Washington DC

[applelollipop]

I'm looking to stay in downtown DC for a long weekend for site seeing w/ DH & 8yo DS..any info on a good deal or travel info. Not sure if this is the correct board but....i always get great info here.

 

[Nik's Mom]

We just got back from DC a couple of weeks ago. We had so much fun! We stayed at Embassy suites Convention Center. It was a great location. Be sure to check Travel Zoo for hotel deals. They update their website often.

http://www.travelzoo.com/hotels/washington-dc/

We did the open top bus tour and thought this was the great way to see the city in a short amount of time.

Also, do a search on these boards for previous Washington DC posts. I learned so much from them. Get a pen and paper and jot down all of the great tips you will learn from the Dis. They are a wealth of knowledge!

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

We went to DC last summer. We stayed at Hotel Lombardy, with a great AAA rate through Travelocity. It sounds crazy, but the AAA Travelocity rate was cheaper than the AAA rate through the hotel's website. Anyway, the hotel is very charming. It's a boutique hotel converted from an apartment building. It still has the original, hand-operated elevators. The operator allowed my kids to "drive" the elevator a couple of times, which just thrilled them. The rooms were spacious, with a small kitchenette off of the main room. The bathroom was small, but they did have Bath & Body Works shampoo & lotion!

The location was fabulous as well! It's located on Pennsylvania Ave., about 6 blocks from the White House. A couple of times we just walked from our hotel down to the White House, and then on to The Mall. There was also a metro station about 2 blocks from the hotel.

There were also some good restaurants nearby. Founding Farmers was good, but very crowded for a weekday lunch. There was also a Johnny Rockets, an good Italian place, and a few fast food places within a few blocks.

Rates are cheaper there on weekends, as they cater more to the business crowd. As such, we found the area to be quieter on the weekend. Some of the fast food places wouldn't be open on the weekend. We stayed a Thursday - Monday.

Hope this helps!

 

[shelemm]

Go see the monuments at night. They are lit until at least midnight. FDR Memorial, WW II Memorial, and the Air Force Memorial near the Pentagon are all spectacular at night.

Free concerts on Friday and some other nights nights at the Air Force Memorial:

http://www.airforcememorial.org/dedication/happenings.asp

 

[mjkacmom]

I say this in a totally unsnarky way, but there have been so many DC threads (and very informative!) on the disboards, do a search. I researched our last DC trip very well, and still learned more on the threads. I also recommend DC For Dummies, and UG to DC.

 

[WDWCrazzyCunninghams]

We just got back on the 14th. We stayed Club Level at the Hyatt Regancy Capitol Hill. With CL we had a complimentary breakfast, dinner appetizers and a dessert buffet. They also always had a small fridge full of water and soda. With 2 adults and 2 teenage boys, it was probably cheaper to do this. I know breakfast alone was $20/pp in the dining room. It was a short walk to the Capitol as well as Union Station. From Union Station you can catch the Metro to everywhere. (We did not use the Metro at all and hoofed it everywhere we went) However, we did eat at Union Station a few times since it was close to the hotel and they have a huge food court to chose from. I know the Old Town Trolley tours has a stop at the Hyatt, so if you were to do their tour, they could pick you up there. We did the night tour with them and it only picked up at Union station. www.oldtowntrolleys.com I think is the website for them. Call your congressman and ask to schedule a Capitol Tour. They can also schedule for you a White House tour. We called too late and were denied the White House tour, so call early. The Capitol tour is wonderful...then you can walk through the "tunnel" over to the Library of Congress. There is a free tour there too. We really enjoyed the Library. We did the tour at Arlington too and that was well worth the few extra bucks. I can't see walking all of that!
Have a great trip!

 

[pintamino]

Go see the monuments at night. They are lit until at least midnight. FDR Memorial, WW II Memorial, and the Air Force Memorial near the Pentagon are all spectacular at night.

Free concerts on Friday and some other nights nights at the Air Force Memorial:

http://www.airforcememorial.org/dedication/happenings.asp

Don't forget the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon either -- it's beautiful And contrary to what seems to be popular belief, you can sit on the cantelever benches (some random man told us not to -- but we had specifically asked on our tour ). It is very peaceful, though also somewhat sad.

 

[shelemm]

We just got back on the 14th. We stayed Club Level at the Hyatt Regancy Capitol Hill. With CL we had a complimentary breakfast, dinner appetizers and a dessert buffet. They also always had a small fridge full of water and soda. With 2 adults and 2 teenage boys, it was probably cheaper to do this. I know breakfast alone was $20/pp in the dining room. It was a short walk to the Capitol as well as Union Station. From Union Station you can catch the Metro to everywhere. (We did not use the Metro at all and hoofed it everywhere we went) However, we did eat at Union Station a few times since it was close to the hotel and they have a huge food court to chose from. I know the Old Town Trolley tours has a stop at the Hyatt, so if you were to do their tour, they could pick you up there. We did the night tour with them and it only picked up at Union station. www.oldtowntrolleys.com I think is the website for them. Call your congressman and ask to schedule a Capitol Tour. They can also schedule for you a White House tour. We called too late and were denied the White House tour, so call early. The Capitol tour is wonderful...then you can walk through the "tunnel" over to the Library of Congress. There is a free tour there too. We really enjoyed the Library. We did the tour at Arlington too and that was well worth the few extra bucks. I can't see walking all of that!
Have a great trip!

