Washington D.C. Trip

[rthutchens]

Ok, I need my Dis friends to help me plan a trip to Washington D.C. This is a present from my DM to my DN for his graduation present. We want to do all of the touristy stuff such as White House, Arlington Cemetary, Captol, The Mall, etc. I'm trying to find the best place to stay. I want to be convenient to the metro and of course the sights, but I know a lot of times in big cities there isn't always much to eat as way of fast food. My DM is paying for the trip and I need to make it budget friendly. I'm looking at the Willard Contenintal, its half price on travelocity and great location. What do you guys think of that hotel? Do you have any other suggestions? I don't mind staying out of the city but don't want to waste time traveling to locations.

Thanks!

 

[MrsPete]

Ok, I need my Dis friends to help me plan a trip to Washington D.C. This is a present from my DM to my DN for his graduation present. We want to do all of the touristy stuff such as White House, Arlington Cemetary, Captol, The Mall, etc. I'm trying to find the best place to stay. I want to be convenient to the metro and of course the sights, but I know a lot of times in big cities there isn't always much to eat as way of fast food. My DM is paying for the trip and I need to make it budget friendly. I'm looking at the Willard Contenintal, its half price on travelocity and great location. What do you guys think of that hotel? Do you have any other suggestions? I don't mind staying out of the city but don't want to waste time traveling to locations.

Thanks!

I don't know the Willard Cont., but I can recommend these two spots:

Hotel George -- upscale, modern, fun
The Park Phoenix -- beautiful and historic, small rooms

I like these both because they are one block from Union Station, which is the cheapest place to eat -- in the basement you'll find a huge fast food area with burgers, pizza, salads, Chinese, Italian. You can also pick up the Metro at Union Station.

How are you getting to DC? I ask because driving and parking are horrible, and hotels charge outrageous amounts of money to park! $25-30 per day! Be sure to look at that in choosing the hotel.

Activities:

If you want to visit the White House, you'll have to send in a request well in advance. I've never made the cut. If you get in, you will not be allowed any bags, not even a phone or camera -- and they don't provide lockers. Do not bother with the White House Visitor Center -- talk about dull.

Definitely plan to visit the new Capitol Visitor Center -- excellent tour. You'll need a (free) reservation. Easy to get online. The Capitol cafeteria is a good lunch choice.

You'll likely not have time to visit all the Smithsonian museums, so choose the ones that interest you most. Personally, I love the American History Museum. All the Smithsonians are free (actually paid by your tax dollars).

Keep in mind that not all DC museums are Smithsonians. The Holocaust Museum isn't a Smithsonian, yet it is free. Others charge: The News Museum, Crime & Punishment Museum, Spy Museum. My personal opinion is that with so many wonderful places available for free, I'd skip the fee-based museums on a first trip.

If you want to see the city from a tip-top view but don't want to wait in line to get to the top of the Washington Monument, consider visiting the Old Post Office Tower. It's a national park, and you'll get the same view.

The Metro will take you all the way out to Arlington National Cemetery. Be sure to see Robert E. Lee's house and the changing of the guard.

Consider doing a Monuments by Moonlight tour. The bus'll take you around to the monuments, which aren't really close together, nor are they close to the Metro.

Visit the Kennedy Center for the Arts. It's incredible, and if seeing a show isn't in your budget, they have a free stage every night at 6:00. Some nights it might be comedy, some nights it might be music.

You can see them making money at the US Treasury.

You won't be able to do everything in DC in one trip. Not even close! But you'll have great choices.

 

[benolathe]

Looks like MrsPete gave you some excellent advice. One thing I would add is to consider a Segway tour to visit the main monuments along the National Mall, the White House, and a few others. We did that last summer and it was the highlight of our trip. Our group consisted of 16 yo up to 50+, and everyone was able to handle the Segway just fine. We all thoroughly enjoyed our tour guide and the tour. Our evening tour was scheduled for about 3 hours; first 1/2 hour is intro and training on the Segway, and then you are off to putter around DC.

One other suggestion - if you would like to visit the top of the Washington Monument. Visit their website with the National Park Service. You can reserve up to 6 tickets for the day and time that you would like. There is no charge for the tickets, but there is a small handling/postage fee to mail the tickets to you. It is a little less than $2 per ticket, and well worth it for having your tickets in hand and a confirmed reservation to go to the top.

 

[fabfive]

We went and stayed at the L' Enfont Plaza hotel. It has a metro stop right there. We loved every minute of our trip.

 

[The Moonk's Mom]

All great advice! This past summer when we went the best thing I did was buy one of those Entertainment Books. It had coupons for all over DC. We stayed at Holiday Inn Capitol. I liked the location and was able to get my parking included with my stay, without that it is $34 a day. It is located one block away from Air & Space, so not a long walk anywhere on the mall in my opinion. Also about 1 1/2 blocks from a metro station.

