Washington DC

We are planning on doing a two city trip next year to Washington DC and NYC.

I have never been to DC and want to see the main tourist attractions. I was thinking 3 full days there would be enough time for this. If you have visited, would you agree?

Yes, I think you've got it just about right. I don't know what budget you're on, but my favourite Hotel is the Hay Adams. It's slogan is ' the only thing we overlook is the White House', and it's true. Their roof terrace looks DOWN over the white house. They'll take you up there for photos etc after they've checked your ID and frisked you....

Peter

[Neil]

We did 3 full days in DC in December and it was about right. We could have probably done with another day to make it a bit less hectic but you'll get most things done in 3.
Don't forget the Pentagon tour, you can apply for it from 90 days out but we only got final confirmation the night before, it's definitely worth doing though and ties in well with a visit to Arlington Cemetry as they are only a couple of metro stops apart.

Three days should be about right. Some things it would be wise to pre-book, particularly during school holidays. Amongst the memorials, don't neglect the one for FDR. Pack some walking shoes.

3 days isn't enough, we did 5 and even then we felt rushed.
There is so much to see and so much to do in DC.
Tour of the capital building was amazing, you can get a pass to go into the 2 diff houses after you're done and sit on them talking...
Supreme Court tour...
All the museums...
All the memorials...
George Town...
The pentagon tour ( didn't do that one due to not booking in advance )
Arlington cemetery...
We stayed at the W and that had a roof terrace bar that overlooked the White House but you could also see all the planes taking off from Reagan with the Washington monument to add to the views!!
We loved DC. We made friends with these ladies from Arizona, one was a local councillor. She was in DC for a conference where the president as speaking. She showed us her phone videos.
I'm hoping next time we go she can get us in on one of the tours of the White House and one of the "special" tours of Capitol Hill! We're still in touch so fingers crossed!!!
Darren

I did 2 & missed out loads TBH
Didn't make it to Georgetown, Didn't get to go around Capitol building.
While most things are along the mall - it can still take 20-30mins to walk between the monuments.
Allow a few hours for each museum you want to visit.
at least 1/4 of a day for Arlington Cemetery (lots of walking for that one!)

One tip... Get monument tickets before you go! They are only a couple of quid to buy online.
http://www.nps.gov/wamo/planyourvisit/index.htm
Cost was less than $6 & my tickets delivered to my home!

Go early - as early as possible so you can take monument pictures before the crowds arrive!!

These was taking at 10.30am in July



and I agree with the FDR memorials - take in the MLK memorial & walk around to Jefferson - FDR is on the way.

You'll never be able to do all of the Smithsonian* Museums so have a look at the website and see which you want to do.

NOTE that several of the museums and galleries are undergoing refurbishment and some parts and exhibitions are closed including parts of the Aerospace Museum and the Dinosaur Hall at the Natural History Museum

Depending when you visit the new African American History Museum (also part of the Smithsonian portfolio) opens sometime in 2016

You can pre-book a tour of the Capitol on line. Note they are refurbishing the Rotunda at the moment so both internal and external views are restricted.

Also in the Autumn of 2016 they will start building the staging for the Presidential Inauguration in January 2017 again restricting the views from the Mall.

If you are into antiques then book a tour of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the State Department.

For a day trip then Mount Vernon should be on your list. It's doable by metro / bus and you can stop off on the way back in (old town) Alexandria

And if it's a nice day a walk along the Mall and the Tidal Basin to see all the memorials including Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, Vietnam Veterans, WW11 and Martin Luther King is worth doing. Take a picnic as there aren't many concession stands.


(*Smithsonian - is not a single museum but an umbrella under which others such as Air & Space, American History etc sit. The Castle in the Mall used to be the actual museum but is now a central visitors centre)

Thanks everyone, that is all really useful info. We are planning (well I am planning ) this for September '16. I do want to move on to NYC afterwards, but am quite flexible on the number of days we spend in Washington. Looks like there is a lot to see and do, although much as I enjoy museums and monuments, there is only so much I can endure in a certain time frame! The Space and Flight Museum and the Natural History are musts though, my main interest areas.

Sadly tours of the White House are now "on hold" for Johnny Foreigners like me so the British Embassy (and Canadian Embassy) websites say. Never mind. Maybe that may change before we visit.

