My family and I are thinking of traveling to DC this summer. We want to visit the Smithsonian and a few of the sites like the Washington Memorial. I’d like to avoid driving and would like to use the local bus or rail service.
Some questions:
How good and/or safe is the bus service? The rail service?
We would like to stay at a hotel as close as we can to the Smithsonian but hotels down there are pretty expensive. If a person wants to avoid a daily bus commute of 45 minutes or less how far away can one stay. For that matter what areas would you recommend staying in?
For the day when we tour the capital sites, can you recommend any tour guide services or is a person ok with just riding the DC buses?
What are the best capital sites? Ex. The Washington memorial? Lincoln memorial? Capital? White house?
If you’re commuting into downtown DC, you’re better off catching the Metro rather than a bus, simply because it will be faster. So, suburban Metro stations with cheaper motels (i.e., cheaper than near the Smithsonian) include Silver Spring, Rosslyn, Crystal City, and King Street Old Town. But my experience isn’t all that recent – other Metro stations may have better options these days.
Definitely find a hotelwithin walking distance of a Metro stop - you can get to pretty much all of the significant places that way.
There are all kinds of things to seewithin walking distance of each other. Assuming you’re visiting for about a week, there’s more than enough around the National Mall to keep you occupied - no need for a hired guide or even a bus. Thesemight be of interest, too.
Some things will require planning - White House tours need to be reserved well in advance. But lots can be done spur-of-the-moment. There are tons of free museums, but some do have admission fees. I guess it all comes down to how organized/scheduled you like to be on vacation. I do advise, tho, that you allow more time than you think you’ll want for the various Smithsonian museums - you don’t want to be rushed!
I grew up in Baltimore and visited many times as a child, and later as an adult, and there are still things I haven’t seen. DC is an experience!
I went to Gallaudet Univ. in the late 80s, so my info is dated as well, but I second that you should use the Metro. It is probably the cleanest subway in the US. You can stay in Virginia or Maryland, and still get to downtown DC in 20 minutes if you are very near a stop.
My favorite places are the museums, and there are lots. It takes several days to do them all, but I like to do the art museums as much as the Natural History and American History museums. Personally, I find the White House tour boring, but that’s just me. I do like going to Virginia and seeing Washington’s home, and Colonial Williamsburg. Also, again, I don’t know what you are into, but the Folger Shakespeare Library is in DC, not to far from the mall (you can actually walk there from Gallaudet), and it’s great. The Kennedy Center is sometimes showing classic movies on a big screen, or hosting the original casts of Broadway shows. I saw the Cabaret revival with Joel Grey and Alyson Reed there.
If you go to Embassy Row, there are all sorts of authentic ethnic restaurants.
Check out the quirky shops in Dupont Circle (unless it has changed really substantially since I was there).
My 3 favorite Smithsonian museums are American History, Natural History, and Air and Space. I love the National Gallery, but only when I’m alone so I can set my own pace. The Zoo is nice, too, but you need to take the Metro, then walk a few blocks.
I find the VietNam Memorial very moving - who knew a big black slash would be so dramatic? The Lincoln Memorial is worth seeing, plus standing at the top and looking back towards the Capitol is a great sight. I’ve never gone to the Jefferson Memorial at the Tidal Basin, but one of these days, I swear I will!! I also want to go to the National Portrait Gallery, and the spy museum, and the Newseum (I think the last 2 have admission fees.)
My nephew wanted to go to the National Archives and see the Declaration of Independence - luckily, the day we went it wasn’t too crowded. The Holocaust Museum is nearby also, but we didn’t go in. Just the lobby area was too much for me, too emotional, but I know many others got a lot out of their visit.
Eons ago, I went to the top of the Washington Monument - amazing views from up there! I think that’s another place that requires reservations, but you can do that on line.
I’ve just given you more than you can do properly in a week! And sometimes, there are things going on along the Mall - you can check for a schedule on line if you’re interested. Hope you like walking!
