Heading to Washington Dc - Need Advice!

[Gina M]

I'm trying to plan a family trip to DC for next June. It will be my husband and I and our 3 children. My parents (who are in their mid 60's and in good health) will be joining us as well. To anyone who has been there - any recommendations for a good hotel? Also, any must sees? I went there years ago in 1982 on my 8th grade trip and no one else in my group have ever been there. We are probably flying (since we live in Illinois) and will stay a week. We plan to go to Williamsburg, VA as well as a side trip. Thanks for any help! I love planning trips and scheduling places way in advance but there are a lot of places to choose from and I'm not familiar with the area as far as safety as well. We are wanting to be close to the metro stations as well as we may forgo having a rental for the full week.

 

[Jean DeVries]

Hey!

We just went there last July with my parents. On the complete HOTTEST weekend of the entire summer. I swear they moved the nation's capitol to the sun.

Anywhoo, we stayed out of D.C. so I can't help you there, but I can recommend a few must-sees in the DC area.

We took one of those open topped tour busses around town (saved us from dying of heat stroke) and it was GREAT! Took you by everywhere you wanted to see, and it was hop on/hop off, so you could get off anywhere you wanted to see stuff. We picked it up right at Arlington National Cemetary (a must see...) and it was like $35 for adults. But it was well worth it, because it took us up to the National Cathedral, down Embassy Row, through Georgetown, and around the National Mall. Great way to see everything without having to do a ton of walking.

The War Memorials were great. The Lincoln Memorial was cool. The Air & Space Museum was REALLY cool if you like airplanes. And they're totally free. However, you do have to put all your stuff through a metal detector, so leave the knives at home. Learned that one the hard way.

The changing of the guard at Arlington is an absolute necessity.

There are SOOOOO many things to do in DC. We also hit a Orioles/Tigers baseball game, but that's a ways away if you don't have a car

Hope you get good info on hotels!

Jean

 

[Jean DeVries]

Ooh! And Mt. Vernon, outside of DC, is pretty cool too. Especially George Washington's grave.

Hey!

We just went there last July with my parents. On the complete HOTTEST weekend of the entire summer. I swear they moved the nation's capitol to the sun.

Anywhoo, we stayed out of D.C. so I can't help you there, but I can recommend a few must-sees in the DC area.

We took one of those open topped tour busses around town (saved us from dying of heat stroke) and it was GREAT! Took you by everywhere you wanted to see, and it was hop on/hop off, so you could get off anywhere you wanted to see stuff. We picked it up right at Arlington National Cemetary (a must see...) and it was like $35 for adults. But it was well worth it, because it took us up to the National Cathedral, down Embassy Row, through Georgetown, and around the National Mall. Great way to see everything without having to do a ton of walking.

The War Memorials were great. The Lincoln Memorial was cool. The Air & Space Museum was REALLY cool if you like airplanes. And they're totally free. However, you do have to put all your stuff through a metal detector, so leave the knives at home. Learned that one the hard way.

The changing of the guard at Arlington is an absolute necessity.

There are SOOOOO many things to do in DC. We also hit a Orioles/Tigers baseball game, but that's a ways away if you don't have a car

Hope you get good info on hotels!

Jean

 

[Teresa Lynn]

mount vernon and monticello
we took our kids in 2001 for 11 days they loved it. we stayed in an awesome hotel wish I could remember the name of it.
There was an incredible chinese rest. we ate at 4 days in a row I think it was near a jail
Georgetown is neat to walk thruthe tomb of the unknown soldier and of course all the memorials and smithsonians
Iwa Jima
over the 4th of july we were at williamsburg they really didn't care for it much. never seem so many pancake places in my life.

 

[myinnerchef]

We took the kids when they were small and stayed in a small hotel not too far from the White House. We were only there for the weekend so I asked a friend who works in DC for a list of all the MUST SEEs in the area. We went to the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial (I'm a Lincolnphile), to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the National Zoo, the Vietnam Veterans Wall, and the International Spy Museum. This was just after 9/11 so there were no White House tours, but we did walk past it and take a family photo in front of the gates. If we'd had more time, I would have liked to see the National Portrait Gallery and the other Smithsonian Museums as well.

 

[Teresa Lynn]

we did the whitehouse tour it was neat, also the zoo and the vietnam memorial.i have been to Monticello 3 times and it is my favorite.

 

[BadGirl]

I live about an hour and a half from Washington, DC, and try to make a trek up there at least once a month to see some of the sights and sounds of the area. It's a really dynamic place to go, with lots of things to see, things to do, and people to meet. You'll have a great time there, and you'll enhance your trip by doing some research before you go to best make of the limited time you'll be in the Nation's Capitol.