I love the tourmobile. They do Arlington and DC. We did that our first day and the next we did the Metro. You can get all day passes for the Metro, be sure to check out the website.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

We went to DC two years ago. We stayed at Hotel Lombardy and loved it! It's on Pennsylvania Ave., about 5 blocks from the White House. During the week, that area is hopping with business people, but it is very quiet on the weekends. There are lots of dining options around, but some are closed on weekend. Across the street is Founding Farmers, which gets lots of raves on the Tripadvisor DC board. We ate there; it was good but very loud! There is also a mini-mall across the street from the hotel. It has a Johnny Rockets, and Italian place, and an Au Bon Pair. Ate at all of those & enjoyed them.

There is also a metro stop about 1-1/2 blocks from the hotel. Very easy to use. That line takes you to the National Mall area.

I would highly recommend doing the DC by Foot free walking tour. It is (or at least was when we went) highly ranked on things to do on Trip Advisor. You meet at the designated area, no advanced ressies required. The tour guide meets you there and conducts the tour whether two people show up or fifty. It's not too fast paced, and it's filled with fun facts and trivia. It's a good way to see the major monuments. They work for tips only, given at your discretion. I think we gave $10-$15 per person at the end of our approx. 1-1/2 hour tour.

 

[digitalsiren]

OP, how many days are you planning for? I went last July and have a whole spreadsheet of info. lol.

 

[mom2t]

We just went last Easter. We stayed at a Hawthorne Suites in Alexandria, Va. They shuttled us to the metro and came back to get us. It catered to business travel and provided a deluxe breakfast - egss, meat, gravy, etc. and a light evening meal Mon-Thursday - meat, salad, bread and dessert. We had our own kitchen, with LR and 2 beds in the bedroom and standard bathroom. The kitchen was full stove, microwave and full refrig. I took paper plates and just took extras if we did not like the meal. I was able to find out the menu by calling the hotel before we left. I was very pleased and will stay there when we return. It is much cheaper on the week-ends than during the week in many hotels. I was able to use a discount through my state NEA association - I am a teacher. It was a great experience. My 8 year old said he liked it more than Disney but he is really into WWII and history and science.

 

[kwdw]

Ok, I need my Dis friends to help me plan a trip to Washington D.C. This is a present from my DM to my DN for his graduation present. We want to do all of the touristy stuff such as White House, Arlington Cemetary, Captol, The Mall, etc. I'm trying to find the best place to stay. I want to be convenient to the metro and of course the sights, but I know a lot of times in big cities there isn't always much to eat as way of fast food. My DM is paying for the trip and I need to make it budget friendly. I'm looking at the Willard Contenintal, its half price on travelocity and great location. What do you guys think of that hotel? Do you have any other suggestions? I don't mind staying out of the city but don't want to waste time traveling to locations.

Thanks!

I don't know the hotel itself, but it's location is excellent. I am a bit surprised you picked it because you said "budget" - and that location and budget do not go together.

There are some cheap eats in the area - but they are not necessarily close to the main sights you want (and should if it's your first time!) to see. McD's, Pot Belly sandwiches, Subway, Starbucks, Quiznos, Chipotle - they all exist in the heart of DC. That said - they are NOT "on The Mall" or inside the main museums of the Smithsonian. And unfortunately, if you want to see the most, you are going to like pay ridiculous prices for a burger and fries at lunch. That said - with Google Maps and some pre-planning of where you are going each day - you should be able to avoid high prices for breakfast, some lunches, and can find "moderate" chain restaurants for dinner.

Definitely do the Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Air and Space Museum. I love the Natural History Museum, the National Galleries of Art, and the Mint. Vietnam Memorial and the Holocaust Museum are both sober, but excellent. I find the Holocaust Museum takes a fair amount of time, but you could do it and the The Mint on the same day. Arlington Cemetery is worth the Metro ride. And don't forget the National Zoo!

To save some money - I'd consider checking hotels walking distance to the Silver Spring metro - and see if that is cheaper than central DC. A hotel frig, continental breakfast and free parking could save you money. Maybe it's because I'm relatively local - but I go into DC with the intent to spend the whole day there - not go back to the hotel in the middle of the day - so being a little further out MIGHT save you money on the room - allowing you to not stress so much about food prices. Also - to budget - there are SO many free things to do - don't do the pay things. If you have never been there - you are going to be lucky to see all the big free sights in one trip.

