Washington DC advice

Hi all, so I am off to DC, the only VS USA destination I've yet to visit.

I've read some of the previous threads and they've been very useful, just looking for some up to date advice from those that have been there.

I'm staying in Old Town Alexandria, and will obviously be visiting downtown etc...

What are the must see/do things on my first visit? Any recommendations for activities off the beaten track are welcome too, I wont have a car, I like to walk (a lot) and don't have the biggest budget in the world. I like to explore the best parks a city has to offer, and enjoy walks along the water too.

Looking forward to it, and would just like to hear some of your favourite sites/activities...Thank you!

The Smithsonian museums obviously - take your pick from what interests you.

A long walk down the Mall and around the tidal basin to see e.g. the LIncoln, Jefferson and FDR memorials and the Vietnam Wall.

A visit to congress - you can prebook tours via the congress website. Also the Library of Congress and Supreme Court allow visitors and offer tours.

I once did a tour of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the State department - again book on line.

Just along the yellow line and then a bus from Alexandria (though I think you might also be able to get a boat) is Washington's Mount Vernon estate.

Georgetown.

You might enjoy a visit to Arlington Cemetery? It's well worth a visit on a nice day.

As said, the Smithsonian Museums. The Air and Space Museum especially. We were lucky enough to see part of the Enola Gay when we were there many years ago but I believe it is now in the museum at Dulles Airport.

Ford's Theatre where Lincoln was assassinated and the house over the road where he died are very interesting.

Union Station has some lovely architecture and shops inside as well as restaurants.

We enjoyed visiting the National Archives and seeing the Declaration of Independence among other things.

The Vietnam Wall is very moving and I think there is now a museum there too.

You could go to the top of the Washington Monument for great views over the city.

The old Post Office has a lot of shops and eateries inside.

Georgetown is walkable and has lots of quaint shops.

Make use of the underground. It's cheap, very well run and very clean!

Take the trolley tour. It has lots of stops at places of interest.

The list of things to do is endless. We've been many, many times and we always found something new to do on each visit.

[Neil]

A tour of the Pentagon is a must do I would say. Bookable 90 days beforehand and on the same line as Arlington so works well together.

Thanks for all your tips so far - we’re just about to start planning our September trip so this is very helpful & timely!

You could go to the top of the Washington Monument for great views over the city.

Unfortunately the Monument interior is closed until 2019 as the lifts are being refurbished

Thank you all, great tips and advice, I'll squeeze in as much as I can!

I was reading on the general trip planning section of the Dibb forums that you can apply for White House tour too! Details of who to contact is on there

Hello all,

Just sitting here in the IAD clubhouse 3 hours early for my return home, wasn't expecting it to be anything special from what I've read, but this has to be one of the better lounges! Loads of space (presumably other airlines use this, way too big for one VS flight a day), very airy, and great views. Conveniently located directly across from the VS gate, the chicken korma's not half bad too!

Thank you for all the great tips, I pretty much squeezed everything in, I had 6 days which was a good amount of time. DC and the surrounding area was a real treat, plenty to see, the cleanest and most polite of all US cities I have been to. I never felt crowded or rushed at any of the main tourist attractions. I stayed in old town Alexandria, a 15 minute metro ride from downtown and would recommend this area to anybody. Very quaint, classy riverside neighbourhood with lots of great restaurants, bars and shops. The hotel prices are half that of downtown, I paid £400 for 6 nights at a 4.5 star hotel.

An interesting sidenote, this was an ex-Dub trip with the last leg to Dublin booked for the day after I arrived at LHR, I assumed this meant they would check my bag through to LHR, but they still checked it through to DUB and only as the agent was taking the bag away did I notice the DUB tag and requested it be checked through to LHR, not sure if that was the agents mistake or my wrong assumption.

Overall a fantastic trip, thank you for the advice again, the Air and Space Museum had to be my fave!

i hope you enjoyed the IAD CH, it's quite nice in there! but the first dining room offered by BA is the boss!
DC is by far the most european city in the states..
I'm sorry i missed this thread as DC is one of my fav destinations, I've done it over the 4th july festivities and even had a front row table for boom with a view!
As you probably found out the washington monument is closed until 2019. did you try the old ebbit grill, cheap but really good food? the round robin bar in the willard? i love DC! glad you enjoyed!

An interesting sidenote, this was an ex-Dub trip with the last leg to Dublin booked for the day after I arrived at LHR, I assumed this meant they would check my bag through to LHR, but they still checked it through to DUB and only as the agent was taking the bag away did I notice the DUB tag and requested it be checked through to LHR, not sure if that was the agents mistake or my wrong assumption.

Glad you had a good trip. I do like DC and need to go back again.

There was a post on the BA board on flyer talk the other day (so yes not directly VS related) where a BA check-in agent at JFK tagged the persons bags through to DUB because the scheduled departure time of their flight to DUB was within 24 hours of the scheduled arrival of the TATL There being an overnight between arrival and departure is apparently not an automatic short check it was 24 hours that mattered.

Like you the poster only noticed just as the bag was being taken away from them but managed to catch it.

Now yes that could have been a mistake by both VS and BA staff but it is something people need to be aware of.

It made me check my next booking which should be OK as the flight to INV is just over the 24 hours.

Of course that meant I had to pay the APD on the intra UK leg but that would be a small price to pay compared to the overall savings made Of course once at LHR it is possible to ask baggage services to extract your bags but this is not always very quick