I'd suggest that you get a rental car to go to the outskirts of the city, but to do any travel inside the Beltway (the area of highway that surrounds the Capitol), to use the excellent subway system. You'll eliminate the hassle of driving, locating parking, and paying for parking. Go here for a map of the Metro, and to get your questions answered: http://www.wmata.com/metrorail/systemmap.cfm .

Also, if you're looking for sights around DC, you might also want to check this out. It's a listing of tourist attractions in the area. http://www.thedistrict.com/placestogo/otherattractions.html .

If you'd like to splurge on some of our fantastic restaurants, you might want to check out this link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/cityguide/features/2008/dining-guide/ . It lists cuisine types, neighborhood, and costs to make your decision-making easier.

Even if you do nothing but visit all of the Smithsonian museums, you'll be VERY busy, as there are 19 Smithsonian museums in their purview. Most are aligned on the Mall, considered to be the "Nation's backyard". Check out this link for more info on their wide-variety of museums: Smithsonian: Museums .

For hotels, you might want to check out this link: Washington DC Hotels - Hotels in / near Washington DC, Georgetown, Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle . Keep in mind, that as in all cities, there are areas that are "less desirable" than others, meaning that the crime rate makes it not a place where you'd want to stay. Try to stay in the northwest/northeast parts of the city, and away from the southeast part of town.



Good luck!

 

[shed]

I agree with all the above posts everything is a must see. Williamsburg is a distance so you will need to rent a car to get there.

 

[Teresa Lynn]

we buy a frommers guide every year when we plan vacations and live by it (except when we go to Hawaii then DH has to have that darn blue book series)

 

[pamperedpnina]

We are going this weekend, my grandparents live in Va just outside DC and down the road from the metro so its easy to go into DC. We will only be going in on Sunday so I think we are going to the American history museum b/c it was closed for renovations and just re-opend. There is a new museum for the Marine core which was neat but it is just outside DC so you'd need a car. *Funny Story*
My aunt grew up just outside DC so they went often, well she moved to NY and decided to take her kids to the Brooklyn Children museum one day. She walks in and the guy says "Hi, that will be $15 please" she said "excuse me?" he says "$15 entry fee please" she got really mad said I DONT THINK SO and left in a huff. The guy came running after her and said "Honey, where are you from?" she was like DC why? he goes "OH!" and proceeded to inform her that most places in the country charge admission fee...

 

[colegrovet]

from DC Williamsburg is about 3 hours away.

Harpers Ferry is about 90 min away.
Gettysburg is about 2 hours away.

 

[Gina M]

Thank you everyone - great advice - I'll be working on booking my hotels now!

 

[Nanisu]

We stayed at a hotel that was actually a converted apartment building in Arlington--right at the back of the cemetary (where the military guard is), across the street from the Iwo Jima Statue. It was very reasonable, had two bedrooms, 1 block from the metro station, totally cool. I'll look at my past ccard statements and see the name of it. It was VERY nice, and I think it was way cheaper than a hotel. Don't even mess with a car if you don't have to- driving in DC is a real opportunity for spiritual growth. Metro it everywhere. Maybe get a car for Mt. Vernon and such and to get to and from the airport. We spent a day in Virginia and went to the Confederate army museum--it was very interesting. They had letters from soldiers to their moms (a lot of the confederate soldiers were practically babies--14 years old in some cases), old war uniforms, each regiment had their own flag, it was very moving, especially from a "northerner" perspective. I love DC, would go there again and again. Definitely try to go see the National Cathedral if you can. It's stunning. I'll find out the name of that hotel we stayed at--if I recall it was about 1/2 the price of a hotel.

 

[PampChefJoy]

We went a few years ago and stayed in a Westin hotel in Foggy Bottom. It was a nice neighborhood.... walked by GW university on the way to the Metro.... not too hectic like other parts of town. LOVED the metro... wish we had something efficient like that here.

 

[pamperedpnina]

Oh I forgot to say if you can get to see the Marine Silent Drill Team I dont know what there schedule is but they do FREE evening show's through the summer its GREAT!!!

 

[Jean DeVries]

We stayed at a hotel that was actually a converted apartment building in Arlington--right at the back of the cemetary (where the military guard is), across the street from the Iwo Jima Statue.

I would be interested in this info also, since we're going back next year.

