Washington, DC help - bus tours?

[sadiebug]

We will be in Washington, DC for 3 days in August. We are wanting to do the major tourist attractions - Smithsonians, monuments, Arlington, zoo, etc. Does anyone have any experiences with the bus tours that they would like to share?

 

[Kaytie]

No, but http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/which-washington-dc-bus-tour-is-best/

 

[kathy884]

I really like the monuments at night bus tour. You can see all these same monuments on your own for free, but with limited time it's a great way to cover a lot and get some background. Also, given hotel prices in the DC area less time and seeing more in a short period of time really worked out well budget wise. // If you can get white house tour tickets from you senator or representative, that's well worth doing too.

 

[nordkin]

I would recommend checking out the circulator bus. Very inexpensive and easy to use.
http://www.dccirculator.com/

 

[elphaba91]

I would recommend checking out the circulator bus. Very inexpensive and easy to use.
http://www.dccirculator.com/

Was just about to suggest this! With a SmarTrip card it's $1 for 2 hours and you can go at your own pace. We thought it was excellent (we've found we're not big fans of guided bus tours!).

One thing to remember with all the museums is that if it's busy it can take quite awhile to pass through security, so hopping from one museum to the next isn't as quick and easy as we thought it would be!

Also, don't bother with the zoo if it's too hot as most of the animals are taken inside; in our first hour there we saw a cat (and we have 2 of them at home!). The pandas do have an indoor viewing area too though, if they're your main drawcard!

 

[WVMomof3]

We just got back from a quick trip and we also used the circulator and the metro, but mostly we just walked everywhere. The first night we didn't get there till 8 pm and we still walked 5 miles that night. 3 days will not give you enough time to see everything, so plan ahead and group things that are close together on each day. We did go to the zoo, probably spent less than an hour in the zoo, but probably spent 3 hours total with travel time. Agree that it really isn't worth it unless you really want to see the pandas.

 

[dex08]

Many years ago we did the night time monuments bus tour and I would highly recommend it! The monuments are just lovely after dark when all lit up and the bus stops and lets you out to enjoy the monuments. We had a great time and we found it an easy way to visit many monuments without the worry of parking and traffic to see them.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

As a local I agree, don't try to museum hop. Plan for a morning and afternoon one. Pack light and get there by 10am. Unless you want a bus tour where you can see many monuments from the bus DC is best by foot and metro in my opinion. But if walking in the heat is too much and you want to cover a lot the bus may be a good option.

 

[Disneygrl71]

We are also going in Aug, for 4 nights and I got a 48 hr bus tour that included the night Monuments tour off Groupon, you might wanna check there.

 

[wgeo]

We just went and did the DC Trail hop on hop off 48 hour pass, it included a nighttime tour. We got it with a groupon, so it was pretty affordable. The daytime hop on/hop off was hit or miss at best. The first time we tried to get on it was quick and the guide was great. We got off and then tried to get back on and waited for 45 minutes, when we finally got back on the guide was horrid and it was close to the end of the day and we got stuck on the bus for too long. complete waste of time. However the nighttime tour was great. If I had to do it again I would only pay for the nighttime tour again.

 

[NotUrsula]

Personally, I HATED the night monuments tour. The trolley was very hot and packed to the gills, and you start out riding around the Capitol and such; takes quite awhile to get to the monuments. I actually bailed at the Lincoln Memorial and then just walked the rest of them and took a cab back to my hotel.

What I like doing when touring in DC is to use Capital Bikeshare. There are 4 bike stations near the monuments, so it's pretty easy to find a bike or to return one. The minimum age is 16. https://www.capitalbikeshare.com/

 

[sadiebug]

Thanks for the replies guys!! We do want to do the zoo as my mom as never seen the pandas. We probably won't spend too much time there though. On the night tour of the monuments, do you go by the White House? And is the Vietnam Memorial lit up at night? My daughter and I did a night tour a few years ago, but we did not really go by the White House and the Vietnam Memorial was dark. I walked the length of the wall, but could not read any of the names. The only light was from the Lincoln Memorial and a few lights from the park and surrounding area.

