meab

we are planning for a long-weekend type trip to washington dc with our 3 children, ages 8, 5, and almost 2. i have never visited dc before, so i am not sure how much time to allow for the various museums, etc. i have a rough itinerary in mind, and was hoping to get some feedback.

day 1 - arrive, check in to hotel (hoping for embassy suites downtown, convention center is 2nd choice; we'll be using the metro to get around). visit american history museum.

day 2 - air and space museum in morning, afternoon: zoo or seeing some of the monuments.

day 3 - natural history museum in the morning. afternoon: see the monuments or the zoo (whichever was not done the day before).

day 4 - go home.

i was afraid of overscheduling the days, but i am wondering if we have room to squeeze anything else in. i think we might also like to see the library of congress, the botanical gardens, and the hirshorn sculpture garden if possible. i think the kids would enjoy a carousel ride. for the monuments, we'll either try to go to the top of the washington monument or maybe the top of the old post office. i'd like to see the monuments at night, but potentially we will be visiting in november or march, and i think it will be too cold to be out at night.

the kids are young, so i don't feel the need to be hard-core DC sightseers. they will be happy to see the white house from the outside. most of everything will be lost on the 2 year old, but i think there will be enough to keep her out of trouble (!), and she likes to hang out in her stroller anyway.

if we can maybe squeeze 2 of the museums into one day, and then catch a late flight home on the 3rd day, that would work out too. i'm just not sure how much time to allot for each attraction.

thanks in advance. always lots of help at this board!

vjpblovesitaly

I think your itinerary looks good. Since you will be in the National Mall area, you will easily find other stuff to do without necessarily planning it. Maybe a trip to the top of the Old Post Office would be nice.

http://www.nps.gov/opot/index.htm

spirobulldog

Maybe a trip to the top of Washington Monument. You can spend a full day in the Smithsonians, but half day will be about right. your 2 year old will enjoy the zoo. You can always do the museums if it is raining, but keep the Monuments and Zoo open for decent weather. Sounds lie a good 3 day trip.

NewbE

I think your itinerary definitely sounds doable. The good thing about DC is that it's easy to be spontaneous, especially on the Mall: all the museums and monuments are free, and they're all clustered in the same (large!) area. So you can hit the sculpture garden in between museums, or walk over to the Post Office for lunch and a ride to the top, or hit another museum instead, and so on.

If you're there during spring break or Thanksgiving, be prepared to skip going up to the top of the Washington Monument, because lines will be loooong. Honestly, I prefer the Post office Pavilion's view anyway; lines there can be long, too, though, and I personally would not wait more than 30 minutes, there are way too many fun things to do instead.

longhorn55

With kids the ages of yours, I wouldn't plan on spending more than 2 hours in any of the museums without a break. As mentioned previously, by concentrating your visit on the Mall, you can hop between museums and easily makes stops at the carousel, sculpture garden, botanical gardens, etc. Don't forget the art museums too. In the National Gallery of Art East, there is a room of some of Alexander Caulder's sculptures (including several of animals) which should appeal to your children. The Cascade Cafe, located between the NGA East and NGA West is a great place to eat on the Mall. There's a wide variety of food choices; the food is better than the average museum fare; the prices are reasonable; and the indoor waterfall is appealing. (Also, the underground moving sidewalk between the two museums is surrounded by blinking lights and is another favorite with children.)
Finally, if you are coming during a holiday time and you definitely want to go up in the Washington Monument, I suggest you go online and order tickets before you come. The tickets themselves are free, but if you order online, there is a service charge.

tchoiniere

Maybe do the zoo first thing in the morning as the animals are more active. Probably less of an issue in the cooler weather but in June, as the day went on, the animals were less active.

Other than that, it looks manageable as long as the kids are up for a lot of walking.

meab

thanks to everyone for the responses. longhorn, i didn't think we'd spend more than 2 hours in any single museum at once. i was wondering if there were some where you could see the highlights in less time to appeal to those short attention spans! and if you spend an hour or two at, say, the american history museum, would the kids be up to another museum later in the day? (that assumes a break in between for lunch and other stops along the mall). i was hesitant to plan more than one "museum" per day.

we are used to walking and waiting in lines...the kids are big-time disney veterans. i'm thinking they *should* be ok with all the walking...!

obxgirl

Have you checked the Smithsonian website? They've got some good stuff for visiting kids, aged 5-7.

There's a discovery room for kids in the natural history museum. Don't know if you need timed tickets or not.

The big train cars and locomotives were hits with my kids at that age. As was the carousel, of course, the sculpture garden, and the national mall in general. Lots of running room. We used switch off sometimes and let one of us do a foray to an exhibit while the other rode herd on the children outside. The museums on the mall are close enough together that if one of them bombs, attentionwise, you can pop into another one.

Based on what you've posted, you should not be spending much time in lines, unless you get tickets for the Washington Monument. With kids that age, I would go for the tower in the old Post Office. It's easier to bail if someone suddenly decides they don't like heights and there's food/drink and seats for before or after.

You didn't mention one Smithsonian museum which is a huge hit with younger kids and that is the Postal Museum. It's across the street from Union Station (metro there as well as lots of restaurants) and brimming with hands on stuff for children. You will maximize your museum time there.

Generally speaking the zoo is a better option early in the day when the animals are more active and the kids are less likely to moan about walking. It's hilly in places.

Have fun and wishing you good weather!