Thanks for the report! Where did they take you on the night tour?

 

[applelollipop]

I LOVE THESE BOARDS!!!!! Thanks for all the info and I will do a search I should have known I could get info here. Thanks and any other info is always welcome

 

[WDWCrazzyCunninghams]

Thanks for the report! Where did they take you on the night tour?

washington, lincoln, jefferson, white house, arlington, vietnam, ww2, ....some we got off at, others were a drive by. Also, he pointed out a lot of other monuments that we would have never known about just walking around. Steve, DH, used to be a police officer before going back to college. A partner of his was killed on duty Jan 8, 02...my DH's birthday no less. There is a monument to fallen officers. The next day we walked back to that monument, found his partner's name and spent some time there. Had we not taken the tour, we wouldn't have ever known that.
On the night tour, you stay with your group. On the day tour you get off and on at your leisure, catching the next trolley that comes along. I sort of wish we had done the day tour as well. DC was HOT and HUMID when we were there. Although that monuments don't LOOK that far away, they are!!!
Enjoy the trip!

 

[minniebeth]

Don't forget the 9/11 memorial at the Pentagon either -- it's beautiful And contrary to what seems to be popular belief, you can sit on the cantelever benches (some random man told us not to -- but we had specifically asked on our tour ). It is very peaceful, though also somewhat sad.

Can I ask you how you got to the Pentagon/memorial? Did you take the metro? We lived in Virginia just outside of DC during 9/11 and thought this would be a good place to take our children back to. Not sure how hard it would be to get to it with security.
Thanks!

 

[PatsMom]

If you are interested in spending time at the Smithsonian museums and the mall, I can recommend the L'Enfant Plaza hotel. It wasn't inexpensive but the location was awesome! And the room was large and comfortable. There is a metro station under the hotel, along with a shopping mall. Food at the hotel restaurant was pretty expensive but we found other places to eat.

I also recommend taking the tour of the Capitol if you can arrange it. We had a great time. You can also reserve your tour for the Washington Monument on the national parks web site.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Can I ask you how you got to the Pentagon/memorial? Did you take the metro? We lived in Virginia just outside of DC during 9/11 and thought this would be a good place to take our children back to. Not sure how hard it would be to get to it with security.
Thanks!

You can take the blue or yellow line right to the Pentagon. Come up the escalator and hang a right and stay on the sidewalk all the way until the end where you will see the memorial on your right hand side. Security shouldn't bother you as the memorial is open to the public.

 

[minniebeth]

You can take the blue or yellow line right to the Pentagon. Come up the escalator and hang a right and stay on the sidewalk all the way until the end where you will see the memorial on your right hand side. Security shouldn't bother you as the memorial is open to the public.

Thanks, Tina! This will definately be on our list to visit.

 

[1ST time at DW]

DH and I will be staying at the Washington Naval Lodge at 12 Bowline Green in SW, in October.I have been to Washington DC once before on a school trip many many many years ago my hubby is retired military so do the math any suggestions on which metro to take from the base to get to the momuments? Is the two day pass for the open bus a good deal?Thanks

 

[shelemm]

DH and I will be staying at the Washington Naval Lodge at 12 Bowline Green in SW, in October.I have been to Washington DC once before on a school trip many many many years ago my hubby is retired military so do the math any suggestions on which metro to take from the base to get to the momuments? Is the two day pass for the open bus a good deal?Thanks

You should ask at the Lodge how to get transportation to and from the Lodge.
According to:

www.wmata.com

There is no public transportation.

Most tourists when they visit Washington only need one trip in the morning and one in the evening to and from their hotel to visit the monumental core. They would typically spend about $7 per day on public transportation. For an unlimited daily pass (good after 9:30am until 3am the next day), the cost is $9. So that is the maximum you should need to pay. The Tourmobile has a military discount, I think, so you can check into that.

I strongly urge you to try and visit some of the monuments at night. Especially WWII, FDR, Jefferson. Vietnam Memorial during the day if possible. Also, I strongly urge you to try and visit the Air Force Memorial near the Pentagon.

Monday through Thursday evenings, there are free military band concerts on the west steps of the Capitol Building. On Fridays, there is a free concert at the Air Force Memorial. All of these concerts are amazing. This is the best way to visit the Air Force Memorial which is especially brilliant at night.

Last tip: at any of the monuments, a park ranger should be available to give you a tour of the monument. It is nothing you have to schedule and is not a group thing. If you are the only ones interested, you will get a private tour. It's that simple. This is especially recommended at the WWII memorial.