Do you have your hotel picked in Washington DC? Drop off your luggage at the hotel rather than storing at the train station while you sightsee. There is a fairly good restaurant upstairs at Union Station. Lots better than the pizza and McDonald's on the main floor. Union station is on top of a METRO station.

2 museums you might want to add in Washington are the Smitsonian Science and the Holocaust. Both wonderfuly done and the Holocaust is moving and inspiring.

In NYC, pack for cold weather, altought it has been warm by our standards, mostly in the 40's and 50's and even hit the 60's, it may dip down especially at night.

One of my favs to suggest to visitors is taking the Staten Island Ferry just at dusk you get to see the city ligts coming up on the way back and a nice view of the Statue of Liberty.

Also if you are seeing museums on 5th Ave you migt want to add The Frick.

Seeing the sties, the ESB does have LONG, LONG lines during high tourist season, which seems to be year round these days, but try and do the Top of The Rock at Rock Center, you get timed tickets so no waiting in lines and the views are spectacular.

Have a lovely time while you are here.

Frankly, I think you're wasting too much time training between NY and DC.

Can you do an open-jaw ticket - fly into one city and out the other?

Or, if not, can you check schedules and the moment you arrive in NY, fly to DC? Appears that day is a lost day anyhow, since you are arriving NY at 5pm. Why not just fly down to DC since you'll already be at the NY airport?

I think you're really wasting too much time sandwiching one DC day between two NY days.

Too late with the transport; it's all been booked for months. We may have looked into doing as you mention but it may have been a bit expensive (it's already around €800 just for us to fly into and out of the same destination). I do agree we seem to be spending a lot of time on the train but it seemed like the best solution at the time of booking these things. But we'll definitely bear your advice in mind for another time (and I am sure there will be another time!).
It's been pretty cold here around Paris too and we are keeping tabs on the weather there too; we think we're pretty well prepared on that front as it's not too different.
Our hotel is already booked in DC; we plan to go straight there (before or after lunch) and drop off our luggage there regardless of whether or not we can check in, right before starting sightseeing.
We looked at Top of the Rock but it seemed a bit expensive for what it is...any cases for it?!
Thanks for the restaurant and museum recommendations. We will have guidebooks with us of course so will be able to consult on these at any time. Keep the suggestions coming

I haven't been to Top of the Rock, but from what I gather, it saves you a LOT of time...the lines for the Empire State Building are LONG and very time-consuming. And while you are waiting (and waiting and waiting), you see nothing except the other people in line. Plus, from TOR you can see the Empire State Building. Considering the duration of your trip, I'd think anything that would save time would be worth a little extra $.

Bianca: is there any way to do the second option and just fly from NY to DC on your arrival in New York?

It'll look somewhat like this:

Day 1: Arrive NY, fly to DC, arrive late night in DC

Day 2: DC

Day 3: train/bus to NY

Day 4: NY

Day 5: Fly out of NY

It'll take you 4 hours just to get from NY to DC, then you'll have to factor in packing your suitcases, checking out of the hotel, getting to the train station - and doing the same thing in reverse in DC. That's about 7 hours gone. Do that twice and that's 14 hours. You only have three full days!

I'm only thinking that if you want to make this a "special" trip for your husband, spending so much time between cities isn't exactly "special" - at least not for me.

Try and cut down on the amount of travel time.

I have a couple of specific comments about the DC leg of your trip:

The only company authorized to do riding tours within Arlington Cemetery ceased operating last year. I don't think the National Park Service has found a replacement for them yet although your hotel concierge should have the latest info on that. AC is a big place to traverse on foot which is all fine if the weather is good and you have plenty of time to wander. Your schedule is pretty tight so you might want to bump this to a subsequent visit.

Zed's Ethiopian, a DC stalwart, closed last year. In its place is DAS another Ethiopian restaurant which is a little pricier (reflecting the Georgetown neighborhood) and more formal than Zed or most of the other Ethiopian places in DC. If that is your cuisine of choice, I'd take a cab from the Phillips to Dukem, Etete or Madjet all of which are in the U Street corridor, sometimes called Little Ethiopia. Less than a 10 minute cab ride from the Phillips.

The Point of View rooftop terrace at the W Hotel is where you'll want to have a cocktail before the Old Ebbitt. It's a 5-10 minute walk to the restaurant from the W. One of the best vistas in DC.

