I'm in charge of our 8th grade DC trip at my kids school. We use School Tours of America so I cant comment on the tour group. Our trip is 4 nights and 5 FULL days! Our trip is $1795 and includes air, hotel, food, transportation and all entry fees. The only thing the kids should have to pay for is the sweatshirt or hat at the tacky tourist stop!
I dont profit from the trip or benefit in any way. I can honestly say it is the most amazing trip! When I started doing the trip 6 years ago the price was $1495. Three hundred dollars in 6 years is a huge jump!
What entry fees? The Smithsonian museums, National Archives, Arlington are all free.
That price does include airfare from DFW. Just for comparison, I recently paid $220 to fly into Washington Reagan when my husband went to DC on a business trip and I met him there.
I'm going to the parent meeting next week to find out more. I know from personal experience that these are jam-packed days but the sample itinerary cracks me up. For example on day two they have the kids going to Alexandria after breakfast, then Mount Vernon and lunch, then the Smithsonian, dinner and the monuments at night. The itinerary makes it sound like the Smithsonian is one building that can be toured in an afternoon!
I can understand the timeframe of the Alexandria/Mount Vernon sidetrip but going to Alexandria after breakfast and doing *what*?...
I mean, Alexandria has more authentic Colonial buildings than Colonial Williamsburg and Gadsby's Tavern and Christ Church (Washington and Lee were congregants) are historical and interesting and there are a lot of shops that people like but how much time will they have with all they're squeezing in?
Now Mount Vernon is fabulous and worth it, lots of space for everyone to find things they're interested in, gardens and animals plus the house has most of the original furnishings and was never given over to wholesale modern 'improvements'. There's a lot of places to get things to eat there since they built the museum/foodcourt area behind The Mount Vernon Inn. One thing that catches a lot of folks unawares is that Mount Vernon can close before dusk or early, like at 4pm during the winter. People show up at 3:30 expecting to have a couple of hours to tour and that ain't gonna happen if you show up mid-afternoon. But this Day Two itinerary sounds like the group will be flying through all the attractions on it...how much time do they have for each stop? And Mount Vernon isn't right next door to 'the Smithsonian' anyway, it probably will take at least 30 minutes or more depending on traffic to get back to DC. Though something I wasn't aware of is that most of the Smithsonian is open until 5:30 with the National Portrait Gellery being open until 7pm, so if the group is hitting the Portrait Gallery it's doable.
My DD13 8th grader, has a field trip to D.C. for this year. However, we live about 3 and half hours away and it won't be an over night stay. It will be 40.00.
My thing is that: the kids will go to school regular time to get on the charter buses. So they won't get into D.C. until almost noon then they want to do: Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials-Washington Monument if it's open. Some part of the Smithsonian, National Mint, National Archives and maybe Ford's theater. then leave D.C. around 6pm or so. So everything will be rushed.
Then here is when they want to do: In between Thanksgiving and Christmas, yea winter. If it snows here or there it's a no go, if they have to change, they want to try for January if that isn't possible go in June. Um, I'll take warm weather any time.
You need timed tickets for the Washington Monument but you're right...I think it will be closed for at least a year while they get the earthquake damage fixed.
.We are in SoCal and my nephew's school is planning a trip for 6 days that will cost $1595. That includes air fare, hotels, all meals, transfers, admissions, etc. They will visit D.C., Williamsburg, Jamestown, Mt. Vernon, Monticello, Gettysburg and the Liberty Bell. Actually it's not a school-sponsored trip, but a private one. It's organized by a group of teachers who have spring break all at the same time. We're just trying to convince my nephew it would be a great trip.
They're going to be on that bus for almost the entire time. Take a look at the map and Google Map how long it's supposed to take (with no traffic - hahahahahaha - between Williamsburg/Jamestown and Charlottesville and DC *and* Philadelphia!) On a good day it takes at least 3 hours between DC and Phily, on a bad day it can take forever, plus traffic between Williamsburg/Richmond/DC can be truly horrendous. I'm talking bumper-to-bumper for ages, a trip that should take 1.5 hours (DC/Richmond) can easily take 3 or 4 if you hit that stretch of I95 at the wrong time (which is almost any time outbound from DC during 3-6pm, inbound 6:30-9am). AND the weekends can be their own special level of traffic hell as well, not just all aspects of 95 between Philly/Baltimore/DC/Richmond but on I64 getting to-from Williamsburg/Jamestown/Virginia Beach.
agnes!