Columbus Day is Oct 14th next year - and is a pubic holiday in some places. Banks and gov't offices may be closed - but not stores, restaurants, museums, etc. Weather probably does not vary by a week of 2 and you should have good weather both places.

BUT, Oct is definitely heading into high season in NYC and hotels are going to be very expensive. Probably the earlier the better - and do look for deals far in advance - sometimes if you are willing to prepay/no refund you can get bargains.

In NYC trees don;t change until end Oct - but once you get away from the city (on Amtrak etc) trees will at least have started to change by mid Oct.

As for conferences - there are often conferences in both places - it shouldn;t affect hotels substantially unless you want those specific ones used by the Congress or right near the Congress center.

I'd say fly into one and out of the other. Assuming they are still running, there are some extremely inexpensive busses between NYC and DC. Hub and I took Mega Bus and it only cost $32.50 TOTAL for the entire trip.

It would be easy to take a cab from your NYC hotel to the bus pickup or to your train if that's how you decide.

Of course it depends on whether we've had a frost. Some trees are just beginning in the DC area but I believe have peaked in New England area. The weather though is some of the best of the year--70's/80's with blue skies.

As nytraveler says, both cities are geared for conventions and visitors, I don't think you'll have much trouble with hotels this far in advance.

This info is now 2 years old, but my husband, known as Hub the Cheap, loved Park Savoy hotel in NYC. It was very basic but the price was always less than $200/night and the location couldn't be beat: http://www.parksavoyhotel.com/

I can't help with DC hotels because we live too close to need them. For fun night life, look around the Dupont Circle area. Also look online for the Cirulator Busses--very cheap (if not free)--being near one of the routes could be very convenient for you.

Trip report please!

>> Am I right in thinking that the days will be slightly longer and slightly warmer earlier in October?<<

Yes you are. But generally the foliage will be farther along color wise during the latter half of October.

Sounds like a fun trip!

October is high season in both New York and DC. Business travel is high, but few people come to NYC for Columbus Day (Halloween is a different matter altogether, when the city can be fairly crowded with out of towners). Still, the issue is not going to be availability but rather price. NYC has about quadruple the number of hotel rooms that SF has, so a big event (even something like the New York Marathon) doesn't usually lead to a sell-out, just higher prices, but you can always run into a particular week or weekend when availability is limited (such as during the UN general assembly meetings). The only time we really sell out is during Thanksgiving and often during the season leading up to Christmas. You'll be gone longer before then. But even then there's usually some room available for some price somewhere in the city.

Washington can be harder, and October is a busy season politically. But if you make your reservations 3 months in advance you should have no problems. It's really far too early to worry about next year, but if you wanted to make a completely cancellable reservation now and then just look for something better about 3 months out, that can be a prudent course.

The train is the way to go. It's comfortable and easy. The bus requires you to load out on the street, even during rain and bad weather, and traffic can slow the ride considerably.

It's true that the bus can be cheaper (much cheaper if you're early enough to get the lowest fares). But IMHO it just isn;t as comfortble as the train.

Also, Amtrak is usually on time (within 15 minutes) which the buses can be delayed significantly (1 to 2 hours or more) by traffic, construction, bad weather or accidents. Amtrak fares are cheaper if you buy at least a week or so in advance. Also, be aware that for Amtrak you may need to produce you official ID (passport) in order to board. (NYC has been on permanent high alert since 9/11 and everyplace has extra security precautions.)

Thanks for all the input everyone.

It looks like the beginning of October is going to be the best plan. Very glad to hear the hotel situation is better than in San Francisco when there is a major conference.

I'm hoping that the White House garden tours are on the weekend that we are in Washington; they are this year.

Double check about getting in. You can;t get into the White House without being part of a set tour (for americans arranged by their sen or rep) and vetted in advance. Not sure if rules are different just for getting into the grounds. For the white house itself you can;t take anything in with you - not even a purse.

<<<not even a purse>>>

And not even a smartphone or camera.

I agree that the train is the way to go - much more comfortable than a bus and on time. You don't need to book the faster Acella which is expensive; the regular Amtrak is about 30 minutes longer and very reasonable when booked in advance. And if you fly in one city and out the other, you will only need one way.

Just to weigh in a little about White House. My art group went in December to see the holiday decorations. We applied in July and waited for them to assign us a date. We had to send in all kinds of information including SS#. Thanks to 9/11, one must jump through quite a few hoops to get in.

Once there, we had to show a picture ID and were allowed a phone but nothing else. We were told no pix but people were taking them with their phones and no one stopped them.

If our experience was typical, start arranging this now, CarrieAnn40. Look online for procedures.

First off, Oracle OpenWorld is not just any conference. You really were unlucky. It brings in about 50,000 people into San Francisco--probably more because of all the support people.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=8830478

Our trip to New York and DC this summer was over two weeks as well. If you live an urban area, you find more than enough to fill your days and quite a variety too. But it would also be a nice time of year to take a day trip out of one of either cities.

We rented a car and went to Mount Vernon, George Washington's estate, which we loved. We also went to an amusement park one day and Civil War sites. Anyway, it's a thought.

I'll look into the White House tours soon - I know they want all sorts of info really early on to get a place. The garden tours seem a bit more laid back but they might not fall on that particular weekend next year.

The Oracle thing was pretty bad news on the accommodation front but we had no choice. At least we got somewhere and didn't have to camp in the car for the first couple of nights!!!

Thanks again!

We had the White House tour at the end of May. No purses or cameras were allowed; no bags of any kind. Yes, we could have camera phones, but could not take them out while inside. Before leaving the building, I asked if I could take a picture, since a guard was literally in every room. I was told to get beyond the portico.

Our tour had gotten bumped up an hour, and we were there almost an hour before that. They let us in early, no problem, because we were on the list.