It's worth mentioning that the Portrait Gallery & the Smithsonian American Art Museum are open until 7pm if you can't get to the National Gallery by closing time and still have some energy to tour.

You've got an ambitious trip planned!

Re: NYC on 2/25, four museums in one day? Sounds like a lot, even setting aside lingering jet lag and the time eaten up by waiting in lines, which will make it much harder to just "fit them in" (MoMA always has lines on weekends, and they'll likely be even longer that day since your trip coincides with the end of school vacation week for much of the Northeast US).

If the weather is decent, why not spend at least some of your time enjoying the city outdoors? Cut out a couple of museums and spend a few hours exploring SoHo/Nolita/Chinatown, or take a walk through the High Line park and check out the funky boutiques in the meatpacking district, or walk down 5th Ave, whatever suits your fancy. If the weather's not cooperative, you could do one of the hop on/hop off buses and still get a feel for the city's different neighborhoods and architecture without freezing or getting rained/snowed on.

In DC, you might want to check out one of the 'monuments by night' drives - I realize you aren't into tours, but it's an impressive way to see them and more importantly, would be a way to optimize your short time there.

You won't have time to do an afternoon trip to Ellis Island unless you already have a reservation, so I'd skip that and do the Staten Island ferry instead. Or see one of your museums? Top of the Rock has gone up so much in price that is now no longer worth it ... Unless you are the kind of people who would actualy go up the Eiffel Tower. Basically good choice in skipping that.

I also think you are wasting far too much prime time on the trains. I would also fly immediately to DC (just not Dulles) on day one and adjust your schedule and dinner reservations accordingly.

Also remember you actually have to line up early for the train, especially in DC. Your reservation gets you a spot, not a specific seat. It's possible you might not even be able to sit together.

The Phillips Collection is closed on Mondays.

Weather is becoming more seasonable - with highs in the 20s and lows very low. Watch right before you leave - but you re likely to get highs of 50 is you are lucky and highs of 20 if yuo are not. Be prepared for snow or sleet. Also, youmight want to reconsider
Central Park - it will be brown and crunchy in Feb - no leaves on trees or flowers and grass brown. (Our trees don;t leaf until late April of May.) I would focus more on indoor places.

Also do take a trip on the free Staten Island ferry. The RT only takes about 1.5 hours and you get a reasonable view of the SoL and a great view of the city skyline on the way back.

And you can get advance timed tickets for the Top of the Rock - with great views of the city - and no waits.

If you plan to do both Top of the Rock and MoMA, be sure to get the combined ticket that gies you a good discount to the full price.

Have you thought about the Newseum in DC? It's one of my favorite places and even though you have to pay....well worth a visit. I would go there instead of the American History Museum (unless there was a specific exhibit you wanted to see there).

The Asia Society Museum and International Center of Photography are not large, and adding in a visit to MoMA is reasonable here for a day's sightseeing. But unless you're going on an evening when the Met is open and only seeing a small amount of it, you're not going to do any sort of justice to this huge place.

Note that the ICP tends to be worth a visit only if what's there is of interest -- if memory serves, they don't have a permanent collection on display. The other three are well worth a visit -- and you could spend several days at the Met without seeing everything.

Again, thanks so much for all your comments; I'm a new poster and am overwhelmed by the helpfulness!!

I understand what you're saying about the travel. I really do. But I think it would cost us far too much money to change the trip itinerary now (with all the hotels etc as well as the travel) and we're on a tight budget so I think we'll stick with what we have on this occasion. I don't think it will take 7 hours each time; the train is only 3-3.5 hours and I don't think we'll need to 'pack' per se as frankly we don't even really plan to 'unpack' (we pretty much just live out of suitcases when we're in hotels). Even if you have to add a bit of time each side for getting to and from stations, I still think it'll only be about 5 hours each day, max, not 7. Of course you live there or have experience of it, so maybe I'll be proved wrong But either way I think we have to stick with what we have unless we want to lose a lot of money.
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Thanks for the info about Arlington Cemetery and Zed's Ethiopian. That's good to know and ensures we don't waste time. I know what you mean about Arlington especially; I've been before and remember it being huge. I had also already heard about the view from the W Hotel, so it's good to have that recommendation endorsed. The closing times of the museums are good to know too! I'll note them on the itinerary. I know we're on a pretty tight schedule Husband insists that we don't necessarily *have* to do everything (i.e. he won't be heartbroken if we don't!) so in a way this is as well a bit of a 'fantasy' list/things we'd *like* to do but accept we may not have time to.
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Hadn't thought of the monuments by night drives - thanks! Will look into it.
We do enjoy walking so do definitely plan to not spend all our time hidden away indoors, seeing the city a bit from grassroots level too.
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Doug: Thanks for the Ellis Island warning! Is that just because it gets so busy? I'm happy to reserve it in advance or go on the Saturday morning instead (but equally can understand if it gets busy then too). All of these museums on our itinerary can be easily shuffled around; they're mainly arranged geographically as I wanted to make things as efficient as possible. Thanks for the warnings about the trains, too!
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kayd: don't know how I missed that!! Thanks! Looks like we'll be going to the Phillips Collection on Sunday, then, if at all.

