Going to Washington DC.....HELP!!!

[irishsharon]

Great hotel- residence inn arlington ballston area. Close enough to the metro and lots of shops and restaurants in the area.
I would say yes use the metro. We did not drive into the city because family and friends in d.c. said traffic can be awful.

Is it easy to figure out the metro? Worried about getting lost

 

[G719]

Is it easy to figure out the metro? Worried about getting lost

Yes the metro is easy! I am a chronic worrier and I was so anxious about the metro but it was easy. We had a 6 year old and 9 year old with us too. Here is there website to help you out. http://www.wmata.com. We used the smartrip cards but there are other options. You can order the cards before your trip if you want. It takes a couple weeks to get them. There's an app for iPhone for the metro too and can send you alerts about delays and other things.
The hotel we stayed at was a few blocks walk to the ballston station which is on the orange line. Most of the major tourist attractions are near the orange line. My kids recommend the froyo place that is on a the walk from the residence inn to the metro. Lol

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

We just returned from my sons 5th grade class trip there, last weekend. I had never been to DC (nor my son) and I've travelled the world so I was really excited. We had an awesome time and the cherry blossoms were perfect. We took the busses since we were in big groups and I think we stayed in Triangle, VA which is outside of DC but it didn't take too long to get there. Not that I would recommend it, but we didn't stay within the city so can't offer suggestions there.

We visited the Air and Space Museum (kids seem to love that the most), Newseum, the National History Museum, the American History Museum, all the memorials, Arlington Cemetery, the White House, Mt. Vernon, and I'm sure others I can't think of right now. My DH and I agree that we really were impressed with Mt. Vernon and it was cool to know Washington is buried there and the grounds were beautiful. We have several places like that here in NC (like Old Salem) but it just felt like a step back in time and again, it was more that we were expecting so that impressed us. My son said he also really liked the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial and although he wasn't born yet, he understands it and was moved by it. In case you didn't know (I didn't until I got there) the sculptures pointing toward the Pentagon are the people that perished from the Pentagon and the others pointing away are the ones that perished on the plane - it's very well done and somber but beautiful.

I was overcome with how beautiful DC was and I wasn't expecting it. It felt like a very green city, lots of flowers, grass, etc and of course it didn't "hurt" that we were there at the peak of cherry blossoms and all the bright spring flowers. Traffic was insane and lots of construction and I think they were getting ready for an Earth Day concert so that didn't help.

Something fun my sons class did (so a suggestion perhaps) they were given a list of 17 times and if they took a picture of themselves in front of 10 of the times and then wrote about it and put together in a scrapbook they'll get bonus points. The list had things like Freedom, American Flag, Hope Diamond, Washington's Tomb, etc. It kept it fun and exciting and the kids loved looking for all these places and items.

Have a great time,
Heather

 

[powelweb]

We went to DC on Columbus weekend last year, and one of our favorite things was the monuments by moonlight tours which was run by one of the hop on, hop off tour bus companies- just Awesome to see all the sites at night lit up, and we went over to the entrance to Arlington and they pointed out this little wisp of a flicker of light that you could see which was the eternal flame of President Kennedy's grave- having been through Arlington the day before, I was amazed to know that you can spot that light all the way through the cemetery.

We also stopped at the FDR and MLK memorials, along with Lincoln and the Iwo Jima memorials among several other stops- just a great different way to see the sights.

 

[Astridia]

I thought the Supreme Court tour was fantastic. The docent was very informative. When we were there, we stayed in Crystal City and rode the subway into the city. The only reason I would suggest this is parking is horrendous. Another great tour was Washington by night. It was a bus tour of the nationla monuments with stops at some so you could get off and explore. It was a great tour.

 

[KristinU]

We've been going every year for the last few years for a half marathon and make a family minication out of it as well. My DS is 11. We all love DC!

I echo the fact that the Metro is very easy! I also echo the advance tickets for the Archives. Another vote for splurging on the Spy museum. Do some googling around for discounts, I was able to pre-purchase them via Groupon or Living Social or something. This last trip we went to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, that was fun! You have to go early and get tickets for a return time, but it was definitely worth it. (to add to that, rent the movie Who's Minding the Mint from the 60's - it is a very goofy Disney-esque movie about a heist) DS's favorite Smithsonian is Natural History, with a close second being Air and Space.

This past time we stayed at Cambria Suites near the convention center and it was our favorite so far. The suite room was awesome for the bit of extra space and it was right across the street from a Giant supermarket. We're kind of high maintenance eaters (DH is sodium restricted and we try to eat clean as much as possible), so having the store there and not having to rely solely on restaurants was awesome. Fridge in the rooms, but microwave in the lobby. Kind of a bummer to not have a micro in the room, but it worked out fine. The location was just a few blocks from the Convention center Metro station.

Plan to walk a lot. More than Disney since you're on your feet at the museums and never really sitting like on the attractions

 

[smadath]

Advice: if you're eating on the National Mall, beware the Seagulls. They have no qualms landing on your head or shoulder and taking whatever you're eating out of your hands. Whether offered, or not.

