Looks like I may be getting talked into taking a spring break trip to Washington DC the week of April 1st. I realize that this is Cherry Blossom Festival time and that it should be overrun with school age kids and parents who planned for the trip long ago and got decent rates.
I know nothing of the subway or bus lines. Are there decent hotels on the outskirts of DC that you can take an express to the National Mall? I’d like to stay in a decent suburb with reasonable hotel rates and easy access to the mall.
Been to all of the monuments, White House, Capitol, Smithsonian and Ford’s Theater. Am I missing anything that a 12 and 14 boy and girl would find neat (or possibly even cool)?
Are there specific Cherry Blossom Festival activities such as parades? I seem to recall that the band from my school went there to perform I think, but that was way many years ago.
The Metro doesn’t have any express trains. However, it’s very easy to navigate and there are sops at and around the Mall.
It’s been too long since I’ve lived there to give you any reasonable advice about hotel choices, except to say that if you pick one near a Metro stop getting to to the Mall won’t be a problem.
Oh, and cherry blossoms … it’s almost impossible to predict when they’ll be in bloom. From year to year the blooming period differs by weeks depending on the winter and spring weather.
You’re probably looking to stay at hotels on the left branches of Orange and Red. There are loads of mid-tier hotels there. Also try to find flights into Reagan instead of Dulles. Dulles costs an arm and a leg to get out to by taxi. Reagan is metro-accessible. BWI has a shuttle and a MARC train that goes to Union Station in the heart of the city but nothing really beats the convenience of hopping on the metro straight off your flight.
Sights:
Zoo, National Portrait Gallery in Chinatown (there’s an exhibit on “cool” icons right now like James Dean, etc), Air and Space annex in Va (Udvar Hazy Center $15 to park, free to enter), Great Falls hike (MD side in Potomac - also called Billy Goat Trail), Embassy Row (they sell tickets to events too), and instead of going to a fancy dinner, go to a fancy brunch. I’d argue that DC has some of the best brunch restaurants around.
DC also has a metric ton of good ethnic restaurants. So if that’s something lacking where you live, you might plan on taking advantage of that. To find good ethnic restaurants, I go to Tyler Cowen’s Ethnic Dining Guide - one-big-page version, blog-format searchable version.
I’d say look for interesting restaurants near the places you’re going to be anyway, rather than traveling miles out of your way for a meal. The Mall is unfortunately a food desert, but plenty of good eating near practically anywhere else you’re likely to be.
Yes, and you may notice a particular preponderance of Ethiopian restaurants in and around DC. Possibly too challenging for kids, depending on their age (though they would get to eat with their fingers!), but if you’ve never had it, I highly recommend trying it.
And everything you could possibly want to know about the cherry blossom festival can be found here:
The museum itself is pretty awesome and interesting, but I highly recommend paying the money and doing the Operation Spy game that they have.
It lasts about an hour and you get to do all sorts of fun activities like follow a meeting with security cameras, case a joint, solve a case and everything. IIRC they have multiple endings too depending on how well your team did.
It was so much fun when I did it and I was 22 or so at the time
ETA: For the record the age limit is 12, so you’re good to go there in case you were curious
My family loved the Museum of Crime and Punishment, and the International Spy Museum sounds great, but I haven’t been there yet myself. Those two are a bit pricey. Also, a tour of Voice of America’s radio studio is interesting and, I believe, free.
I’ll give another vote for the Udvar Hazy Center. The father of my oldest friend volunteers there as a docent and he gave us a private tour one day. So fascinating! If you go, I hugely recommend joining a guided tour. The gift shop is pretty sweet, too; I bought some glow-in-the-dark nail polish that continues to lift my spirits.
As for hotels, there is an Embassy Suites at the King Street station that might be a good choice for a family. There are also convenient hotels at Rosslyn, Ballston and Crystal City, although I have no idea about cost. Downtown, the Hotel Harrington caters to school groups and so may have affordable options.
Here is a cheat sheet of April 2014 events in the Washington Area. It includes Cherry Blossom Festival info. Note, too, the International Pillow Fight on April 5.
That’s a good time of year to visit the zoo.
The Holocaust Museum is an unforgettable visit, but consider carefully whether your kids would be able to handle it.
I did the Washington DC trip as a 13 year old boy. We did the usual sites you’d mentioned above, but also the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
I still remember it now as an adult as one of the highlights of the trip.
I also liked Monticello, although I was biased since I remember the weather that day was absolutely gorgeous, springlike making the whole area look wonderful. After months of a cold snowy gray Ohio winter, I felt like I’d been transported to the Emerald City in Virginia.
The peak bloom prediction for cherry blossoms has been released: April 8-12. We’ve had some cold weather so they’re blooming later than usual.
Unlike the various Smithsonian museums, the National Geographic museum charges admission: Nat Geo Live! - National Geographic Society
It’s not as large as the other museums but is very interesting if your kids are into exploration, photography, etc.
I second Tom Tildrum’s zoo recommendation. It’ll be packed like everything else, but it’s a huge zoo.
When you start looking at hotels, post the ones you’re looking at here so we can give thumbs up or down. I can’t remember the name, but there is one in a slightly terrifying NE neighborhood that draws a fair number of tourists who think they have found an awesome deal.
Just check the address on Google Maps. If it’s between New York Ave and Maryland Ave (I’m lookin’ at you, Trinidad!) or anywhere east of the Anacostia River, that’s a big NO.
There’s a Courtyard Marriott a couple blocks from Metro in Silver Spring, MD that was reasonably priced last time I checked. It’s an easy ride from there downtown, and it’s in a pleasant neighborhood.
There’s some good advice above. Check the Metrorail maps. The Orange and Blue lines go straight to the Mall without having to change trains. Consider close-in Virginia, maybe as close as Rosslyn; possibly Silver Spring (Red Line); or close-in Alexandria (a destination in its own right). You will want to stay near a Metro station rather than taking buses. Buses work but take much longer and are slaves to traffic.
The Newseum is also a very good museum. More mature kids might appreciate it. They have their own TV studio, which is kind of cool.
You could take a day trip to Baltimore to see the Inner Harbor, National Aquarium.
The Nationals’ home opener is on Fri. April 4 vs. the Braves. Games also that Sat & Sun.
It is probably too late to schedule but contact your Congressman’s office to ask about tours of the Capitol. It’s a good tour but has to be scheduled ahead of time through your Congressman. Personally I would skip the White House tour unless you are really, really fascinated by the idea.
Monticello is a 2-hour drive from the western suburbs of DC. That’s *really *off the Metro line. Might be worth an overnight stop on your way to DC, if it’s on the way. Where are you coming from?
Be sure to check Metro’s website before riding on a Saturday or Sunday. They’re doing a massive “improvement project” and every single weekend for the last 8 months there has been some kind of inconvenient service change, whether it be trains running only every half hour, or trains going out of service at random stations instead of going all the way out to the burbs, or certain stations being completely closed. Last weekend, trains were going right through Metro Center (the only direct transfer from Red to Blue or Orange) without stopping. They always provide free shuttle buses to closed stations, but obviously that adds quite a bit of time to the trip. The announcements for each weekend are generally posted on Thursdays.
If it’s going to be during the cherry blossom festival, they wouldn’t dare mess with the metro schedule. It’s already guaranteed to be a shitshow. Adding construction delays would be disastrous.