Another Washington D.C. Thread

Have any of you done a Moonlight Tour? I was planning to book the Trolley one but I see DC Trails has a groupon out.
I did the DC Trails daytime hop on/hop off and the nighttime tour. Had a horrible experience with the daytime, BUT we really liked the nighttime tour. The tour guide we had was great, engaging and full of information. We used a groupon for them as well.
 
I did the DC Trails daytime hop on/hop off and the nighttime tour. Had a horrible experience with the daytime, BUT we really liked the nighttime tour. The tour guide we had was great, engaging and full of information. We used a groupon for them as well.

Thanks! I was originally planning to do the Trolley Tour one but with the groupon, DC trails is cheaper.
 
We did the DC at Dusk tour by USA Guided tours. It was an awesome tour and covered all of the monuments! White House, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, World War 2 memorial, MLK memorial, Thomas Jefferson memorial...may have been more, but I can't remember. Tour bus was comfortable and the guides were informative and funny!!

https://usaguidedtours.com/dc-night-tour/
 
Anyone have any idea what the current response time for White House tours is? I know it's a slim chance to get tickets but we're 10 days away from arrival and haven't heard anything. I heard they at least send out an email if you DON'T get tickets as well. I'm just trying to nail down our itinerary for the week. Thanks!
 


Anyone have any idea what the current response time for White House tours is? I know it's a slim chance to get tickets but we're 10 days away from arrival and haven't heard anything. I heard they at least send out an email if you DON'T get tickets as well. I'm just trying to nail down our itinerary for the week. Thanks!
You definitely should have heard from them by now. We did this last summer through our Congressman Corey Booker.
 
We did the DC at Dusk tour by USA Guided tours. It was an awesome tour and covered all of the monuments! White House, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, World War 2 memorial, MLK memorial, Thomas Jefferson memorial...may have been more, but I can't remember. Tour bus was comfortable and the guides were informative and funny!!

https://usaguidedtours.com/dc-night-tour/
We did the NYC day tour with usaguidedtours. It was great!
 
You definitely should have heard from them by now. We did this last summer through our Congressman Corey Booker.

I went through our congressman as well. Spoke with the person who makes the requests by phone and he confirmed he received the request and with enough time. It wouldn't be the end of the world if we don't get to go inside. A client of mine who has the same congressman said she got an email stating they didn't get tickets when they went several months ago. Not sure if it just varies.

Perhaps I'll email the aide I spoke to so I can create our itinerary. Thanks!
 


Well, just got our confirmation for the White House - yay! Only problem is it's an hour and a half after our Capitol Tour begins :guilty: Trying to get the Capitol Tour changed to another day or perhaps we'll just do a public tour instead. Anyone do the self guided? Issues getting in during busy times? I really enjoyed the ones we took with the guides and feel my kids would benefit. Anyone have experience/feedback?
 
We had a general tour of the White House and a guided tour of the Capital in May.

The White House was a let down but the Capital tour was great (it was a private tour set up in the Congressperson’s office). We toured the House, not senate so I can’t say how the Senate tour would be.

The White House is a self guided tour. For us, I think we went through 3 sets of security which took longer than the tour. We went through the rooms, lots of tourists trying for the same pictures. We took pictures inside and out and left, after security it took a half hour, maybe less.

The Capital tour guide was friendly and informative. We learned a lot about the history and workings of the House. Not so many pictures but we really liked it. I am positive that this tour depends on the type of tour that you have and the tour guide. So hard to say what to do, we had the same dilemma but was able to get into the White House first and then booked it over to the Capital.

I’m not positive but I think you can get into the White House within an hour of your reservation. I would check into that and see if you can show up late for the White House after the Capital if you can’t get things rescheduled
 
It's a few year back now, but I did a mini trip just three nights and two days. It was so much fun and I was amazed at how much we did get done! I'm not a fan of heat and humidity, so picked an October weekend when DS didn't have school on Friday. DH didn't come, but it was me, DS who was in High School at the time, my niece who was in college at the time, and my mom.

For planning I got tickets ahead of time from our congressional representative's office for the Library of Congress, the Capital Building, and the White House (I especially loved that White House tour -- the photos they had of previous presidents and famous people all blown up was so much fun to see. When we were there there was a big hallway with all of these to see upon entering.). They arranged all these tours, so they would be convenient time wise for us to fit into one day while we were in that area.

I found Washington DC hotels to be really pricey, so to stay in budget got a room with the triple deal (free parking, a nice buffet breakfast included, and double queen room) at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bethesda, MD that was right near the metro. Sure it took us 20 minutes or so to get places, but places right in the city of similar quality were more than double the cost. We used the metro to get everywhere and it was very easy to use and convenient.