MichelleY

You may also want to check if any of the museums or art galleries prohibit stroller use. This could impact your enjoyment of the sites.

longhorn55

Before you come to D.C., I also recommend that you go to the websites for the various Smithsonian museums and see what each has to offer. You can see what exhibits will most interest your kids and there's even a calendar for kids' activities each day.
This is a good resource for information on taking kids to the Smithsonian museums: http://www.si.edu/visit/kids_and_families.htm
You can take strollers into all the Smithsonian museums (but children may not be carried on your back or on your shoulders in the National Gallery of Art.)
Finally, I see no reason why you couldn't visit at least 2 musuems each day since you only plan to spend an hour or so in each.

motherx5

Our family is currently in DC for our 3rd week-long visit. During our planning we initially chose Embassy Suites Downtown but changed when we thought about it being 4-blocks from the nearest Metro and no shuttle service at all (Metro, airport, etc). We opted instead for Embassy Suites at Chevy Chase Pavilion. Friendship Heights Metro is below us so we don't even step foot outdoors to get to the Metro. The area is nice - right in the middle of a large upscale shopping district on one side and, surprisingly, residential on the other. Not a lot of tourists make their way this direction but there's everything we could want right here. We prefer Embassy Suites when we travel for the two-room convenience, the free cooked-to-order breakfast each morning and the manager's reception each evening. That really helps the budget! No matter where you go around here you will encounter escalators everywhere (and some of the longest in the world). Metro stations offer elevators at each station. If there is an outage they let you know and direct you to an alternate stop and offer a shuttle to the station with the outage. We were in the Crystal City area on a previous visit. They were further from Metro but offered a shuttle bus service that ran every 15-minutes or so. That was very nice since it was November and during a cold/damp time. Hope you enjoy DC as much as we do!

meab

michelleY & longhorn, thanks for the tip on strollers/carrying kids. i hadn't thought of that.

motherx5, that is also a great point about the metro. i like the idea of the metro being right inside the hotel. but when i checked the metro website, it looks like if we want to go to the smithsonian stop, we will have to change trains, and it will take about 20 minutes or so (with a 10 minute wait for trains in between). it might be easier to walk 4 blocks to the metro and take a single ride from the foggy bottom stop (if staying at the embassy suites downtown). maybe it is a case of 6-in-one, half-dozen in the other...?

another sort of dumb question: how long is a 4-block walk? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? i'm not sure what "blocks" are equivalent to in terms of time/mileage. obviously, if there is bad weather, 4 blocks is too far

thanks again!

kayd

On the downtown grid, 10 blocks is one mile. so four blocks is just under a half mile, or 8-10 minutes for most when you consider stopping for the lights at each corner.

fourfortravel

meab,

I may have missed when you're visiting DC in your message, but something to consider is that the Smithsonian museums have later hours in the summer (until 7:30).

A few comments from a metro-DC mom of young children not-so-far-removed in age from yours:

1. After a while the museums all seem the same--lots of stuff to look at, but little to actually "do." Natural History and American History have Discovery Labs and hands-on carts that can be fun when the museum is not crowded, and can be downright miserable when they are. I'm not discouraging you from going, just sharing personal experience. The carousel on the Mall makes for a nice break from the museums, as do the outdoor sculpture gardens near the National Gallery and the Hirschorn--children can generally run about. In the winter the fountain area of the National Gallery Sculpture Garden becomes an ice rink.

2. Speaking of the National Gallery, the East Wing houses all of the contemporary art--brightly lit galleries with equally funky, colorful art and can be a whimsical visit, especially if followed by ice cream in the cafe in front of the cascading waterfall.

3. The Zoo in the morning is better than in the afternoon--the animals, and your children, are more awake and eager to walk around. Plan to spend more money than you'd like on lunch in the Zoo (and for ordinary food) if you're not bringing your own.

4. I'd go to Air & Space on the first day--the children will be excited about their trip, and about all you can do with them at their ages is look at the planes and rockets, making it an easy one to "check off." Many of the galleries are heavy on information that children under 10 aren't all that into.

5. An IMAX movie scheduled for the end of the day is a great way to lengthen the day and fill that dreaded "The museums are closed and it's too early for dinner" time.

6. I'd skip the Washington Monument with the little ones unless you're planning to divide and conquer. Our children up to about age 5 or 6 had little recollection of their earliest visits. I agree that the Post Office Pavillion is a better bet.

7. The Postal Museum is way fun; plus, it's adjacent to Union Station (and the trains to watch coming and going.)

8. Don't forget the simple fun of feeding popcorn to the ducks in the reflecting pools. Delightful at all ages.

Have fun!

bardo1

Agree w/ suggestion for Zoo: go first thing in the morning. Plan to arrive at Zoo by 9am or even 8:30am. The experience is exponentially better than an afternoon visit.

The museums are, of course, indoors so it doesn't matter when you go.

bardo1

Also, I think Convention Center is a much better location tan Foggy Bottom. Chevy Chsase would be my last choice, even if it is right on the Metro.

obxgirl

fourfortravel, Are we twins? You posted what I did almost word for word two days ago.

fourfortravel

obxgirl,

Maybe fraternal twins, but not identical. You didn't mention ducks or the IMAX movie.

obxgirl

Yeah, and I can't do the IMAX. Motion sickness!

artsbabe

obxgirl -- finally another human being who gets nauseated at the IMAX! I can't even walk into an IMAX theatre any more without feeling queasy.