It's funny because we heard all of these horror stories about the traffic in DC, but there was, literally, none when we were there. The worse traffic we ran into was trying to get from DC to Baltimore for the ballgame. Both days we went to DC, we drove to Arlington and parked there. I don't remember what it cost, but I don't remember it being that unreasonable.

(We tried to take the metro once. It was broken at a station ahead of us - likely melted tracks since we were sitting on the SUN that day. They jerked us around like 7 times with "it's working - it's not working" after we had been on it and gone two stations up, so my dad, not really known as the most patient person on the planet, said enough of this and we rode back to the car and drove to Arlington to park.)

On Sunday of our trip, we drove to Arlington, caught the little tour bus, and got off at the Air/Space Museum. Despite the fact that she's an Air Force veteran, and was in charge of guarding some pretty heavy stuff during her career, they wouldn't let her in with her pocket knife. So, rather than have her walk like 6 miles back to Arlington, we just continued on the bus, and after making the tour bus circle back to Arlington, we just drove down to the museum (which is on the National Mall). There were like, no cars, and we parked on the street right across from the museum. We think everyone who told us horror stories about DC traffic was lying to us

...either that or we were the only people who enjoyed sweating our body weight by venturing outside....

 

[Nanisu]

I don't remember the traffic being bad, just that the streets are hard to negotiate--you'll be driving one way and then just --bam--it's now a one way street going the other way, LOL.

 

[thecougchef]

We took one of those open topped tour busses around town (saved us from dying of heat stroke) and it was GREAT! Took you by everywhere you wanted to see, and it was hop on/hop off, so you could get off anywhere you wanted to see stuff. We picked it up right at Arlington National Cemetary (a must see...) and it was like $35 for adults. But it was well worth it, because it took us up to the National Cathedral, down Embassy Row, through Georgetown, and around the National Mall. Great way to see everything without having to do a ton of walking.

The War Memorials were great. The Lincoln Memorial was cool. The Air & Space Museum was REALLY cool if you like airplanes. And they're totally free. However, you do have to put all your stuff through a metal detector, so leave the knives at home. Learned that one the hard way.

The changing of the guard at Arlington is an absolute necessity.

arlington was awesome but we were very crunched for time and were unable to see the changing of the guards. it seemed like sort of a let down if you dont get to see something like that. so try to time it right. or stick around to see it if you can.

the vietnam memorial was my favorite. we found a website of all the men who were from our town who died in vietnam. then we looked them up in the big book down there & penciled all of their names onto paper.

Ooh! And Mt. Vernon, outside of DC, is pretty cool too. Especially George Washington's grave.

we went there too. it was alot more interesting than i was anticipating. i would probably even go again because there is so much to see.

We took the kids when they were small and stayed in a small hotel not too far from the White House. We were only there for the weekend so I asked a friend who works in DC for a list of all the MUST SEEs in the area. We went to the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial (I'm a Lincolnphile), to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the National Zoo, the Vietnam Veterans Wall, and the International Spy Museum. This was just after 9/11 so there were no White House tours, but we did walk past it and take a family photo in front of the gates. If we'd had more time, I would have liked to see the National Portrait Gallery and the other Smithsonian Museums as well.

we went in october of 2001 so EVERYTHING was on lockdown. but it made it kind of nice because nothing was crowded the whole week we were there. & i loved the smithsonian museums. the natural history museum is very cool.

from DC Williamsburg is about 3 hours away.

Harpers Ferry is about 90 min away.
Gettysburg is about 2 hours away.

we spent a whole day in gettysburg. if youve got boys going with you, theyll love it - my dad and my brother ate it up. i got bored because its alot of driving around fields. but there are alot of monuments along the way and plaques stating which battle happened there.


i would also HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend going to the Holocaust museum. we spent an entire day almost in there. we eventually had to skip through the final part because we were all sooo hungry because we didnt realize we had been in there way past lunch time. BRING SNACKS. when you go in, you get a card with someones picture & name on them. and in the end, you can find out if that person lived or died in the camps. i would like to go back to DC just for that experience again...

 

[debswork]

I use to live in Alexandria Va outside of DC. It sounds like you don't want to be in the city. I would definitely look online at staying near Crystal City , Arlington , Alexandria or old town Alexandria. You can drive around there and sight see. You can drive to the Pentagon and take the subway into the city to tour the monuments. The smithsonians will take you days to see, I would suggest picking two or three of interest to your family.

Subways in DC area are clean and safe. During the weekday rush hour in am and evening is where you will find most of the traffic. On the weekends driving into the city is not bad at all. Hotels in DC will be much higher than the outskirts area.

Good luck and have a wonderful visit.