Another question: is there much of interest to see or do between Washington and NYC? If so we may take a road trip, if not we can fly/ rail/ bus there. I quite like the idea of arriving at central Station by train. I love that building.

Another question: is there much of interest to see or do between Washington and NYC? If so we may take a road trip, if not we can fly/ rail/ bus there. I quite like the idea of arriving at central Station by train. I love that building.

Philadelphia may be interesting.

Amtrak trains no longer use Grand Central but the more utilitarian Penn Station. They stopped in around 1990!

26 years late...typical!

Forgot to say... great photos Eggtastico! Thanks for sharing them.

[mitchja]

Another thumbs up for Washington DC here too.

You can pre-book the Capitol building tour online before you go as well.

I stayed at the Intercontinental The Willard (just round the corner from the W) which was great as the hotel has a lot of history (I have also stayed at the W, which was OK although I'm not a fan of W's though).

The Metro system is very easy to use and you can now almost get all the way from IAD to the city using it. The extension to the Silver line all the way to IAD may well be open by the time you visit in 2016.

The Space and Flight Museum and the Natural History are musts though, my main interest areas.

Another question: is there much of interest to see or do between Washington and NYC? If so we may take a road trip, if not we can fly/ rail/ bus there. I quite like the idea of arriving at central Station by train. I love that building.

You may want to consider Udvar-Hazy Center about 30mins outside washington.
Its Space Shuttle Discovery home. I never got out there - but did do the air & space museum + intrepid in NYC

Between DC & NY you got Baltimore, Philadelphia & the option of Atlantic CIty.

Mrs F and I returned from our American Adventure just last week. We used the Virgin LHR - IAD to get there and back but to avoid having to travel all the way out to IAD through the traffic, we did the domestic flights from DCA which is much closer and can be reached via the metro or, as we did, Uber in about 15 minutes from Capitol Hill. While we're on the subject of Uber, we found this to be absolutely invaluable. Mrs F broke her leg not so long ago and having a reliable way to summon a cab while you sit in a coffee shop rather than standing on the sidewalk was amazing, that and not having to have the right cash on you to pay - everything is charged to your card - was invaluable.

We used AirBnB for accommodation as we thought the Washington hotels were overpriced for what you get - watch out for crazy breakfast prices in hotels!

You've had lots of great advice already but I'll stress that pre-booking the Capitol Hill tour and Washington Monument tickets is essential. All you pay is around $6 postage and it saves you queuing for tickets that might not even be available by the time you reach the front of the line - Washington Monument tickets are usually all gone by 0830.

When you enter the Capitol Building for the tour you'll go through security and 2 sets of glass doors. Before you go downstairs into the huge lobby to start the tour, visit the desk just at the top of the stairs and ask for tickets to go into the House of Representatives and the Senate (you'll need ID to get these so bring a passport). Tourists are told about this at the end of their tour but if you grab them before you start you'll save yourself a walk and have your tickets before the are all gone.

If you visit any of the Smithsonian museums catering is pretty variable, Air and Space has a McDonalds if that's your thing and we thought that the Stars and Stripes in the American History museum was overpriced and low quality. A far better option is to walk over to the Museum of the American Indian, they are all pretty close so you can do this with ease, and eat at Mitsitam which is an award winning restaurant. http://www.mitsitamcafe.com/content/menus.asp

You might want to think about getting a mobile phone pay-as-you-go sim card from 3. For £20 they do unlimited data and "feel at home" which lets you use your phone all over the States without worrying about the cost, it's something like 3000 included minutes which should be plenty. We were there for 3 weeks and this was possibly the best £20 we spent.

On our way home we spent the night at IAD since our domestic flights were on a different PNR to the TATL we didn't want to take the risk of missing it. This gave us the perfect opportunity to visit the Udvar-Hazy annex to the Air and Space museum. It's well worth a visit and every 30 minutes one of the docents (basically retired astronauts and air force pilots) starts a tour. Nominally these are 90 minutes long but these guys really LOVE their subject so you can easily get them off onto tangents talking about their trips to space.

Enjoy your adventure!

I'm bowled over by the great responses, thank you all. Far better than a guide book!

We did this just last month. We did 4 nights in DC and then caught the 3 hour Amtrak to Penn Station. We stayed at the St Regis which was a nice hotel. Previously stayed at the JW Marriot and that was also good.