DS and I coming in from St. Louis got an evening flight into Regan and took the metro to the hotel. My mom and niece coming in from Chicago flew into a different airport and rented a car that they parked at the hotel for the weekend for the most part, but with the deal that they got and the fact that we had free parking it was cheaper than taxi/uber.

Day 1
We did the Library of Congress Tour, visited our congressional office, visited my niece's congressional office, did the Capital tour, and then did the White House tour. The weather was just beautiful and Washington D.C. is so gorgeous, I had that song from Wicked, "one fine day in the emerald city" going through my head. Next we went back to our hotel and relaxed a little bit and had dinner. And then for the evening we did the "Monuments at Night tour" -- of course you can see all of these for free if you have the time to do it, but with our limited time, this was great, having the bus take us from monument to monument and give us the history too. It is a fantastic option if you have limited time. The only monument which I personally find very moving that I would have liked to see my son and niece to see that wasn't on the tour was the Vietnam Memorial. It's probably not one to see at night as this is not one that is lit up and more of one to see during the day.

Day 2
We let DS have his top picks for 1/2 the day and my niece have her top picks for 1/2 the day, as there is just so much that is worthwhile that it is hard to pick and choose. Day 1 had been my must dos for them to see. For DS who is a Titanic Enthusiast he wanted to see the Titanic memorial which is in a pretty park that locals do a lot of jogging in etc. This is where James Cameron got the idea for the "King of the World" pose for Leonardo DeCaprio in his movie. This was tons of fun, but not something anyone other than a hard core Titanic enthusiast should bother with. Next we hit the Air and Space museum (of course you could spend tons of time at so many of the wonderful Smithsonian museums), but on our tight timeframe we only had time to maybe spend an hour and a half / two hours at one. DS was very happy to set to go here. Next we headed to Arlington, as my niece really wanted to see Arlington cemetery.

Departure Day
After breakfast DS and I took the metro back to Regan and flew home. My mom and niece had a later flight and I believe after checking out took the car into Washington D.C. and went to see some other monuments that we didn't see on the tour or ones' that my niece had wanted to see again.

Note: This was my fourth trip to Washington D.C. and my mom has been quite a few times before. This was the first trip, though, for both my son and niece.

Just want to say that I remember this trip very fondly and we all do. Even if you can go for a short time, it is so worth it.
 
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We were able to get our guided Capitol tour changed to 2 PM! So White House at 11:30 and Capitol at 2. Hopefully gives us enough time to grab a quick bite in between!
 
We were able to get our guided Capitol tour changed to 2 PM! So White House at 11:30 and Capitol at 2. Hopefully gives us enough time to grab a quick bite in between!

We had lunch in the cafeteria at the Capitol building a few years ago after our tour. The mac and cheese was so good. They have a lot of options and aren't bad if you don't want to wander away from the mall area. The pricing isn't the best but when most of what you are doing is free I don't find having to spend a bit on food that bad. There's also a decent food court in the Regan building if you are near it. We did lunch there last year before the museum of African American History. However if you're ok walking a few blocks away from the mall you'll find food trucks, mcdonald's and other stuff you can find online.
 
Show up early for the White House tour (for sure 11 and I’d maybe try for 10:45) and then you will have longer to fit lunch in. All of the Smithsonian museums have decent cafeterias. The American Indian museum cafeteria was not crowded and had some interesting food. There were food trucks not far where we grabbed a bite but personally I would have liked to duck into an air conditioning. The national gallery of art was another cafeteria that had some nice selections but it was busier than the American Indian museum.

Walk from the White House to the Mall, it’s a nice walk to the Capital.
 
The American Indian museum has a cafeteria with really good and different food. Most of the museums have the usual cafe fare, but the American Indian museum actually incorporates flavors from the nations represented at the museum. Would highly recommend that if you need something on the mall.

If you're feeling adventurous, DC has a ton of great Ethiopian food. My personal favorite is Chercher, at 9th and O St a few blocks from the Mount Vernon Square/Convention Center metro. You can walk to the Archives/Navy Memorial/Penn Quarter metro from the mall and ride the GR/YL 3 stops to get there, or you can always jump on at Smithsonian and transfer to the GR/YL at L'Enfant Plaza.
 
I'm glad I wondered upon this post. There's a lot of great info! We decided to cancel our $5k Disney trip in the spring and instead are going to do D.C. instead. I went once a few years ago for a day and really enjoyed the few things I did see. I'm excited to go for a few days with DF and our kids, even if the kids might not be super into it (they're only going to be 2 and 3 by the time we go).