There's alot of walking in DC. Really look at a scale map, too. Sometimes people think it's shorter to take the Metro between two places - when honestly - it's easier to walk. And for a newbie - sometimes you can be turned around when you come out of the Metro and go the wrong way. Stop and look when you come out of the Metro and take a minute to figure out where you are going. Now - the Smithsonian stop is easy..... only one entrance/exit and its right on The Mall. Also - remember that the three blocks on the map to get to Chipotle might be in the correct direction for your group one lunch - and the right thing to do. Or that side trip for a cheap meal might end up costing you two hours time......

Basically - I think you should plan what you want to see and on what days - and only focus on keeping breakfast and dinner costs down. At lunch and for snacks - just pay the prices where you at and don't worry about it.

 

[fiveforall]

All great advice! This past summer when we went the best thing I did was buy one of those Entertainment Books. It had coupons for all over DC. We stayed at Holiday Inn Capitol. I liked the location and was able to get my parking included with my stay, without that it is $34 a day. It is located one block away from Air & Space, so not a long walk anywhere on the mall in my opinion. Also about 1 1/2 blocks from a metro station.

I love the tourmobile. They do Arlington and DC. We did that our first day and the next we did the Metro. You can get all day passes for the Metro, be sure to check out the website.

We just stayed at the Holiday Inn Capitol in November and it was a great location! We walked to the monuments, the Capitol, the museums, National Archives, and many more. We had a fantastic trip and burned lots of calories! My advice would be to get your Washington Monument tickets very early and to eat at the American Indian Museum.

 

[digitalsiren]

We stayed at the Radisson Hotel Reagan National Airport - fair price, shuttle to/from the airport and near to the crystal city metro station.
This is some of the things we did - the times/prices were for when we went in July, so be sure they haven't changed before you go. Also, whenever you can make a reservation, I would highly recommend you do so. It was such a small processing fee for what save us valuable time so we could do more things and kept us from waiting in the ridiculous July heat there.

• Pentagon: can't take pictures of it, only look from the outside, can visit 9/11 memorial
• Arlington National Cemetary: 8am-7pm, free, metro station Arlington Cemetary, allow at least 2-3 hours to tour
• Dumbarton Oaks; daily 2-6pm except Mondays, $8 GA, 5 students, metro station Foggy Bottom
• National Zoo: 10am to 6pm every day, free, metro station Woodley Park Zoo
• Washington National Cathedral: metro station Tenleytown/AU
• Keniworth Aquatic Gardens: 7am-4pm every day, free, metro station Deanwood (quite far we thought and there was a bit of walking from the station but this place was so worth it we thought and wished we had planned more time for it!)
• US Capitol Building: Mon-Sat 8:30am - 4:30pm, metro station Capitol South, get reservations in advance through their website for a small fee!
• National Air and Space Musuem: free, 10am-5:30 pm every day, free open tour at 10:30 am
• National Gallery of Art: M-Sat 10-5pm, Sun 11-6pm, free
• National Archives: 10am-7pm, metro station Archives/Naval Memorial Station, highly recommend reserving your tour in advance through their website
• Ford's Theater: 9 am to 5pm, can walk from the National Archives, book your reservation for a tour in advance for this through their website - you can choose one with a show or without
• American Art Museum: 11:30am to 7:00pm daily, free, just walk from Ford's Theater
• Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool: 24 hours, free
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial: 8am to midnightm free
• Jefferson Memorial: 24 hours, free
• Vietnam War Memorial: 24 hours, free
• Washington Monument: 9am-5pm, book reservations in advance through their website if you want to ride to the top for the view - I recommend getting the earliest possible so you are not waiting in the heat and then can move onto other activities in the National Mall area
• White House: free to look from outside, can take photos, if you want a tour I think you have to write your Senator months in advance
• Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden: 10-5:30 pm, free
• Holocaust Museum: 10-5pm, reserve your ticket time in advance through their website, this was one of THE top highlights of our trip
• National Natural History Museum: 10-5:30 PM, free
• National Musem of American History: 10-5:30pm, free
• Freer Gallery: 10-530 pm, free
• National Portrait Gallery: 11:30 a.m.-7pm daily, free
• Mount Vernon: you can take the metro or a tour group to get there, ~$15 and I think they are also running a "National Treasures" themed tour for extra

We are both vegetarians and had an easy time dining in the city so you should have no issues. You can try:

• Mitsitam Cafe at the American Indian Museum - the museum had low reviews but this place had overwhelmingly positive reviews. We enjoyed the selection and while we did not tour the museum we watched a tribal performance that was happening in the main area.
• The Falafel Shop - very popular, 11am-4am(!late!), just a few blocks away from Woodley Park/Adam's Morgan metro stop, this is a very busy and popular place and my husband asked to go back again which made me happy.
• Ben's Chilli Bowl is also very popular but they only accept cash which we did not have handy so we did not get to try their vegetarian chilli.
• Please make time for MR. YOGATO!!! This is was a super fun, quirky frozen yogurt place. Very popular and busy and if you're lucky you can play Nintendo while you wait in line. They offer eccentric and interesting ways to receive discounts on your dessert. We were offered the challenge while waiting in line to name 5 countries that ended with an "L" to get 10% off. Thank goodness we were able to do. LOL. IF you want to get an even better discount, you can recite the Stirling battlefield speech from "Braveheart" in a great Scottish accent for 20% off. They also have a "voice of the day" which for us was "Yoda" - order with his voice for 5% off. You can have your forehead stamped for a discount too ... we did it just because. So much fun.

