anyone have travel experience in DC?

[Brumeiser]

We are planning this summer our first trip to DC. I noticed that the White house tours you must book or reserve or whatever you must do 6 months in advance. So how do you do this? Do you contact your Senator or what is the preffered way of doing this? Speaking of this how do you go see the Capitol Building? Thanks everyone?

 

[JessicaR]

White House Tours

Public tours of the White House are available. Requests must be submitted through one's Member of Congress and are accepted up to six months in advance. These self-guided tours are available from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Fridays, and 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturdays (excluding federal holidays). Tour hours will be extended when possible based on the official White House schedule. Tours are scheduled on a first come, first served basis. Requests can be submitted up to six months in advance and no less than 30 days in advance. You are encouraged to submit your request as early as possible since a limited number of tours are available. All White House tours are free of charge. For the most current tour information, please call the 24-hour line at 202-456-7041. Please note that White House tours may be subject to last minute cancellation.

Booking a tour of The Capitol

http://www.visitthecapitol.gov/Visit/Book a Tour/Page - Book a Tour.html

 

[Brumeiser]

for such a prompt great answer. This is a great help in pointing us in the right direction.

 

[JessicaR]

You're welcome! We had a great time in DC and the kids want to go back.

 

[Planogirl]

Be sure to see the Capitol. It's really impressive.

Back when we toured it there were no guides. You went through a metal detector and guards checked your bag and then you were on your own. I had a feeling that things had changed a bit.

DC is a great place! There's just so much to do there and in the surrounding areas. I loved Old Town Alexandria and Arlington Cemetery. And the Library of Congress and Smithsonian. And eating in Georgetown....

Now I want to go back too.

 

[golfgal]

The Capital is an impressive building, the actual tour itself leaves a lot to be desired . We did one arranged by a congressperson, it lasted about 20 minutes, not including the movie you watch at the start.

I highly recommend staying in Old Town Alexandria--the Embassy Suites across the street from the Kings Street Metro stop is a good choice. We really liked being able to walk around town in the evening.

Get the unlimited Metro pass-WELL WORTH every penny. Make sure you schedule a day to go to Mount Vernon-easy to get to on the metro and connecting bus.

I think the most impressive building in DC is the Library of Congress--DON'T miss that one. We only had about 15 minutes there and wish I had known to have more time in the schedule for a visit.

 

[LaraK]

Being born and raised in DC, I always wonder at people coming to see us. However, I can add a couple of suggestions on:

The National Cathedral. Even us locals go there.

The National Shrine....if you're Catholic, try to catch mass there.

The Zoo...out of town people love to see the pandas. If you come in the summer it's going to be hot as hades, so the animals will not be out mid-day. The trick to the zoo is that the grounds open about three hours before the buildings and the animals are usually outside in the mornings. We go before the zoo "opens" and see more then than after the hoards get there.

You'll hit the museums if you come, but don't forget the monuments. They're best seen at night.

The train station (Union Station) is actually pretty neat.

Have fun, wear light clothing and stick to the tourist areas.

 

[DVCMikey]

We have been there a few times. Something really is nice is the night time tours that the bus line out of the train station runs. They have a few different ones and stop at the major spots. Its really nice to see at night and its less crowded also.

I think it was like Blueline Bus

 

[lovemygoofy]

My #1 tip: bring sunscreen! It gets very sunny and humid here in the summer. When you are walking the National Mall, there is no place to purchase sunscreen.

If you do the holocaust museum or the top of the Washington Monument, you can purchase tickets online for like $1.50 each I think. You have to have tickets to go to the top of the Monument and to get into the Holocaust Museum.

Depending on how old your children are, they may enjoy watching Night at the Museum 2 Battle Smithsonian. You can then get find the items from the movie in the Smithsonians. Look at the Smithsonian website for this help.

The Dummies Guide for D.C. is really good as it breaks it down into several categories and the Unofficial Guide to D.C. is quite in depth and detailed and even breaks down the money and seasons.

Don't think you can drive everywhere because that isn't possible. Traffic here is challenging to say the least and parking at hotels can be expensive. If you drive to the hotel, ask ahead of time what the parking charge is.

 

[720L]

Driving in DC is VERY confusing.

 

[golfgal]

Driving in DC is VERY confusing.

I agree--fly into Regan National, you can catch the metro right there and never need a car.

 

[Wishing on a star]

We are also planning to see DC this summer!

Found a very cheap rate (as low as $129.00) for the Clarion - Arlington Court. This is at the CourtHouse METRO station. On the Orange Line.

This Clarion gets great reviews....
Full hot breakfast
Suites with kitchen facilities.

How is this area???

Would anybody be able to recommend this.
How easy would it be to drive here from parts South (Historic Williamsburg).

My husband, who is the driver on these trips, is pretty much refusing to drive into the DC area - and is insisting that we take a Day Tour from Williamsburg.

We could see so much more for less money by booking a couple of nights here. But, if it would be to demanding and stressful????

Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

[clovergirl5]

Driving in DC is VERY confusing.

We drove there and parked in a parking garage. Wasn't to expensive. Dh didn't want to mess with the public transport and the cost for the 6 of us. We did ALOT of walking but it didn't kill us lol. Kids did great with the walking (age 5, 7, 8 and 1 year old in a stroller). We took along our GPS and saved our parking location (its easy after a day of walking to forget where you parked and the streets all tend to look alike) and also used the gps to navagate where we wanted to walk to.

One of our most fav. family vacations! Have fun and don't forget there are many things to do in nearby Virginia and Pennsylvania. Not to much of a long drive. I recommend Mount Vernon and Arlington Cemetary. Make sure you see Iwa Jima, my most fav. Its breathtaking at the enormousity (is that a word lol )

 

[clovergirl5]

We are also planning to see DC this summer!

Found a very cheap rate (as low as $129.00) for the Clarion - Arlington Court. This is at the CourtHouse METRO station. On the Orange Line.

This Clarion gets great reviews....
Full hot breakfast
Suites with kitchen facilities.

How is this area???

Would anybody be able to recommend this.
How easy would it be to drive here from parts South (Historic Williamsburg).

My husband, who is the driver on these trips, is pretty much refusing to drive into the DC area - and is insisting that we take a Day Tour from Williamsburg.

We could see so much more for less money by booking a couple of nights here. But, if it would be to demanding and stressful????

Any thoughts are appreciated!

We did something similar. We stayed in Virginia at the Manassas Battlefield Marriot Residence Inn. Same thing-- full kitchen, free buffet breakfast and lite dinner, 2 br suite. 1/2 hr. from D.C. and so much cheaper. I think we paid $109/night.
We drove to D.C. early in the morning, right after we visited dd11 at her hotel (she was there with People to People program at a different hotel).
Getting to D.C. early in the morning (7am) worked out best for us. We parked in a parking garage and paid the daily fee and off we walked with our GPS. Had a great time! One day we were out and about walking for 10 hrs.

Just a fyi--traffic in and out of D.C. is horrendous in the afternoon due to people getting out of work. It took us close to 2 hrs. to get out of D.C. and back to our Virginia hotel. It should have taken 1/2 hr. Just a heads up.

 

[wdwmom2]

If you plan on going to Mount Vernon, which I recommend, it takes the better part of the day.

There are many nice places to eat in Old Town Alexandria. A lot of them located on King St.

Just found out today that "our" baby Panda, Tai Shan, will be leaving to go to China. It is an agreement between the US and China. He will be part of their breeding program. And I never realized, but the other two pandas also belong to China. Mei Xiang and Tian Tian also belong to China and are on a ten-year loan as part of a research, conservation and breeding program. This agreement expires in December 2010. National Zoo and Chinese officials will not begin negotiations about their future until spring 2010.

 

[Turtle]

I might be going in March. I'm subscribing to this thread, there's some good info...

 

[clovergirl5]

http://crapo.senate.gov/services/TouristPlanning.cfm

Here is a tourist link I found for info on stuff to do in D.C. Ignore the gov. stuff.

I also sent away for a free map of the D.C. area and they sent me a restaurant, hotel and other site seeing info brochure too. I can't remember the site that I got that from, but a simple google search should find it for you. Recommend researching as much as you can before you go. There is so much to do and see, having a plan works best. We didn't see everything in a week. We definitely want to go back!
HAVE FUN!

 

[Planogirl]

It's great to find a hotel on the Metro line. Metro is wonderful and we always felt comfortable and secure using it.

I wanted to add to consider seeing the monuments at night too. I was amazed at how beautiful they are when it's dark. We also saw the Library of Congress in the evening and we were just about the only people there. This was in November though.

 

[rie'smom]

We've been 3 times and have stayed at the Marriott Crystal City. It looks dated but the rooms are very nice. From the basement level, it's a little walk to the Metro station - not far.

To see:

Smithsonian Museums

Spy Museum

Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot.

William Petersen House where Lincoln died.

Capital

Mt Vernon

Arlington Cemetery

Monuments/Memorials= Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, etc.

These are the highlights for our family.

 

[mikehn]

We are also planning to see DC this summer!

Found a very cheap rate (as low as $129.00) for the Clarion - Arlington Court. This is at the CourtHouse METRO station. On the Orange Line.

This Clarion gets great reviews....
Full hot breakfast
Suites with kitchen facilities.

How is this area???

Would anybody be able to recommend this.
How easy would it be to drive here from parts South (Historic Williamsburg).

My husband, who is the driver on these trips, is pretty much refusing to drive into the DC area - and is insisting that we take a Day Tour from Williamsburg.

We could see so much more for less money by booking a couple of nights here. But, if it would be to demanding and stressful????

Any thoughts are appreciated!

Just about anywhere in Arlington is good. The courthouse metro area is nice and trendy, with plenty of dining and nightlife, if you are into that.