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Washington DC Vacation

ICHawk-I

HR Heisman
Gold Member
Nov 24, 2004
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Thinking DC will be our vacation spot this year. Kids (Boys 11 & 13) interested in history and plenty to see/do in DC.

Any advice or recommendations from the HROT folks who have done this?

Going to stay about a week. Thinking a day or two by train to NYC would be fun, but not sure how far away that is.

Also looking for anyone who may have gone on a bus or other tour there, are they worth it for those who like to stop and look around?

TIA
 
Do the hop on hop off bus tour. Gets you to the major attractions including Arlington Cemetery. We took the tour the Sunday after the Iowa game over there and had a great time.
We will be going back for a week as well since we only had about 1.5 days of site seeing.
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The Holocaust Memorial Museum is a must see. Hands down the best museum I have ever been to. As someone already mentioned, do the hop on/hop off bus tour. We took a train to NYC, I want to say it took three hours, but I don't remember for sure.

There is so much to see in both D.C. and NYC, I think it was too much to squeeze in on one vacation. If I were you, I'd just do D.C., then do a separate vacation to NYC some other time. Although, it was a really cool experience getting on the train at Union Station (D.C.) and getting off the train at Penn Station, right by Madison Square Garden. Riding on the train is a great experience in and of itself, your kids would really enjoy that, I'm sure.
 
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Originally posted by ICHawk-I:
Thinking DC will be our vacation spot this year. Kids (Boys 11 & 13) interested in history and plenty to see/do in DC.

Any advice or recommendations from the HROT folks who have done this?

Going to stay about a week. Thinking a day or two by train to NYC would be fun, but not sure how far away that is.
Not worth it. It's like a 3 hour trip no matter what. There is plenty to do in the D.C. area.

Hit places like the the National Archives first thing in the morning before the kids arrive and the field trip buses start rolling in. Leave thinks like the national mall to the afternoon. You can take the metro to Arlington and that's like a half-day event to just see the more famous graves/tomb of the unknown solider.

If you contact your congressperson they can get you passes for the tour at the Capitol and you can cut a bit. If you know someone/get lucky they might have a staffer that can give you a private tour.

The Library of Congress is also an underrated spot.
 
I'm not sure if they're still letting people into the white house, but if you can still do it, you have to ask further out in advance than we did. We were about 7-8 months out and were too late. We were granted access to the Pentagon, Library of Congress, Washington Monument, and the Capitol. We double checked about White House availability when we got there just to make sure there wasn't some way we could see it and they said we can't do it unless we were granted access a long, long time before.

Get tickets to for Ford's Theatre. See Arlington Cemetery, Mt Vernon, All the Smithsonians. We stayed there in DC for about a week and stayed at a hotel across the street from Watergate which is walking distance to the national mall. Then we transferred to a hotel across the street from the Pentagon. Would recommend the same to anyone. You need at least a week to get most of it in.

We didn't do the bus tour. In my opinion you get more out of it if you navigate D.C./walk the mall yourself. Every step you take is a spot that is rich in history, gives you a better appreciation of size, and you get good exercise because the mall area is enormous.
This post was edited on 3/1 5:15 PM by naturalbornhawk
 
I've seen recommendations for the Segway tours, but I didn't see anywhere that kids could go on them as well. Can anyone confirm?

Also, are there any areas or hotels that we can stay at that are central to the sites or near the metro?
 
A few must sees that haven't been mentioned:

The National Zoo
Ford's Theater and the Peterson House
Alexandria, Virginia is an amazing place loaded with history.
 
For hotels, the Holiday Inn-Rosslyn at Key Bridge is a good choice. Rosslyn is a nice area, you're across the bridge from Georgetown, a block from the Metro (which is one stop from Arlington Cemetery and maybe 4-6 from the Mall, depending on where you get off), parking is free, indoor pool, and you're a short cab ride from a lot of good restaurants. Another poster (can't remember who) is staying here sometime this spring/summer too. And there is a Safeway (kind of a dumpy one, but perfectly fine) and CVS a couple blocks up the hill in case you need anything.


And go to Baked and Wired for cupcakes...not Georgetown Cupcakes.
 
