. The bus came and picked me up. I forget the price now. I think most hotels and motels have tours with the buses and they can pick you all up.
82 was able to stay at the Hilton with my dad. Took the subway. Coming out of the Hilton one night you could hear gunshots in the back ground.
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See the Smithsonian, Air and Space, National Gallery of Art, Capital, Arlington Cemetery, Lincoln, WW2 monument, Vietnam Memorial, Jefferson. Spend a day and go to Mount Vernon, you'll need a way to get there other than metro. Those are the highlights.
This is a great thread - we’re going back July 4th week. Can’t WAIT for the fireworks!
But - have a question to some of you who mention Library of Congress. We went last August and LoC we could not enter into the reading/books/documents area unless we had some type of certification - I forget Student? Researcher?
Anyone know about this limitation?
BTW - we LOVED Arlington Cemetery/Tomb of the Unknown - SO profound. We were there when Chilean Army Generals were visiting.
We sat in on both chambers of Congress. Amazing to watch Lying scums Boxer and Blumenthal arguing for Abortion when PP baby-parts debate was hot. Pure Evil spoken.
Ethiopean food in Adams Morgan.
While you are in the area of the National Mall where the Smithsonian museums are located, walk up Capitol Hill and tour the U.S. Capitol Building, then go across First Street and tour the Supreme Court Building and the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. All are magnificent sites to tour.
Great anti-snowflake material.
The Smithsonian is on the Mall: the Washington Monument and the reflecting pool are quite pretty; and if you time it right, you can catch the Cherry Blossoms in bloom.
If you are out walking and you get tired with all your kids and are not near the metro, just get a taxi.
The metro system itself is ok but a couple of things to be aware of. There is a big effort now at playing catch up for decades of reduced or ignored normal maintenence so what used to be fairly reliable schedules and durations are sometimes less than great and if you need to be somewhere at a specific time, allow for extra time should you be on a train that is single tracking or other things causing delays. The escalators - if you are walking as you ride no problem but if you like to stand then try to hug the right side to avoid getting ran over by the always in a rush types walking and one of the ways to really annoying people is stand next to someone in your group and block both sides. The front of the metro cars are usually less crowed than the middle and rear of the metro. Street signs, traffic lights, and speed limits are treated more as suggestions than laws so be extra careful when crossing especially cabs and metro buses which are dangerous on good days. Most of the tourist type areas are safe just keep an eye out and ignore the unsavory types and don’t engage in conversation with them as you have a mix of people just begging vs the ones who are legitimately mentally ill. It is not uncommon to see the second group sleeping in the middle of a sidewalk or screaming at a stop sign and everything in between.
There is an air and space museum in dc and another one near dulles airport where they have moved a lot of the larger planes to. First thing you see when entering the one by dulles airport is a beautiful SR-71 Blackbird. The museum itself is free but the private company that owns the parking lot will charge $20 to park (unless they raised the price since last I went a few years ago). If your hotel or other tourist service has a shuttle bus to go there, certainly a great place to visit and it is different that the air and space in dc which is also a place to easily spend hours in.
Robert E.Lee home, Arlington and the Change of the Honor Guard.
Smithsonian Art Gallery
Neither is right downtown, but a trip to one or both of the two great cathedrals is very interesting. National Cathedral (Episcopal) is up Wisconsin Avenue above Georgetown (not far from the DC Zoo). And the Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (Catholic) is over in the northeast, on Michigan Avenue. They are both extraordinary buildings architecturally, with beautiful devotional works of art throughout, including interior architecture, paintings, sculptures, mosaics, glass and metalwork and sarcophagi.
One of my favorite chapels within the National Cathedral has needlepoint kneeling pads that each feature a notable American, from Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison to various presidents and other notables. Another is the very moving chapel devoted to the crossing of slaves from Africa to the New World. The Basilica has lovely mosaics, stained glass and and entire chapels donated by groups from around the world. The Irish chapel is my favorite, with its malachite walls and gold leaf lettering. Both of these great houses of worship have lunchrooms, and Christian-themed bookstores and gift shops, also.
There are also beautiful Greek, Russian and Antiochian Orthodox cathedrals in the downtown area.
I have been traveling to DC regularly (not business) since 1993.
I have the good fortune of having a sister living in Old Alexandria, and I have never felt unsafe taking the bus transit system to the nearest DC metro station. It is efficient, clean and the people are all helpful and pleasant, and the trip is very short and quick.
I assume you are familiar with the metro system, also. That system seems overwhelming at first but it's simple once you experience it a few times.
During the day, I feel safe anywhere in DC and surrounding communities, although I've never traveled alone. The only time I ever felt nervous, was at night, visiting restaurants. Even La Teberna del Alabardero, Authentic Spanish, on I Street (in the heart of DC,) and 1789 (Restaurant) one block from Georgetown University I would not go to alone at night. Violent crime is rare, but no area is risk-free 100% of the time, as is true of any large city.
Being in a central hotel is somewhat handier if you need to see everything in one or two days; taxis are everywhere and reasonable.
For a longer more relaxed stay Alexandria is a charming place to stay and visit DC, the Pentagon, Arlington Cemetary, the Smithsonian, The National Gallery of Art, etc.
As to places not to visit, I would google that.
On my first trip in '93 the area north of the mall more than 4 blocks was mostly abandoned structures and burned out dwellings, but I can't remember the name of the neighborhood. I am sure there are a few other no-go areas, but I never went there.
Our last visit to the DC area was in Jan, 2016.
Hope this helps.