I know nothing about the buses, but surface traffic in Washington DC is almost always bad. The Metro (subway) is fantastic, and extends into the Maryland and Virginia suburbs, so you don’t even need to stay in the city proper. For cheapness of hotels, I’ve found that the Maryland side is usually better, I’ve stayed in College Park.
You can cover a heck of a lot of tourist sites in a short walk. Here’s a sample itinerary: Start the day with a White House tour (they’re only offered in the morning), walk down 15th Street and go up the Washington Monument. Then walk down Constitution Avenue, which will have the Smithsonian Natural History and American History museums. Then you can walk down 7th street to the Air and Space Museum, and from there to the US Capitol Building.
There’s so much other stuff to see - the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Ford’s Theater, tour the Voice of America radio station - and all of it is free!
If you’re also interested in museums that cost money, The Newseum, the Museum of Crime and Punishment, and the International Spy Museum are all great, and all within walking distance of the above.
And once you’re done with your day’s walk, you won’t have much trouble finding a Metro station to get you back to your hotel.
We’ve had two or more threads in the past year on visiting DC. I suggest finding them.
Google know the bus and subway systems. You can punch in hotel addresses and see how long it will take to get in on public transportation.
You can either choose lodging in downtown DC, within walking distance to the Smithsonian, or you can stay anywhere along the Metro and train to the Mall or the Smithsonian or the Monuments. Obviously, the farther away from major tourist areas, the cheaper the lodging. However, DC’s subway system is first class - clean, safe, cheap, and easy to navigate, so just staying just one or two stops away will save you considerably on lodging.
Hotels are super expensive, and parking is outrageous as well (if you’re driving in), so consider renting private lodging via VRBO. The key with either a hotel or a private rental is to find something close to the MetroRail.
We stayed in a 2 bdrm condo, off-street parking and internet included, in the “Southwest Waterfront” area, which is an up-and-coming area of DC. It was maybe $225/night. It was a 3 block walk to the Metro and within 5 minutes (2 stops?), we arrived at Union Station, with all the museums and restaurants at our disposal.
Other areas of DC I’d consider are downtown (of course), Capitol Hill, DuPont Circle and Logan Circle. I’m sure there are others, but those are the ones I know.
If you do plan on riding the Metro (either bus or rail) during your stay, you should purchase a SmarTrip pass (a plastic card with fare pre-loaded), since they assess $1 per ticket for paper tickets. You can buy SmarTrip passes online ahead of time and have the cards mailed to you, or you can buy them at one of the vending machines located in all the stations. Minimum is $10 ($2 for the SmarTrip card and $8 pre-loaded. Vending machines accept $1, 5 and 10 bills (no 20s) and credit cards.
A few people have alluded to this, but no one’s said it clearly – most of the Smithsonian museums and major monuments are all in close proximity to each other. It is not the case that you have to travel all over the city to enjoy a week’s worth of sightseeing. The capitol building and Supreme Court are at one end, there are a dozen major museums lining the National Mall, and numerous memorials are at the other end.
Once you’re at the mall area, there’s no need for transportation, other than your feet, unless you are disabled and can’t walk.
The distances in the Mall/monument/museum area are walkable, but still big enough that walking between them can eat up a lot of your day. [ETA: This is true even when you include Metro in the equation, because Metro only has a couple of stops that are handy for getting around the Mall.] This is fine if you enjoy walking for its own sake, but I personally find the touristy areas of DC to be just right for getting around on a bicycle.
So I’d recommend a short-term membership in Capital Bikeshare to get around a bit more quickly and easily. That will enable you to check out a bike at one Mall bike station, and ride it to another and leave it there. Here’s their station map.
The Lincoln Memorial. Some overly famous attractions manage to live up to their reputation. This is one of them.
The Korean War Memorial. Forget that it’s officially about Korea; it’s really about every grunt, in every war.
Where is it, you ask. If you’re standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, looking towards the Washington Monument, the Reflecting Pool is right in front of you. If you come down the steps and angle to the left of the Reflecting Pool, you’ll find the Vietnam Memorial. If you do the same, only to the right, you’ll walk into the Korean War Memorial.