Having done a lot of the sights before, I was looking for different things to do. We tried out Newseum which was actually really interesting and spent a bit of time in a bar called 'The Board Room.' They have every board game you can think of... Quite fun for an afternoon / evening. Please spend some time in Georgetown - it is beautiful! Really good restaurant - 1789. Do you like planes? The DCA approach is superb! Spent an afternoon sat by the Potomac river in Georgetown watching the flight arrivals and boats. Very relaxing after a morning of sightseeing.

My only word of warning is that we went the first week of Sept and it was 33-35 degrees. That's quite hot to be walking around all of the monuments.

One tip... Get monument tickets before you go! They are only a couple of quid to buy online.
http://www.nps.gov/wamo/planyourvisit/index.htm
Cost was less than $6 & my tickets delivered to my home!

Go early - as early as possible so you can take monument pictures before the crowds arrive!!

How long did your tickets take to arrive?
I ordered/paid for some on August 12th and they still haven't arrived...
As we're off in a little over 3 weeks time I'm getting a little anxious!

In our case about 3 weeks from ordering to UK delivery. I'd give them a ring.

We ordered in Feb 15 for an entry on 23 Sept. Tickets in hand we felt pretty happy right up to the week before when we realised that the street shut-downs associated with the Pope's visit would make our tickets unusable (the monument was inside an exclusion zone for an hour either side of our visit time). We spoke to the rangers the day after our tickets were supposed to have been used, "no problem at all", just go up when you like. They really do want to help in whatever way they can so bring any form of proof that you have a booking and I doubt you will have a major issue.

Actual valid tickets are clearly the best option though...

The Marine Barracks Parade is every Friday evening during the summer and is really fantastic! I'm not sure when their season ends, but if you're heading there in early September you might be able to catch it.

[Darren Wheeler]

I can recommend Arlington National Cemetery. Try to work it so you can watch Changing the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns.

The National Air and Space on the National Mall is well worth a visit in my book as is the National Zoo )also Smithsonian so free). Just take the Metro red line to Woodley Park.

If you have a car, the Air and Space extension at Dulles is suppose to worthy of the trip. It holds all the exhibits too big for The Mall. This include Shuttle Discovery and an AF Concordé.

How long did your tickets take to arrive?
I ordered/paid for some on August 12th and they still haven't arrived...
As we're off in a little over 3 weeks time I'm getting a little anxious!

They only took about 2-3 weeks.
I ordered last day of June & they was with my by mid July.
May be worth dropping them an email.

Thanks for the replies about the ticket times!
Looks like I will have to contact them.....

I went in September and it was a really good time as the weather was still warm and the crowds were really low. I also did the DC and NYC combination, take the train to NYC. I really enjoyed Washington DC with the wide avenues and the fantastic monuments. It was a nice long walk round the lake to see the different monuments. Almost all attractions are free too and I also visited Washington zoo to see the pandas (again free entry).

Well after much navel gazing and a couple of calls to the Flying Club I have finally booked the flights (M to G upgrades) for next September.

There was limited UC reward availability around the dates we wanted, so we are going for 14 nights. Out to IAD from LHR and back from JFK. No plans yet how we shall divide that time, but with nearly a year to plan, there is no rush! And the extra time out there means we can take a more leisurely approach to things.

with nearly a year to plan, there is no rush! And the extra time out there means we can take a more leisurely approach to things.

Unfortunately I have been too leisurely and forgot to book tickets for the Washington memorial and they are all gone My New Year resolution not to overplan trips has rather backfired! Oooops.

Is it worth trying to get tickets once there or is "Sold Out" infering all tickets have gone?

I have however booked in for a Capitol tour and am awaiting confirmation of a Pentagon tour, which may not be confirmed until the day before.

with nearly a year to plan, there is no rush! And the extra time out there means we can take a more leisurely approach to things.

Unfortunately I have been too leisurely and forgot to book tickets for the Washington memorial and they are all gone My New Year resolution not to overplan trips has rather backfired! Oooops.

Is it worth trying to get tickets once there or is "Sold Out" infering all tickets have gone?

I have however booked in for a Capitol tour and am awaiting confirmation of a Pentagon tour, which may not be confirmed until the day before.

I believe they hold some back for the day, but you need to rock up really early to try & get some! We went up at 10.30 & the whole day allocation was 'sold out' by then (though its free!)

If your still going to NY & want to go up the Statue of Liberty head, you may want to check their website for availability to, as that sells out months in advance.