So Mrs. NitroPress realizes that our August vacation is way too far off to be of solace right now, and has us booked into a few days in DC in April. We have a condo with parking for four mid-week days, and 13yo twins. We plan to walk and use Metro, and see as much as we can of the traditional tourist strip (Capitol to Lincoln Memorial), both monuments and museums. None of us has been there (unless, per the other thread, I can claim to have done so by changing planes at Dulles one time).
Any general advice or suggestions? Good places to eat that aren’t too hard to get to?
-National Portrait Gallery is not on the mall - in Chinatown.
-The zoo is about 8 metro stops away from the national mall.
-Embassy Row is worth checking out, and a lot of embassies throw open parties that you can go pretend to be fancy at.
-The Newseum is non-smithsonian and you have to pay to get in but it’s a very interactive and fun museum.
Places to eat:
Fogo De Chao is pricey but SO good.
Adams Morgan has a lot of cheap good food like Amsterdam Falafel, Julia’s Empanadas, and Jumbo Slice pizza.
Founding Farmers is a great place to eat with delicious yet simple classic American dishes.
There are too many good places for brunch. Beacon Bar and Grill is a good one.
Thanks. All noted. I believe that we’ll stay Mall-centric for this pass, as three days isn’t close enough to see everything. Capitol, White House, monuments, Smithsonian and NASM… not sure we’ll get to much else.
We will probably be back. From the west coast, this would have been a major destination effort; from the northeast, it’s a weekend trip we can repeat easily.
Depending on how big a nerd you all are, you might enjoy some of Context Travel’s walking tours: Washington D.C. Private Tours - Context Travel. We took my out of town brother in law on one last weekend and it was a lot of fun. Three is the minimum group size or they cancel.
The cherry blossoms will peak around 3 April so they should still be lovely.
Stop by the Old Post Office (1100 Pennsylvania NW). The food court there is a shadow of its former self but the observation deck in the clock tower is easier to get in than the one in the Washington Monument and it’s a short walk up 12th from the museums.
While wandering the Mall, we always stop for lunch at the giant food court in the National Museum of American History (aka the Stars and Stripes cafe).
I second the recommendation of the Newseum. It’s not part of the Smithsonian, but it’s one of the best museums in D.C.
Newseum and Spy Museum are both niche museums. They aren’t free (like most stuff in DC) but if your interest is in that direction would be worth it.
The Portrait Gallery shares a building with the American Art museum. As noted above, it is not on the Mall but is only about five or six blocks up and will get you in an area with some restaurant choices.
The various Smithsonion museums make it easy to tailor to your interests.
The other niche interest, away from the mall but the OP isn’t like to be the only person reading this for travel tips, is the Phillips Collection. It is free on weekdays, entry fee on weekends. It is a couple of blocks from a metro stop (dupont cir) and has Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boating Party”. Skip it if you aren’t into French Impressionists.
Final tip, I was taking a guest to the Air & Space museum yesterday and we’d tailored our plans to their normal closing time and it turned out they were open expended hours, info on their website. We had already made plans to meet other people at that point.
In doing “the biggies”, remember the Jefferson Memorial is (basically) not walking distance from The Mall, so when doing the checklist you’ll have to take a quick cab or bus over to it.
Washington National Cathedral is beautiful, worth a visit even though the Metro doesn’t go anywhere near it.
Restaurant recommendation that’s a bit eclectic…
Very near the Eastern Market metro stop, or just seven blocks from the Capitol.
Which reminds me, if you like seafood there’s a good buffet about a half-mile up Water Street from Waterfront. Philips is about $20 per person but worth it for the all-you-can-eat crab legs & stuff.
It’s less than a mile from the Smithsonian Metro stop. I’d call that easily walkable.
I really like the Roosevelt Memorial, which is on the way from the Jefferson Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial. On the other end of the touristy area, the Library of Congress is really pretty.
As for restaurants, Ceibais pretty good and not far from the White House. I’ve been wanting to go to Founding Farmers, but haven’t made it yet. And people rave about Tabard Inn. Here’sa quick “best of” restaurant article.
NitroPress, thanks for starting this thread! I am taking the family to DC (from west coast) in early June. I have been there a few times, but not since the mid-90s.
We are staying with friends in Arlington. He says the 4 of us can taxi to the mall area for a little more than riding the metro, but a lot faster. While we are there, I think we may move around a little. Does anyone know about multi-ride, or day passes for the metro?
However, I did find out my cuddly-wuddly Giants are coming to kick some Yankee ass this September. Been waiting for that since we moved out here; they played Boston last year (I think)… but back in SF.
Glad this thread is being useful to more than me. Appreciate all the input!
Snowthx, the DC Metro has a good web site. One of the nice things about the condo we’re renting is that the owner keeps a pile of Metro cards for guests to use, meaning we don’t have to buy our own $5 ones.
I’ll second the Old Post Office tower, and maybe hitting Union Station, which is only a short walk from the Mall (although that should be near the bottom of your list). If you want to do the Washington Monument, plan ahead and hit the ticket kiosk first thing in the morning. If you wait until late morning, tickets will probably run out, although I’m not sure how long that takes in the spring.
Taking a cab or a half-hour walk to Arlington Cemetery to see the changing of the guard may be something else to consider.
For the Metro, check their site for pass info. I don’t think they have any good options for just a few days. Your best bet will probably be to just load up a single card with 20 or so bucks at a time–you can always get a new card or add money to it.
Without a doubt, this is the absolute best place to eat on the mall. It’s basically a food court divided into several native cuisines from all over the Western Hemisphere.