ibob

I will be visiting the Washington Monument What do I look forward to seeing? Thank you.

mrwunrfl

You'll see everything in a 15 or 20 mile radius that has a line of sight to the windows near the top of the monument, depending on the weather.

There are four windows.

Here is the south view:
http://www.nps.gov/wamo/experience/south.htm

Click the North, East, and West links on the above page to get the other views.

Here's another east view:
http://www.photodc.com/imagegallery/...erial.mall.htm

Brooklyn_Bomber

I seem to recall seeing a lot of stairs going up, followed shortly thereafter by a lot of stairs going down.

BigRed

From the NPS website......

A park ranger will direct visitors to have a seat on the marble bench to the left of the elevator, and will share information about the monument or answer questions until the elevator arrives. Everyone seated on the bench will be asked to move to the west side of the elevator to view the statue of George Washington before boarding.

The new elevator will take 70 seconds to reach the 500 foot level. Once at the top, the east doors will open and visitors will advance into the newly restored observation area. There are two windows on every side, and every other window has steps under it so smaller visitors can assist themselves in getting a better view. There is no time limit as to how long one may stay at the top. When visitors are ready to leave, they take the staircases at the east side of the observation area down one level (10 steps). There are new exhibits on the 490 foot level and a small book shop. This is where visitors board the elevator to come back down to the ground level. The ride down will take 2 minutes and 18 seconds. One of the features of the new elevator is that it slows down at the 280 and 270 foot levels, and also at the 140 and 130 foot levels, allowing people to see some of the commemorative stones. The elevator has special opaque doors that become clear when the elevator gets to the above mentioned levels, and the walls light up for better viewing. Once on the ground level, visitors proceed to the hallway on the right side of the security area and exit out the building.

The stairwell inside the monument is closed to the public.

DeeDee

Just wanted to share that you can now book a reserved time to view the Washington Monument online. While the WM is free, they do charge $1.50 each for the reservation plus a $.50 processing charge for the order. A small price to pay for the convenience of not waiting in line for the same day tickets!

Call 800-967-2283 or online at http://reservations.nps.gov

ibob

Thank you Dee Dee I did just that and I Got the day and time I wanted. I tried to reserve on-line but after 2 unsucessful tries I hit a home run with the 1-800 number. $3.50 for two is much better than being at the ticket kiosk which opens at 8:00am on a first come first serve type basis.(I am not a morning person) I would have skipped the WM but now I am happy to have the option.

soccr

Of course there's "nothing like" the Wash. Monument, but for future readers pondering a visit to DC, I might suggest going up into the Old Post Office Pavilion bell tower instead, esp. if you're short of time. Waiting time is usually much less, cheaper (was free last time I did it), and the view is in some ways better because you are closer to many of the sights you'd like to see from above. It's nowhere near as high, of course, but you're in the middle of downtown instead of off to one side. You can always do both (the Pavillion is good for lunch choices, a little touristy shopping).