Favorite DC Museums

[Tink-n-MrIncredible]

Other than the spy museum, what are some other must see things in DC? My DD is 11 and is not too excited about going to DC she wants to go back to Disney.

 

[Swimalie]

How far out of DC will you go? Will you have a car?

 

[ntink]

Some of my girls favorites are:
Smithsonian (Air & Space, American History, Natural History, American Indian)
Washington Monument
Trolley Tour (Old Town Trolley)
Clock Tower in the Old Post Office Pavillion
Lincoln Memorial
Bureau of Printing & Engraving (stacks of $$ are incredible to see)
National Zoo

 

[ceecee]

DD loved the Zoo as well as the Spy museum.

 

[Tink-n-MrIncredible]

How far out of DC will you go? Will you have a car?

Yes, we will have a car. We will travel if it is worth it.

 

[niklynn1]

I am a teacher and take a group of 7th graders to D.C. every spring break. A couple of their favorite things are Mount Vernon (easy, short drive if you have a car) and the "ghost tour" in Old Town Alexandria. It's called Footsteps to the Past and they do an history/ghost tour dressed in period clothing. The 7th graders LOVE it. It's educational and fun.

Fords Theater is very interesting too. If your kids enjoyed the National Treasure movies they will likey find it neat to go to Mt. Vernon, Ford's Theater, the National Archives, and the Library of Congress--all featured in the movies.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

We went to DC last summer when my DD was 11. We did three of the Smithsonian museums - American History, Natural History, and Air & Space. Her favorite was Natural History (what girl wouldn't love looking at all of those jewels?!) Her least fav was Air & Space. We also toured the Bureau of Engraving & Printing. It was a short, but very interesting tour. You can request a tour through your congressman's office. That's what we did, so we didn't have to wait in line to get tickets upon arrival.

One of our very favorite things was Mount Vernon. We got tickets in advance, arrived at opening, and were the first ones in the mansion that day. We spent the entire day at Mt. Vernon. The educational center and museum are phenomenal!! It was very interactive and fun. My kids loved it!

In addition to museums, we also did the free DC-by-Foot monument tour. The guide told several fun stories to keep kids engaged. We got tickets in advance for the Washington Monument, so again we didn't have to go wait in line to get those upon arrival. We walked around the tidal basin from the Jefferson Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial at night on our own. It was a LONG walk. The kids didn't complain, but I insisted on a taxi ride back to the hotel after that!

We didn't get to tour the White House, but we did go to the White House visitor's center. It has a lot of reading information about the history of the WH, but they sell beautiful Christmas ornaments there. My kids get an ornament each year from our travels for that year. My DD picked the dated one of the WH.

Hope you have a wonderful time in DC. My family loved it. We hope to go back, as we didn't have time to do all of the Smithsonians or go to the Spy Museum or Newseum.

 

[Tink-n-MrIncredible]

We went to DC last summer when my DD was 11. We did three of the Smithsonian museums - American History, Natural History, and Air & Space. Her favorite was Natural History (what girl wouldn't love looking at all of those jewels?!) Her least fav was Air & Space. We also toured the Bureau of Engraving & Printing. It was a short, but very interesting tour. You can request a tour through your congressman's office. That's what we did, so we didn't have to wait in line to get tickets upon arrival.

One of our very favorite things was Mount Vernon. We got tickets in advance, arrived at opening, and were the first ones in the mansion that day. We spent the entire day at Mt. Vernon. The educational center and museum are phenomenal!! It was very interactive and fun. My kids loved it!

In addition to museums, we also did the free DC-by-Foot monument tour. The guide told several fun stories to keep kids engaged. We got tickets in advance for the Washington Monument, so again we didn't have to go wait in line to get those upon arrival. We walked around the tidal basin from the Jefferson Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial at night on our own. It was a LONG walk. The kids didn't complain, but I insisted on a taxi ride back to the hotel after that!

We didn't get to tour the White House, but we did go to the White House visitor's center. It has a lot of reading information about the history of the WH, but they sell beautiful Christmas ornaments there. My kids get an ornament each year from our travels for that year. My DD picked the dated one of the WH.

Hope you have a wonderful time in DC. My family loved it. We hope to go back, as we didn't have time to do all of the Smithsonians or go to the Spy Museum or Newseum.

What is the free DC by foot tour ? Where did you get the infromation from for this tour?