Not that I would know...

Not cool, birdies! Not cool.

 

[Colleen27]

We went over Christmas break in '13 and had a great time. We stayed at the Embassy Suites downtown/convention center and loved it - gorgeous room, great rate, hot breakfast buffet, and a manager's reception with beer/wine to unwind in the evening. The location was awesome too, walking distance to most everything we wanted to do and to the Metro.

We really didn't plan a lot. We just wandered but we could get away with that because that time of year isn't really a tourist season and we weren't worried about the White House/Capitol tours. And the Washington Monument was still closed for the earthquake repairs so we didn't get to go up. We did the Smithsonians, the zoo, the Newseum, and rented a car one day to go out to Udvar Hazy (TOTALLY worth it!).

As far as where to eat, there are great restaurants all over the place. I have a thing about Korean food when we travel, so we hit Mandu for some excellent Korean (no kids menu, so if your kids aren't open minded this might not be a good fit). I got some other recommendations here but what we ended up doing was basically hopping on Urban Spoon or Yelp from my phone and looking at what was in the neighborhood we happened to be in when we got hungry. The cafe at the Native American museum, which came highly recommended everywhere I asked for advice, was well worth a stop but I think that was the only recommendation that we made time for.

 

[sunshinecruise]

We've been going every year for the last few years for a half marathon and make a family minication out of it as well. My DS is 11. We all love DC!

Hi KristinU, I just wondered which half marathon you run in DC? I am thinking of running the Navy-Air Force half marathon in 2016.

 

[KristinU]

Hi KristinU, I just wondered which half marathon you run in DC? I am thinking of running the Navy-Air Force half marathon in 2016.

We've been doing the Rock n Roll one in March (they also offer a full), it usually falls right around St. Patrick's day. It has improved each year, and they've got a really nice route now! The first year they ran it was 2012, I think, and we lucked out with hitting the cherry blossoms! But since then they've been a little later so we're there just before they bloom, but there are a few by the Air and Space museum that seem to start a little early for us

 

[scrdofbugs]

We are going in about 6 weeks. Check out Holiday Inn Capital Hill. It is close to the National Mall and the Metro.

 

[irishsharon]

You guys are really the best!!! I knew I could count on some great tips. Thanks for taking the time to help me plan a wonderful trip for my family

 

[Swimalie]

If you do decide to drive in to the city one, or more, of the days, you can park at the Reagan building for $15. On the weekends there are plenty of spots available. Weekdays it is self-valet style (you give them your key if you are in the 2nd spot). The advantage to this is you go upstairs to the building and there are restrooms and a food court.

Udvar-Hazy museum near Dulles is worth the drive. The space shuttle Discovery is in there now and they have rare planes plus a restoration viewing area.

 

[KristinU]

Has anyone ever gone to Udvar-Hazy without a car? We'd like to go one of these years, but we usually don't have a car when we visit DC.

 

[loop]

Has anyone ever gone to Udvar-Hazy without a car? We'd like to go one of these years, but we usually don't have a car when we visit DC.

It's technically possible (see their website here, scroll down to the public transportation section), but I would not recommend it. No matter where you start, you'll have to take a bus, and DC area buses are not very reliable (not on schedule, can be confusing if you're not familiar with the bus lines, most do not have dedicated bus lanes so they get stuck in traffic with everyone else, etc.) and it'll take a lot of time. It is a cool museum, but if you don't have a car it's not worth it unless you're really interested in planes/space shuttles/etc. (there are basically no museum exhibits, just a lot of vehicles).

Is it easy to figure out the metro? Worried about getting lost

Yes, the metro is very easy, especially for tourists. By "metro" I only mean the trains--the buses are not easy or reliable and I would not recommend them, but most of the attractions are near train stations so you shouldn't need the bus. One thing you should understand is that the fares are based on how far you go (further = more money) and what time you go (during rush hour = more money). If you know you are going to be taking a lot of trips (especially if you stay outside the city), the easiest thing would be to buy a 7-Day Fast Pass for each person (you cannot share metro cards; kids cost the same as adults). Beware the 7-Day Short Trip pass--the restrictions during rush hour mean you could get stranded trying to get back to your hotel and it looks like you are required to put value on each card in addition to the pass which is a pain. If you don't think you will use the metro enough for the Fast Pass, order Smarttrip cards for each person with at least $20, and keep track of how much value is left each time you leave the metro station. Adding extra value can be easily done at every metro station at the blue automatic kiosks (follow the instructions), but it can take a long time and they tend to have long lines during rush hour, so do this during the day.