 

[WVMomof3]

Vietnam memorial still dark at night. I was able to find the name I was looking for using the flashlight on my phone. Definitely one that is better to see in the daytime. Zoo opens before all the museums so just be sure to go early.

 

[FredtheDuck]

You could also look at doing a private tour. We used a great company when my DH's family came to visit - they used a private van with a separate driver and arranged for a wheelchair to be available for my DH's elderly grandmother. Disclaimer: I didn't do the tour (I live here, no need to take up a seat in the van), but I know they raved about it. Let me know if you're interested in more info and I'll see what I can dig up.

 

[wgeo]

Personally, I HATED the night monuments tour. The trolley was very hot and packed to the gills, and you start out riding around the Capitol and such; takes quite awhile to get to the monuments. I actually bailed at the Lincoln Memorial and then just walked the rest of them and took a cab back to my hotel.

What I like doing when touring in DC is to use Capital Bikeshare. There are 4 bike stations near the monuments, so it's pretty easy to find a bike or to return one. The minimum age is 16. https://www.capitalbikeshare.com/

I wouldn't have guessed that the minimum was 16. We very clearly saw children much younger then 16 riding these bikes during the week. So while there policy is definitely 16, seems like its not enforced at all.

 

[wgeo]

Thanks for the replies guys!! We do want to do the zoo as my mom as never seen the pandas. We probably won't spend too much time there though. On the night tour of the monuments, do you go by the White House? And is the Vietnam Memorial lit up at night? My daughter and I did a night tour a few years ago, but we did not really go by the White House and the Vietnam Memorial was dark. I walked the length of the wall, but could not read any of the names. The only light was from the Lincoln Memorial and a few lights from the park and surrounding area.

The nighttime tour we did with DC trails had the first stop at the white house, so it was still light out. They had just recently pushed back the security fences, so we were really quite a very long ways away. Not sure if that was a July 4th weekend security issue or if it will be permanent, our guide was not happy that both of his other spots had been closed off and were very clearly being blocked by capitol police.

By the time we got to the Vietnam Memorial is was very dark, and very hard to see it.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

No, but http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/which-washington-dc-bus-tour-is-best/

We just got back from DC and we used this company to do a night time tour of the main monuments. White House, Vietnam memorial, WW2 Memorial, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Korean Memorial. Vietnam Memorial is hard to see at night so he recommended we come back during the day but all the rest of them were gorgeous at night, especially the WW2 memorial. We had Dan King and he was awesome and very informative. He takes you to each area, talks for a few minutes about the history of the memorial or monument then lets you explore for 10-15 minutes and then you are off to the next one. It was a total of 2 hours. There were kids on our tour and he had them engaged and asking questions.

We stayed at National Harbor MD and took a Lyft into DC. Once in DC we walked everywhere. We also did the new African American museum and the Natural History museum but I didn't realize the dinosaur area is being redone and won't open until 2019. Again we just walked it.

The company also offers tours of Arlington and other areas. If I were to do those tours I would just Lyft into that area and walk the tour.

 

[sadiebug]

We just got back from DC and we used this company to do a night time tour of the main monuments. White House, Vietnam memorial, WW2 Memorial, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Korean Memorial. Vietnam Memorial is hard to see at night so he recommended we come back during the day but all the rest of them were gorgeous at night, especially the WW2 memorial. We had Dan King and he was awesome and very informative. He takes you to each area, talks for a few minutes about the history of the memorial or monument then lets you explore for 10-15 minutes and then you are off to the next one. It was a total of 2 hours. There were kids on our tour and he had them engaged and asking questions.

We stayed at National Harbor MD and took a Lyft into DC. Once in DC we walked everywhere. We also did the new African American museum and the Natural History museum but I didn't realize the dinosaur area is being redone and won't open until 2019. Again we just walked it.

The company also offers tours of Arlington and other areas. If I were to do those tours I would just Lyft into that area and walk the tour.

Which tour did you use? The link you provided lists several. Thanks for the info!!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Which tour did you use? The link you provided lists several. Thanks for the info!!

We did the National Mall Tour at night.

 

[sadiebug]

Which company did you use? Sorry!! That's what I meant to ask!