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

What is the free DC by foot tour ? Where did you get the infromation from for this tour?

I found out about it on tripadvisor. At the time, it was the #1 rated thing to do in DC. I think it's still in the top 10. If you go to tripadvisor and click on DC-by-Foot link, it'll take you to their website. There you will get info on where and what time the tours begin. You don't have to sign up in advance; you just show up. They may have 5 people or they may have 40. I think we had about 20 people in our group. They work strictly for tips, and the amount is not suggested. I think we tipped $10 pp for a 1-1/2 hour tour.

 

[gk90]

A couple of places that I wouldn't have thought of going to but which turned out to be really impressive were the Vietnam Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
Also you could request your Congressperson's staff to give you a tour of the Capitol--my kids thought that was cool, being in the "corridors of power" and sitting in our Congresswoman's office. If you want to do a White House tour it needs to be requested through your Congressperson's staff.

How long do you have? We love DC and stop by whenever it's on our way on a road trip but could easily spend a week there.

 

[eliza61]

My sons loved the crime and punishment museum.

 

[alisonwonderland64]

I grew up going to DC on a fairly regular basis and my favorite museum there, both now and when I was your DD's age, has always been the Museum of American History (it doesn't hurt that they have Disney stuff ). Some of my other favorite things over the years include the Library of Congress, the Old Post Office Pavilion (I love going to the top of the tower there, plus it's a nice place to take a break and have lunch), the Spy Museum (as you mentioned), and Ford's Theater (Kennedy Center is also a must-do for me just about every trip, but it's not really worth it unless you're seeing a show there). I remember also really liking the National Postal Museum, which is a much smaller Smithsonian Museum, when I was younger too, although I haven't been there in a while so I'm not sure what it's like now. I also recently went to the Newseum for the first time on my most recent trip to DC and really enjoyed that--having never gone when I was younger, I'm not sure how it'd be for kids, but I think most of it (there's one exhibit about 9/11 that I would avoid) would be really good for families. Plus there are all the monuments, the Archives, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and everything else that should definitely be done at least once. Enjoy your trip!

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

My kids loved the zoo, the American History museum and the White House tour. DH and I loved the Air & Space Museum but the kids weren't too into that one.

We did watch the Night at the Museum - Smithsonian before we went which made it more interesting for the kids to pick out things that were in the movie.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Trust me on this one, The crime and punishment muesum rocks. Is your DD a fan of CSI? For an extra $5 you can get a crime book and solve the crime while touring the muesum. Its very (VERY) hands on. Oh and get fingerprinted at the prints machine, they give you a cute little card with your print on it.

 

[CarolAnnB]

We did the Monuments by Moonlight trolley tour and that was awesome. We also contacted our congressman for a tour of the Capitol, one of his interns took us all around, through the underground tunnels, etc, it was really great. Arlington Cemetery and the Washington Monument were faves as well.

 

[Cindy B]

We used to go to DC every year. (It helps that we are pretty local.)

On our last trip, we decided to take the kids to the Holocaust Musuem. One of my kids said it was the most meaninful things he had ever seen -when a middle school aged boy says this-- its time to take notice!. We spent about four hours in there - looked at everything-- spent time in the mediatation area and even cried a bit as a family. It was so worth going. My kids still talk about the musuem when a Holocaust item comes on TV.

The National Gallery of Art =small unmarked building directly across the street from a Smithsonian-- Air and Space?-is a great place. It is also free-- and has a great older and modern section. It wasn't crowded either.

The Hirshorn Gallery of Modern art is fun as well. There my kids got to see some famous Warhols up and personal.

We do like the zoo as well. One time we also took a tour of the National Cathedral.. very interesting. (not that far from the zoo)

 

[Swimalie]

I'd recommend the Holocaust Museum for your child's age. I've heard great things about it (I have a 5 year old so we haven't gone yet). Bureau of Printing is neat, too. If you want to drive, Luray Caverns are incredible http://www.luraycaverns.com/. Mt. Vernon is great and you can take a cruise from Alexandria down there http://www.potomacriverboatco.com/

Also, there is an Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport. It has a space shuttle inside as well as some very unique planes (Concorde, Enola Gay, F-35). It's call the Udvar Hazy Air and Space Museum and you can access it via I-66. It has a $12 parking fee but it's free to enter. We love going there.

 

[kato0627]

Great ideas! Thinking of going this summer with the kids.