The FDR Memorial. Just under the western bulge of the Tidal Basin.
From the Vietnam Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial to the Korean War Memorial to the MLK Memorial (which is relatively new and I haven’t yet seen other than to drive by) to the FDR Memorial would all be a series of very short hops, even on foot. And an only slightly longer jaunt from the FDR Memorial to the Jefferson Memorial.
My least favorite memorial is the WWII Memorial. Even as one who thinks the whoel ‘Greatest Generation’ stuff has been tremendously overdone, that generation deserved better than this thing that looks like it was designed by a committee that never could decide what the real point of it was. Some day, after the children of the WWII vets are all dead, they will hopefully tear it down and replace it with something good.
The metro is great. Get a hotel outside the city for sure.
White House tour is short and takes forever to get in.
I loved the archives and printing and engraving.
What more can be said about and all Smithsonians?
Arlington cemetary and the changing of the guard always gives me a lump in the throat.
So many things. Do what looks fun not Oh-my-god-gotta-see-it-all-rush-rush-scurry-it’s-all-a-blur that my parents did to me as a kid.
The Holocaust Museum, while grim, is very interesting. If you take the Metro to Rosslyn, you can see the Iwo Jima Memorial. There’s also the National Cemetery, if you’re into that sort of thing, and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which I don’t think have been mentioned.
As mentioned, The Mall is your best bet for museums and memorials. At one end is the Native American Museum. There is a totem pole outside that was carved by Oregon artist Rick Bartow. At the top of it is a large bird. On top of the wings are signatures, including mine!
The metro is very safe and clean, and my experience with the buses is good, too. No eating on the metro. If your kids need a snack, find a place before or after. On the escalators, stand right, single file. Commuters will be walking past you on the left. Once you get off the escalators, make it your family policy to move forward and to the right or left before consulting on your next move. DCers are the nicest people to tourists in the world. I mean THE nicest. When you’re on the mall, there will be thousands of tourists, but also thousands of people working. I was once behind a family at the Chinatown PI who took one step off the escalators, stopped, and unfolded their map blocking everyone behind them. Argh. If I seem to go on about escalators, Google the dc metro and take a look at the photos of the stops. Some of those babies are formidable. Second the 5 day pass. You WILL go the wrong way at least once. Each person needs a card carrier that they can carry around their neck or in a secure pocket that is not the pocket they use for things like your cash or glasses.
The spy museum is good and most kids ten and up really like it. The food is terrible. Go to espn zone or Chinatown instead.
I’d scorned the get on get off bus tours for years, but my last trip, my mom got tired of walking, so we got those passes. Sometimes it was nice to just ride around and get off when you were rested and ready to go again.
We stayed that time at the Alexandria Old Town Suites near whole foods and create and barrel.good choice.
For riding metro, buy a SmartTrip card immediately (available in machines at every station), load it up with @20.00, and reload it as needed. Trips on paper cards cost more, calculating exact fares is a pain in the butt, and they take forever to through the turnstiles.
People take metro etiquette pretty seriously. Stand on the left on the escalators. Move to the side of the door when the train pulls up so that exiting riders can leave, and never, ever, ever eat on the trains or in the station. Rush hour starts on the late side in the morning, and the morning rush is worse than the late rush. Traveling at rush hour is totally doable, but it’s much more comfortable to work around it.
Don’t worry too much about screwing up, though. Everyone is used to tourists, especially in the summer.
There are a few busses that are sometimes handy for tourists, but metro is going to be the go-to for most trips. Google Maps is very good at giving public transportation directions. Do check if there is weekend track work on metro when you are there-- that can cause significant delays.
Food options around the mall are limited, expensive, and generally not great. There is a basement food court in the Ronald Reagan building which is popular with tourists, but often overrun with school groups. For real restaurants near the mall, Penn Quarter is your best bet. When I’m in that area, though, I usually just grab a half-smoke from a street cart.