D.C. April 2021

[SwanVT2]

Would like to be able to afford a trip to D.C. next April to bring DD to historic sites and see the cherry blossoms. What is a good, clean and quiet hotel that is in walking distance (or quick metro ride) to the mall. Any recommendations? We also want to visit the zoo. Thanks!

 

[Ksquared]

We did this a few years ago; however, we stayed at the Wyndham at National Harbor. There are plenty of restaurants in National Harbor, outlet shopping etc. We had a full kitchen and there's a cute market so we made a few meals in our room. We drove in to DC and parked and then walked wherever we wanted each day

 

[lanejudy]

We have stayed in both Crystal City and Alexandria, with easy walking access to the Metro into the city.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[SwanVT2]

We have stayed in both Crystal City and Alexandria, with easy walking access to the Metro into the city.

Enjoy your vacation!

What hotels in those areas would you recommend?

 

[Donaldswife]

We stayed at this Marriott a few years ago:

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/wasgw-crystal-gateway-marriott/
It was great, the metro station was right below the hotel (you didn't even have to go outside) and the hotel and area was very nice. Free shuttle to and from DCA so we didn't even rent a car. It was a great home base for exploring DC.

 

[lanejudy]

I believe we stayed at Embassy Suites in Alexandria, though it may have been a Doubletree Suites. It was in "Old Town" Alexandria and easy walk to lots of places.
Crystal City was quite a while ago now so the hotels may have changed names. I want to say it was a Ramada but I'm not sure. It was 1 or maybe 2 blocks from the Metro station.

Expedia allows you to search based on a "landmark" and you can put in "Metro station" as the landmark.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[WVMomof3]

Would like to be able to afford a trip to D.C. next April to bring DD to historic sites and see the cherry blossoms. What is a good, clean and quiet hotel that is in walking distance (or quick metro ride) to the mall. Any recommendations? We also want to visit the zoo. Thanks!

Timing the Cherry blossoms is very tricky so don't be surprised if you don't actually see them. The date varies every year and depends on the weather. We went in March 2018 when they were initially predicting an early bloom, but about a week before our trip some cold spells came through and slowed them down and they didn't end up peaking until first week in April. Also hotels will be more expensive during that time. But Spring is a beautiful time to go and you will see something blooming if not the Cherry blossoms. We ended up seeing very few buds around the Tidal basin but the tulip magnolias by the Smithsonian Castle were in bloom and beautiful.

You can follow this site (https://cherryblossomwatch.com/) to get an idea of when they will peak. But if you need plane tickets and hotel, it will be hard to time it exactly.

 

[SwanVT2]

Timing the Cherry blossoms is very tricky so don't be surprised if you don't actually see them. The date varies every year and depends on the weather. We went in March 2018 when they were initially predicting an early bloom, but about a week before our trip some cold spells came through and slowed them down and they didn't end up peaking until first week in April. Also hotels will be more expensive during that time. But Spring is a beautiful time to go and you will see something blooming if not the Cherry blossoms. We ended up seeing very few buds around the Tidal basin but the tulip magnolias by the Smithsonian Castle were in bloom and beautiful.

You can follow this site (https://cherryblossomwatch.com/) to get an idea of when they will peak. But if you need plane tickets and hotel, it will be hard to time it exactly.

Thanks. The most important part of our trip will be sightseeing..if we see cherry blossoms.that will be a bonus!