Then I would suggest the Residence Inn Arlington Courthouse. It’s near the Orange Line (same as Smithsonian). There are a wide variety of restaurants and bars on Clarendon Boulevard, which is useful because the Metro runs infrequently (every 20 minutes) at night so once you come back to your hotel you might as well stay in the neighborhood.
Directly across from the Federal Triangle stop. Entrance to the clock tower tour is in what was originally the basement, now a run down food court.
I’ve not been there but the DEA has a musuem in their building across from Pentagon City station. Go through the Metro gates, turn right, catch the escalator, and turn around. DEA is the one with the concrete barriers directly ahead.
No. That’s TSA. DEA is behind it.
Although National Airport is the closest one, Dulles and BWI (Baltimore-Washington International) airports are close enough that sometimes they will actually be the cheapest ways to get to Washington. When you look up the fares, see if flying into Dulles or BWI is considerably cheaper than flying into National. How long is your vacation? You could easily spend two weeks just wandering around the Smithsonian.
PS- There are specialty shops at many of these museums and they carry many unusual items, great for gift shopping.
If you can get to it, the (Episcopalian) National Cathedral is pretty awesome. The downside is it requires a city bus trip if you don’t have a car - Metro doesn’t go there. The cathedral is famous for containing the tomb of Woodrow Wilson and also having a statue of Darth Vader (whose journey, albeit fictional, is strikingly similar to the gospel anyway and the simplicity of repentance regardless of what one has done). It’s Episcopalian, so they are pretty laid back in terms of doctrine and won’t pressure you into anything, but please don’t deface the church, that would be bad, mmkay?
Ford’s Theater is not too far away from the Mall, and do see the old boardinghouse across the street where Lincoln actually died. Iirc the actual physical bed is still there.
If you can make it to Old Town Alexandria (which is across the river in Virginia), do check out Christ Church, which was the home church of George Washington (literally, this was the church he attended regularly and held membership at). The church was vandalized during the Civil War by occupying Union soldiers and the church has declined to clean it up, even down to the present day.
We stayed in Washington for a few nights, staying at a Hampton. Although we had a rental, we mostly got around on public transport–bus + Metro worked fine for us. The days we were there were pretty much dedicated to Smithsonian campuses around the Mall, and we could still go back and see more that we missed the first time through.
The Natural History Museum was awesome, and probably the main place where we didn’t see anything like everything we could have. I want to go back.
The Hirshhorn and Freer galleries were smaller and lovely: the Hirshhorn is modern art and the Freer has a collection of Asian art, so does the Sackler.
Both Air and Space Museums are amazing, even if Udvar-Hazy did take some schlepping to and from on the bus. The one on the Mall is massive, but do-able in a few hours, since (as said upthread) everything in it is so damned big), and the one at the airport is amazing, with the space section and the massive hangar full of planes.
The main limitation for us was a) time and b) just how long we could keep on walking all day 
robert_columbia writes:
> The cathedral is famous for containing the tomb of Woodrow Wilson and also
> having a statue of Darth Vader (whose journey, albeit fictional, is strikingly
> similar to the gospel anyway and the simplicity of repentance regardless of
> what one has done).
Please note that Darth Vader is represented as a gargoyle, not a free-standing statue. Like many cathedrals, National Cathedral has gargoyles on its sides. Darth Vader is only visible with binoculars:
http://www.nationalcathedral.org/about/darthVader.shtml
> It’s Episcopalian, so they are pretty laid back in terms of doctrine and won’t
> pressure you into anything . . .
I’m not sure why you even bother to mention this. You can walk around the grounds of the cathedral all you want. There are organized tours and other things inside or you can walk around by yourself in certain cases. (There’s a “suggested contribution.”) Obviously they know that they are a tourist attraction and that most people standing outside looking at the building aren’t asking to be converted.
If you like art, you should consider watching the documentary Herb and Dorothy before you come to DC, it’s available on Netflix. Herb and Dorothy were two art lovers of simple means who managed to amass a huge art collection that they then gave to the National Gallery on the Mall. Herb and Dorothy - Wikipedia
I really like Context Travel, they offer walking tours of various cities, including DC. We took my brother in law on a walking tour of the Mall that was great, but it’s a little pricey. www.contexttravel.com
Oh, right. I was under the mistaken impression that they’re connected.
Washington Street, one block north of King. There’s a free shuttle from King Street Station to the King Street waterfront.
If you like fish & chips, head over to Eamonn’s at 728 King for some good eats.
My daughter went to Maryland. While the hotels are reasonable, the Metro Stop is not close to anything, and you’ll need a bus to get anywhere. It is also quite a hike from downtown DC.
I agree about flying into Reagan. I used to go to a conference at the Marriott in Woodley Park, near the Zoo, but have also stayed at a Holiday Inn I think up Connecticut Avenue a bit. All right on the Metro. But I’m sure there are other places also.
The Smithsonian is great since you can see the highlights at museums that don’t interest you very much, while spending lots of time at the ones which do.
You might also want to check Metro’s weekend repair schedule to see if which tracks might be partly shut down when you’re here.
While I agree with all the recommendations for what to see, it is a very long walk from the Smithsonian stop to Air and Space, farther than most people would call “two blocks.” L’enfant Plaza is much closer: go out the 6th and Maryland Avenue exit.
[FYI: I worked at Air and Space for 12 years.]
Yes, it’s a mile from campus to the station, and the hotels are at least another mile from there. Not very convenient at all.
Don’t forget when calculating “cheaper” that from Dulles, you’re looking at a $50 cab ride either way, traffic which is usually very bad, a poorly laid out airport, and totally FUBARd security lines so you need to leave hours and hours of extra time when using Dulles. If the cheaper fare is only $100-$200 cheaper, it’s not really worth it.
Not sure when the last time was that you’ve been through Dulles (departing), but they have totally revamped the security lines, and though they can still be long, the wait is NO WHERE near as bad as it used to be.
I saw someone post something about various Smithsonian exhibits being closed due the sequestration. Googling doesn’t bring much up - but I’d certainly check to see if anything is going to be closed on the days you plan on being there.