Tour advice for Washington DC

[Krisu]

Going in April, staying at Cherry Hill Park campground for 4 1/2 days. I'd like some suggestions or a game plan so we don't wander aimlessly. We won't have a car, will use shuttle from campground or city buses that stop there. Will have DS and nephew (both 14). Thanks

 

[JohnTBap]

TOURMOBILE!!!!

 

[clutter]

I second that. Metro's great, but the tourmobile busses get you around the sights much better. You'll want to do that one day.

Don't forget the Holocaust museum. There's a new spy musuem that just opened, too. The zoo is on metro, gotta see the pandas and the baby elephant!

 

[smilingmouse]

Try the Smithsonians too. If you want to see the Holocaust museum, you may want to get advance tickets for a small fee (they are free if you want to wait in line). Georgetown's fun too....although, I am a bit biased since I live/go to school there. If you have any other questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them for you.

SmilingMouse

 

[Cindy B]

Personally I love the Metro. I go down to DC a few times a year for conferences, and LOVE THE METRO.

Although I don't know where the campgrounds are, you may be out of the METRO jurisdiction.

I personally think the tour busses, tourmobile, duck tours things are overpriced, and you can get to the points cheaper.


As for Smithsonian, there are about what 5-10Smithsonian musuems... so you have a lot to choose from.. Many think its just one musuem...

There is Air and Space, Natural History, 20th Century History, Potrait Gallery (this was closed for a while), Holocaust Musuem, ARts and Industries, Modern Art, and a few others off the top of my head... all the other stuff Arlington Cemetary, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Wall,etc....

The METRO is very very inexpensive as well.

 

[shortbun]

The On-Off Bus/Tourmobile is great! I agree that the Holocaust
Museum is riveting but I'd carefully evaluate the children I
was taking in there, their maturity level and their prior
knowledge of history/Hitler/genocide. At least be prepared to
thoroughly discuss what you've seen; it's a disturbing issue
and something they should see but at the right time.
FBI/The Mint/Natural History/Air and Space/Portrait Gallery-especially the Presidents/Zoo/Arlington Cemetery/Lincoln/Washington/Jeffererson/Vietnam Wall/
White House Tour/Embassy Row/Zoo/Capitol Bldg/Arboretum/
Mt. Vernon is pretty interesting/
Phillips Collection(IMHO the best private collection in D.C.).
That's at least 4 days worth of stuff
if you visit everything and that would be at a fast pace.
There's always something going on in D.C. that
distracts me from my original purpose; it's
a great sightseeing spot
and Disney didn't create any of it!!

 

[Cindy B]

Last I had heard the White House tour was closed but only school tours could go. I also heard that the Capitol was off limits as well.


Forgot another one, the Postal Museum, sounds corny, but my kids loved it.

 

[Krisu]

Campground is in College Park on Cherry Hill Rd. Their pamphlet states the Metro and Tourmobile both pick up there. DS has been to Holocaust Museum with Scouts. They were en route to Jamboree when they stopped there. They had a man from our community with them who was a survivor and was able to give a first hand account to them. DS was very moved by this. I have not been since I was a kid. Georgetown is a must since my father went there How close can you get to the White House? The Smithsonian will take some planning since there is so much to see.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Don't forget the Mint! I just LOVE watching the money being made. I get one of two feelings depending on my mood when I visit. Either...Wow! Look at all that money! Or...It's just paper being printed. What's the worth of it? LOL!

 

[snowwhitemom]

We love the ZOO...it is great, hope it fits into your time frame. You can also tour the white house....advanced tickets are needed however...We are hoping to do that on our next stay. Have a wonderful time.

 

[snoopy]

No tours of the White House. Its off limits unless its a school group.

You could do the Tourmobile. Lots of tourists like it, I personally don't recommend it to people since most of what you want to see is right on the Mall (one long strip) and D.C. is very easy to navigate via Metro.

If you are in College Park, there is a metro right there. Its on the Green Line.

If you have children, I would recommend the book "Going Places with Children in Washington, D.C.". It has all the attractions in D.C., Maryland and Virginia listed, and whats nice about it is it has age recommendations.

I live in Georgetown, so I'm glad to hear you'll be visiting here. Remember, Georgetown is not right on the Metro stop. The closest stop is Foggy Bottom, you can walk from there but its a hike. You may want to take a cab from there.

 

[caitycaity]

i also think the tourmobile is overpriced/overrated, but i guess it's personal preference. the metro will get you to 99.9% of the places that the tourmobile goes.

as of last month, the capitol building was open to tourists. i am assuming it still is.

 

[snoopy]

Yep, the Capital is still open to tourists. I do think the FBI tour was suspended after 9/11, not sure if they have opened that back up to tourists or not. If so, you want to add it to your list, its one of the best tours we have here in town.

 

[caitycaity]

actually, the fbi tours ended in 1998 after the african us embassy bombings. i don't think they will ever open back up.

 

[snoopy]

Really caity? Hmmm, it doesn't seem that long ago that I recall being on that tour, but I guess time does fly. What a shame, it was such a good tour.

In any case, as I was driving home from a friend's house in Gaithersburg today (was in your neck of the woods, Caity!) I was thinking how lovely our city is. Its especially pretty this time of year and there is just so much to do and see here. I am sure you will have a wonderful time on your vacation, Krisu.

 

[Krisu]

Thanks for all the input I'm getting excited!

 

[caitycaity]

http://www.fbi.gov/aboutus/tour/tour.htm

this is really wierd. according to their website, they were doing them, but stopped them for construction???

maybe they closed in 1998 and later reopened. i know for sure that they closed in 1998 b/c i was supposed to go in the fall with my dad and we couldn't b/c they weren't doing them.

 

[caitycaity]

http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel99/tour1.htm

ooops, it was 1999. i guess they re-opened and will resume again in 2003.

who knew!