Antietam is about an hour to 90 minutes away (depending on traffic). It would make a great day trip.
 
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The National Mall is loaded with things to see:

Washington Monument
Lincoln Memorial
Jefferson Memorial
F.D. Roosevelt Memorial
WWII Memorial
Vietnam Memorial
Korean War Memorial
 
We went in 2012. Kids were 10 and 8. Fantastic trip. I would spend as much time in DC as you can and do NYC on a separate trip. Our favorites:
1) Smithsonians-American History, Natural History and Air and Space. You could spend a day in each of these.
2) Udvar Hazy center. This is part of the Air and Space Museum, but is located out at Dulles Airport. The space shuttle is there along with the Enola Gay and a black bird. Just an incredible place. Take a guided tour and you will not regret it.
3) The monuments. We did a night time monument bus tour and it was really cool Great way to see the monuments without walking a ton. Plus, it's a great thing to do at night when you spent all day in museums.
4) Arlington Cemetery. It's a must do, I think. Especially if you know someone buried there.
4) Spy museum. Kids loved it and it was very interesting.
5) Tour of Capital. Call in advance to arrange tour.
6) Holocaust museum. Your kids are probably old enough to do it, but they do have a kid friendly part. I have been through the entire museum and it is really moving. Very sobering.
7) Bureau of Engraving. See how they make money. Pretty cool.

I have heard Mt. Vernon is really cool, but you would need to take a bus or rent a car to get there. Would love to do if we went back.
 
Originally posted by ICHawk-I:
I've seen recommendations for the Segway tours, but I didn't see anywhere that kids could go on them as well. Can anyone confirm?

Also, are there any areas or hotels that we can stay at that are central to the sites or near the metro?
There are plenty of great hotels in DC, but I was really happy with the Marriott Metro Center. We stayed there this past fall for the Iowa Maryland game. Its location is terrific as it is about 6 blocks from the White House and just a bit further from the Smithsonian and the Wash Mon. and the capitol etc etc.

Its all right there. the hotel itself is fine- actually a really good sized fitness center. Wont cost you a fortune if you need to get a couple of rooms and there are tons of restaurants nearby and the Verizon Center is 3 or 4 blocks away for Wizards and Capitols games.
 
Another recommendation to get the on/off tour, otherwise you will be doing a BUNCH of walking, and it is hot and humid in the summer. The guides are also pretty good and can answer almost any question you have about the area. Especially with kids, don't try to walk the city.
 
Also, we did VRBO and got a 2 bedroom condo in Chinatown for less than any hotels we looked at.
 
The Lincoln Memorial always brings tears to my eyes and chills down my spine.

The Wall. Watching vets weep and trace names onto paper at the wall will tear you to your core, if you have a heart.

The Holocaust Museum leaves a lasting impression.

Mt. Vernon - on a brisk, clear fall day you can almost hear GW galloping along on his horse as he reviewed his property.

Arlington National Cemetery - hallowed ground. Take the time to walk around and see some of the more prominent headstones. You will be surprised who is buried there.
 
Originally posted by ICHawk-I:
Thinking DC will be our vacation spot this year. Kids (Boys 11 & 13) interested in history and plenty to see/do in DC.

Any advice or recommendations from the HROT folks who have done this?

Going to stay about a week. Thinking a day or two by train to NYC would be fun, but not sure how far away that is.

Also looking for anyone who may have gone on a bus or other tour there, are they worth it for those who like to stop and look around?

TIA
20 Free and Cheap Things to Do in Washington, D.C


http://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/20-free-and-cheap-things-to-do-in-washington-dc/ss-BBidQII
 
I don't get you city vacation folks, maybe a 3 day weekend get away to a major metro but not a real full vacation. Give me a mountain, a lake, an ocean, the desert but please please no cities.
 
Originally posted by unIowa:

I don't get you city vacation folks, maybe a 3 day weekend get away to a major metro but not a real full vacation. Give me a mountain, a lake, an ocean, the desert but please please no cities.
I don't get you either.