Out of sheer curiosity, for anyone, what was your favorite thing to do and favorite place to eat? I'd love to compile a list to show DF.
 
I'm glad I wondered upon this post. There's a lot of great info! We decided to cancel our $5k Disney trip in the spring and instead are going to do D.C. instead. I went once a few years ago for a day and really enjoyed the few things I did see. I'm excited to go for a few days with DF and our kids, even if the kids might not be super into it (they're only going to be 2 and 3 by the time we go).


Out of sheer curiosity, for anyone, what was your favorite thing to do and favorite place to eat? I'd love to compile a list to show DF.

Places to eat: in Old Town Alexandria I really enjoyed Gadsby's Tavern! So neat eating where many historical figures dined. A little pricey but fun (they even dress up in colonial outfits) and there's a museum next door. Ben's Chili Bowl is a must also!

Things we did while there (with an 8 month old, 7 and 9 year old):
Freedom House (Alexandria)
Gadsby's Tavern Museum
Ford's Theatre
Natural History Museum
Arlington Cemetary
Self Guided night walking tour of the monuments/memorials (Lincoln, Korean War, WWII and MLK)
White House Tour
U.S. Capitol Tour
American History Museum
Bureau of Engraving and Printing Tour
Mt. Vernon (my personal favorite and one of my favorite places to visit ever)
Great Falls
Chantilly Air and Space Museum

We had an incredible time - thank you to all who pitched in with tips and suggestions!
 
I'm glad I wondered upon this post. There's a lot of great info! We decided to cancel our $5k Disney trip in the spring and instead are going to do D.C. instead. I went once a few years ago for a day and really enjoyed the few things I did see. I'm excited to go for a few days with DF and our kids, even if the kids might not be super into it (they're only going to be 2 and 3 by the time we go).


Out of sheer curiosity, for anyone, what was your favorite thing to do and favorite place to eat? I'd love to compile a list to show DF.

My kids loved the Spy Museum. I thought it cheesy but they loved it, add that with a food truck ice cream and a Metro ride. I would recommend the National Zoo.
 
You can take the DC Circulator around to all the monuments. We pick it up at stop #5, to the "left" of the WashingtonMonument (if you think of the African American Museum as being to the "right). You can hop off at the Jefferson, FDR, MLK, Korean War, Lincoln, and Vietnam Memorials. It's $1 the first time you get on, and if you use your Metro card you can transfer (i.e., hop on/hop off) for 2 hours with no additional charge. FTR, after it stops at the Lincoln, we like to ride it back down the Mall. You can hop off anywhere along either side of the Mall, OR it circulates up to Union Station. Look it up! It was a great compromise between walking all the time and being stuck in traffic!
 
I'm glad I wondered upon this post. There's a lot of great info! We decided to cancel our $5k Disney trip in the spring and instead are going to do D.C. instead. I went once a few years ago for a day and really enjoyed the few things I did see. I'm excited to go for a few days with DF and our kids, even if the kids might not be super into it (they're only going to be 2 and 3 by the time we go).


Out of sheer curiosity, for anyone, what was your favorite thing to do and favorite place to eat? I'd love to compile a list to show DF.

I live here, so a different perspective, but I took my kids in to the museums a lot when they were those ages. The things they particularly liked include:
--Air and Space
--The Calder room at the National Gallery of Art (and the moving walkway and fountain in the tunnel that connects the two museum wings)
--the mammal and dinosaur exhibits at the national gallery of art
--the zoo (if you're metro-ing, get off at the Cleveland Park station on the way there, then you walk downhill to the zoo. On the way home, go to the Woodley Park-Zoo station to go downhill again)
--The American history museum has a great playroom for little kids
--The building museum (not free) has a playroom and a cool exhibit with these big foam blocks that the kids can build things with
--there's a carousel in the middle of the national mall

Not that you're coming here to go to playrooms, but since most of these are free, you can pop into them as needed to give the kids a break in the middle of visiting museums and monuments.
 
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I'm glad I wondered upon this post. There's a lot of great info! We decided to cancel our $5k Disney trip in the spring and instead are going to do D.C. instead. I went once a few years ago for a day and really enjoyed the few things I did see. I'm excited to go for a few days with DF and our kids, even if the kids might not be super into it (they're only going to be 2 and 3 by the time we go).


Out of sheer curiosity, for anyone, what was your favorite thing to do and favorite place to eat? I'd love to compile a list to show DF.
We went last April & our favorites were: Mount Vernon, a Monuments by Moonlight tour (it’s listed on Trip Advisor), the Botanical Gardens, Capitol Tour, Air & Space Museum
Favorite places to eat: Old Ebbitts Grille (near Capitol), Ted’s Bulletin
 

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