Urbanredneck, do have kids? How old? And what do you consider “walking distance”?
Rosslyn might be a good place to look for a hotel, although I can’t vouch for cost or quality. It’s a pleasant walk across the Key Bridge into Georgetown, or you can hop on the Metro and be at the Mall, Arlington Cemetery, or National Airport in 20 minutes.
Do yourself a favor and search for the previous threads on this topic, there was some really good info in those.
one thing I’ll suggest is doing a Segway tour. I did this on a trip in 11/2013, and found it every bit worth the money (not just for “seeing the sights”, but it was a hell of a lot of fun as well).
Also, I’m surprised the Newseum hasn’t gotten more affection in this thread than it’s gotten - I did the two-day tour (one price gets you admitted for two consecutive days, if I remember right) - definitely something to behold.
It closed about six months ago. It will open again eventually. But it week be a few years. The National Park Service did the tours to the top of the Old Post Office Tour and I am almost certain they will continue to do them when it reopens. They were free, and it is the second highest observable space in DC.
Also, for lodging, check out airbnb. It is huge in DC, and you can probably get a nicer, cheaper place to stay than at a hotel.
I have 2 kids who are teens.
Airbnb sounds good but I’m planning on using my CC points to help pay for the hotel.
My wife is into art while the kids and me are more into the science stuff. I want to see Archie Bunkers chair and other cultural items. Any ideas?
The Smithsonian is so large that you can spend two weeks seeing everything in it. You might want to split up and have some of you go to one of its museums and others go to another, agreeing to meet up afterwards at a given time. Since you’ll all be on the Mall, this won’t be a problem.
The American Indian Museum is really underwhelming, the exhibits are lackluster and the whole thing feels like you’re at a conference center in Santa Fe. The cafeteria, however, is outstanding. If you are near it at lunch time, you could do worse.
Yeah, I’ve heard it takes a week to see the Smithsonian.
The Smithsonian includes 17 museums and the zoo just in the Washington area. Some websites claim that you can do two of the museums in one day. I think even that would be a bit superficial. You can’t see all of the Smithsonian.
Seconded. Easy to get to by car (not by anything else). They also have an SR-71 Blackbird, which is awesome.
As for using the Metro, get used to checking for service advisories on www.wmata.com, as weekend track service has become increasingly common and can easily add an hour or more to your trip.
If you do end up in Old Town Alexandria, definitely check out Eamonn’s Dublin Chipper. Great fish & chips.
I liked the Shakespeare library with a replica of the Globe theater. Dumbarton Oaks for the Byzantine art work. The Phillips collection was cool. I would have liked the Textile museum but it was closed when I visited as was all of the government buildings until the last day I was there. I liked the spy museum although it was a bit childish for me alone. I took a couple of bus tours and second the Monuments at night tour suggestion. It was amazing. I also walked from Dupont circle past the naval Observatory (it was an accident, I got lost) so got to see a lot of the Embassys and stumbled across some lovely little parks as well as Rock Creek park where NCIS seems to film a lot.
I stayed at a bed and breakfast just off of Dupont Circle that was pretty reasonable although I rarely ate the breakfast as it featured a lot of pancakes/waffles type stuff.
I got the metro pass, ordered a head of time and it was awesome. Keep in mind within the city proper (as far as I could tell) shops all close around 5 to 6pm so get your shopping done early if you need anything.
I had read that there are a lot of food trucks near the elipsis at lunch time that are quite good however since the Govenemnt was closed while I was there I didn’t bother going.
The restaurant at the Museum of the American Indian was not so exciting this time becasue they had been closed and didn’t really have any thing fresh to prepare. On my previous visit it was awesome.
26 years in the DC area, and I’m not sure I’ve ever ridden a bus in the city. I have taken buses to/from the Metro from my house, that’s about all.
I’ll jump on the bandwagon of “stay in a suburb in a place near the Metro”. Many hotels in the 'burbs actually run shuttle buses to the nearest metro station. The Crystal City area in Virginia has some that connect directly to the “Crystal City Underground” - shops and restaurants that mostly cater to the work day, but they have the advantage of letting you go about 6 blocks underground and get to the Metro without actually going outdoors at all.
Subscribe to Groupon and/or Amazon Local for deals for the DC area - you can sometimes get nearly 50% off on Segway tours, for example, which are tremendous fun. Though depending on the kids’ ages that might not work: they need to be 16, or look like it (and have you willing to lie about it) for most of the tour operators.
There are bicycling tours as well, probably without the age restriction.
There are walking tours in Georgetown that are food-related - similarly often found on Amazon Local or Groupon.
The National Zoo is a must, of course. Hint: take the Red Line, but don’t get off at the Woodley Park / Zoo stop, go one stop further out. Similar length walk, maybe a block longer, but on MUCH more level ground (the Woodley Park stop has a steep-ish uphill walk).
I’ve never done one of those amphibious tours (a vehicle that can go in the water) in DC, I did one in Boston which was interesting but not a can’t miss (did it on a Girl Scout trip).
There’s a water taxi that goes from Georgetown to Old Town Alexandria - worth it for the sights of some of the monuments, at least - and lots of restaurants at both ends.
The wife and I did DC three years ago. We stayed at the Tabard Inn and can recommend that. Wonderfully quaint and quirky. (Note that if you want a TV set, you’ll have to ask them to put one in your room if they’re not all taken. That could be a consideration if you have children.) It’s close to Dupont Circle and the subway station there.
There’s an excellent hop-on/hop-off tour-trolley line with the main terminus and office right on the corner down from Ford’s Theatre. Two or three different routes, I think. I highly recommend that. (The Tabard Inn is close to one of its stops too.)
The Smithsonian is a monster of a place. You’ll not see it all. But I agree with the recommendation of a lunch in the American Indian Museum’s cafeteria. Great food.
We never took the bus. The subway is extensive but does not go to Georgetown. You’ll need a car or a bus for that, or the aforementioned hop-on/hop-off trolley.