Posted from Rivals Mobile
 
All the advice about staying near a metro stop is key. DC has the greatest (aka easiest) train in the world. My 10yr olds job was to pick the right train and which stop to get off every day we went out. He was never wrong. By comparison it took the whole family to figure out NYC trains and we still kept asking for help.

We stayed in crystal city/pentagon city. A little cheaper than DC proper.

Most of the museums/monuments can be taken in by just showing up. However, you should probably get reservations ahead of time for the National archives (declaration of independence) and the Holocaust museum. The holocaust museum was very powerful. And my kids were younger than yours but they do an exceptional job of masking the sensitive stuff from younger kids. As long as you feel ok explaining stuff to the younger one they will be fine. Gotta learn it some time.

Monuments were all fantastic. Vietnam memorial breathtaking. It's a long day of walking but gotta go from Wash mon. To WW II to Korean to Lincoln to Vietnam memorial.

Your kids may be a touch old, but we rented paddle boats and cruised around the tidal basin in front of the Jefferson memorial. It can be a grind for kids to do museum and monuments every day so things like this broke it up. Segway tour is more pricey but same idea of breaking things up.

Another GREAT thing was instead of taking bus to mount Vernon (George Washington house) we took train down to a pier (decent walk too) and took a ferry down the Potomac river, docks at mount Vernon, take the tours, take the ferry back. Very fun day.

If you go to the capital, go on a weekday and go to your states senator or rep office. They will give you a kick ass tour of the capital that you could never get by yourself. Just drop them and email a week or two before you go. Seriously cool. You're voters and they will treat you special.

Spend some time writing down at all the things you want to see and then prioritize them. Then lay out a schedule. Don't try to do too any things in a day or you won't appreciate it and wear the family out. A prioritized list will help. Let the kids have some input but don't let them "own" it or they will pass on some good things.

Walking by the white house is good enough. The tours have been really restricted since 911 and just not worth the time.

On our 8th day (last day) we rented a car and drove a little over an hour out of town, to a place where you could rent tubes...we went tubing down the Shenendoah River. Like 3 hours. Fantastic end to what was a "city" vacation. Plus Shenendoah is like one of the only rivers in the country that flows south to north. Hot, sweaty, swimming, was just awesome. But probably too much time if you have less than a full week. On the way back, we hit some civil war battlefields.

Make a list...seriously first step. Just to get you started....
Wash monument
Lincoln memorial
Jefferson memorial
Vietnam memorial
Arlington cemetery
National archives
American history museum
Simthsonium
Air/space museum
Capital
White House
Spy museum
Ford theatre (Lincoln assassination)
Newseum (news museum) - I found this very solid
Ben Franklin first post office

Hope this helps. I'm a little passionate about this trip as it was one of our families best.
This post was edited on 1/31 6:51 AM by Hawkeyemc
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Thinking DC will be our vacation spot this year. Kids (Boys 11 & 13) interested in history and plenty to see/do in DC.

Any advice or recommendations from the HROT folks who have done this?

Going to stay about a week. Thinking a day or two by train to NYC would be fun, but not sure how far away that is.

Also looking for anyone who may have gone on a bus or other tour there, are they worth it for those who like to stop and look around?

TIA
How did it go?
 
Was there last summer with the kids. Stayed about 3-4 blocks from the mall and 2-3 from the wharf. Walked approx 10 miles each day and then went to the wharf twice for dinner in the evening. Still didn’t have enough time to see and do everything we wanted to do.
 
My dad eternally resides at Arlington. My favorite place to visit. hollocaust museum and how powerful it is a close second.
 
African American History Museum is also fantastic and one of the biggest draws in DC.

If you don't already have tix, just set the alarm for 6am (double check the time on their website), log in on your phone, claim some day of tix, and then go back to sleep for a few hours.

Absolutely worth the trip. It's second to none.
 
Do the hop on hop off bus tour. Gets you to the major attractions including Arlington Cemetery. We took the tour the Sunday after the Iowa game over there and had a great time.
We will be going back for a week as well since we only had about 1.5 days of site seeing.
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The hop on hop off bus tours are the best way to go. You get to all the places you'll want to go, you can skip the ones you don't care about, and the guides give you some good history and stories.
 
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