 

[rthutchens]

OP, how many days are you planning for? I went last July and have a whole spreadsheet of info. lol.

Thanks everyone for all of the great comments/suggestions. We are planning on 6 nights. We live close to Nashville so I found a great deal flying direct from Nashville to Raegan International and 6 nights at the Willard for under $3000 for the 3 of us. It is still over the budget but it was comparable to the other hotels we were looking at in the area. I'd love more input or suggestions. You guys ROCK!

 

[digitalsiren]

I think that should be plenty of time to do everything I think. I forgot to mention if you do decide on the Holocaust museum - plan plenty of time for it. We were there ~3 hours but could have used 4. We packed everything into 3.5 days - it would have been adequate if things were open past 6pm but very few museums were. So we were hustling between 9-5 pm.

 

[mom2t]

Our room Monday - Saturday (we did not want to miss Easter Sunday at church) was less than 200 a night - which we thought was great for all we got including our 2 meals. Our only expenses were gas, Arlington Ceme., Metro passes, lunch and a few souvenoirs. My son loved riding the Metro and used the map to follow our progress. Great life skill application of map reading.

 

[erincon23]

I used to live in Alexandria -- if you can do it, check out the downtown Alexandria area -- several homes of historic figures and a fantastic decorative arts studio,the Torpedo Factory, where you can see artists work and purchase their items -- and Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home, which is outside of Alexandria. Can you still contact your representative or Senator to get White House tickets? It's been a while since I've been there, but I'm interested in this thread because we want to take our teens.

 

[kellia]

What a great list of tips! We are going to DC next month and just got our White House tickets!! I am so excited! It really creeped me out that we had to apply with all of our SS# and all, though. We also got Capital and Library of Congress tickets, all were through our congress person. I was impressed that they acted so quickly, I got them in the mail in under 2 weeks from when I submitted the form online. I'm sure late Feb. isn't high tourist season, though!

I am worried about what we are going to do about not bringing anything in with us when we go to the White House, though. I mean, I want my camera for the rest of the day and there isn't anywhere to leave it.

Not to hyjack, but are any of the food courts around the Mall better than others? We just want a quick lunch and I know it will be expensive, but wondering if some are better than others? We are staying on the outskirts and taking the metro in, so we'll eat somewhere near the hotel.

 

[mom2t]

We liked the Old Post Office because of the choices but it is crowded with tour groups of kids. We also liked the one downstairs at the American History. We started freezing water bottles and taking with us. Stay away from the hot dog stands EXPENSIVE for what you get.

 

[snowy76]

I think that should be plenty of time to do everything I think. I forgot to mention if you do decide on the Holocaust museum - plan plenty of time for it. We were there ~3 hours but could have used 4. We packed everything into 3.5 days - it would have been adequate if things were open past 6pm but very few museums were. So we were hustling between 9-5 pm.

The exact reason we do the monuments in the evening if possible... we get our museum time in early then the monuments when it's cooler too.

 

[snowy76]

Not to hyjack, but are any of the food courts around the Mall better than others? We just want a quick lunch and I know it will be expensive, but wondering if some are better than others? We are staying on the outskirts and taking the metro in, so we'll eat somewhere near the hotel.

Overpriced food on the mall is a bit of a fact of life, but here are my 2 cents:

When you do the Capitol tour (which will take at least the entire morning b/c EVERY member of Congress seems to have a private group going in at the same time), plan on lunch in the House office building cafeteria (I think Rayburn is the one I'm thinking of). Good eats and decent prices, MUCH better than the museums. The Dept of Ag building near the Holocaust Museum is pretty good too. You have to show ID to get into the building and sign in. I like that you are out of the big touristy crowds for a little while at both these places.

Avoid the caf at the Natural History Musuem - ripoff!! Air and Space at least has McD's and Boston Market (pricey but you know what you're getting).
The Old Post Office building is supposed to have a decent food court too.

 

[KKB]

My hands down FAVORITE museums 2 years ago were the Spy Museum (seriously--all those James Bond gadgets were REAL??), the News Museum (part of the Berlin wall is there, a huge memorial to 9/11--very moving, very cool place) and the already mentioned Holocaust Museum.