As for good hotel locations, I did a quick search online and there are hotels downtown within your budget. I would recommend staying downtown if you can, because you'll waste a lot less time getting in and out of the city. DC is divided into four quadrants (NW, SW, SE, and NE) with the U.S. Capitol in the middle. Most tourist attractions are in the lower NW quadrant and on the blue/orange/silver metro lines, so that's the area you want to target. The best addresses are:

-the area just north of the national mall--this is the most convenient to most of the major attractions (NW addresses between 15th St NW (the White House) and North Capitol Street (Union Station) and below H St. NW. If you stay in this area, you will rarely need to take the metro, but if you do you are near the red line, which is the line that goes to the National Zoo. To get to the blue/orange/silver lines, you'll need to either walk a few blocks extra (this is the easier option) or transfer trains (this is a little harder, and you should absolutely not try to do this during rush hour because the transfer station, Metro Center, is VERY busy).
-the area between Foggy Bottom metro, Dupont Circle, and the White House--a little further away, but still easily metro accessible to all major attractions and with lots of food and shopping (NW addresses between 25th St. NW (the east edge of Georgetown, which is a nice neighborhood for eating and shopping but is not at all metro accessible) and 17th St. NW (the White House), and below N St. NW. (the south end of the Dupont Circle neighborhood). Going northwest of here means you'll be on the red line, which means you'll have to transfer trains which is an unnecessary pain.
-the area just south of the national mall (SW addresses north of I-395). Most of the hotels in this area are near the L'enfent Plaza metro stop and they tend to be a bit pricey.

If you want to stay outside of DC, the best places to stay are in Arlington County on the blue or orange line. The stations you're looking for (for safety of neighborhoods and proximity to the city) are:

-on the orange line, Rosslyn, Court House, Clarendon, Virginia Square, or Ballston (you can also take the silver line to these stations). Of these, I'd recommend Ballston the highest (tons of restaurants, very family friendly neighborhood), but Courthouse would be my second choice (it's called court house because that's where a lot of the government buildings are, so a lot of places are closed at night and it can be a bit eerie). Rosslyn is not a good choice right now because they are doing construction at the metro stop so it is harder to navigate and can be loud if you try to sleep in (also, even without the construction, there are so many major roads that intersect around Rosslyn that there are a lot of pedestrian/cyclist accidents, so I would not recommend it to families with kids for safety reasons anyway).
-on the blue line, Pentagon City or Crystal City (the trains are less frequent on the blue line these days, but you would be on the same line as Arlington Cemetery).

All of these places will have Arlington, VA, addresses, so look at a map to see how far they are from the metro (you want less than a half mile) or look at the hotel's website because they'll usually say how far they are from what stop(s).

 

[KristinU]

It's technically possible (see their website here, scroll down to the public transportation section), but I would not recommend it. No matter where you start, you'll have to take a bus, and DC area buses are not very reliable (not on schedule, can be confusing if you're not familiar with the bus lines, most do not have dedicated bus lanes so they get stuck in traffic with everyone else, etc.) and it'll take a lot of time. It is a cool museum, but if you don't have a car it's not worth it unless you're really interested in planes/space shuttles/etc. (there are basically no museum exhibits, just a lot of vehicles).

Thanks for the info! I take a local (ie. non-commuter/express) bus to and from work every day, so I get your drift. My DH is an aero engineer, so we do HAVE to do it at some point, but maybe we'll rent a car or take a cab or Uber or something.

 

[novatwinmom]

There's a new(er) bus that runs from the end of the Silver Line (Wiehle/Reston East) to Udvar Hazy Center that started running when the silver line started running. I'd encourage you to try that before Uber. It's a Fairfax County Connector bus number 983 and would cut out a number of the traffic concerns she lists because it starts in Reston. It will take the Smartrip card the Metro takes, and you won't have to pay the $15 (I think) a car parking fee at the museum. Someone at the Wiehle metro stop can tell you where to find the bus. The museum is definitely worth it.

 

[KristinU]

There's a new(er) bus that runs from the end of the Silver Line (Wiehle/Reston East) to Udvar Hazy Center that started running when the silver line started running. I'd encourage you to try that before Uber. It's a Fairfax County Connector bus number 983 and would cut out a number of the traffic concerns she lists because it starts in Reston. It will take the Smartrip card the Metro takes, and you won't have to pay the $15 (I think) a car parking fee at the museum. Someone at the Wiehle metro stop can tell you where to find the bus. The museum is definitely worth it.

Awesome, thanks so much!

 

[SafferMom]

We stayed in Washington DC for 3 nights/2 full days (waaay to short) in January 2015 as part of our 6 week tour of the USA (we are from South Africa). We loved Washington, we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Georgetown a new hotel that was pretty good value but was placed a bit far from the metro stop but we were happy to walk! Our favourites were the Zoo (pandas!!), the tour of The Capitol, Library of congress, walking the National Mall and all the monuments. The highlight was the National Air and Space musuem. We didnt have a car and we managed very well with the metro and some buses. All in all it was one of the highlights of our whole trip (other than WDW of course!)

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

Should we plan on using the metro? We will have a car.

Yes use metro if you are not within walking distance from your hotel. When we do drive to DC we do so on Sunday's as it's not so busy. On other days we park in the Ronald Reagan bldg near the White House. But when we go we only hit one or two things for a few hours. If you stay all day it would be easier to metro around and not have to worry about getting back to your car.