Thanks again for all of your tips

As far as the train is concerend you shuold be aware that it stops only for 10 or 12 minutes - so you hve to be ready to run with yuor luggage once the platrform is announced. At Pennd Station the platforms re a level below the concourse - so 1) be sure yo are in the Amtrak area (verus LIRR area or NJT area) and 2) as soon as the platform is announced run to the door and down the stairs. The trains don;t start here - but come in with a lot of passengers already on them. I fyou want to sit togethr and get good seats you need to be on the train as soon as possible.

I suspect that the ferries to Ellis Island will not be as busy as they normally are since the Statue of Liberty is closed. But it's still a daunting, time-consuming process to get there. Even if you have a timed ticket reservation, you have to stand in a line (usually short) to pick up your ticket (arriving at least an hour before the scheduled time), then join the line to go through security (another 20 minutes or so), and then take the ferry to the island. If you don't have a timed reservation, then you join a much much longer line for an hour or two or three and then board the next available ferry once all the reserved passengers are aboard.

In the early Spring, the crowds aren't nearly as huge as they are in the summer, but by afternoon, the line is quite long, and it really takes a minimum of 4 hours to do this, including the wait time. So you be the judge. I would never do it without a reservation, though if it's a really bad day you could probably get in quicker.

Just for example, I took my cousin and her daughter last May. We had a reservation, got out tickets (but it took almost 30 minutes), and got in the reserved line (another 15 minutes). This was around 10am. By the time we were in line, the unreserved line was 3 hours long (estimated). Things aren't as bad when the weather is colder, and I'd estimate you could probably do a 1-hour line in the morning, 2 in the afternoon. It's just a huge time-waster. On such a short trip, you want to waste as little time as possible.

By the way, if you wanted to go to MOMA on a Friday evening, you also have to arrive at least 2 hours in advance of the free opening to get in line. (Sometimes free is nice, but time is money when you're a tourist in town for only 2 or 3 days.)

According to yelp.com, Zed's Ethiopian in DC is closed.

I'm getting good tips about the train, in DC to NYC, and the LIRR in NYC to Jamaica for JFK.

And I'm talking in letters. Weird.

Thank you again for all of your comments!
This time next week we will be there so just tinkering with the finer details now. I will definitely look into a reservation for Ellis Island in this case; thanks

Great also to have the tips regarding the trains. We are seasoned commuters so hopefully well-equipped to cope with the running and elbowing

Getting excited now

If you decide to do Ellis Island ( really worthwhile, IMO) you should book the first boat of the day. This way the security lines are significantly shorter. BTW the boat stops first at Liberty Island. On your tight schedule I would NOT recommend you getting off ( Statue is closed) BUT you will be able to get great photos and do not need to take the free Staten Island Ferry.

The Phillips is open until 6 on Sundays and has a special performance by cellist Jonah Kim on Sunday the 26th at 4:00. The Dupont Circle area where it is located is historic and lovely for walking, with some good dining or drinks options.

The monuments at night is VERY worthwhile and romantic- on foot or by cab or with a driver/tour.

Have a great trip!

Thanks for this! I am definitely coming round to the idea of doing it on the morning of the 29th (our last day) rather than trying to squeeze it in on the afternoon of the 28th, but we'd definitely need to get the very first boat and make sure we made it back in time for our lunch (we REALLY wanted to go to this place and couldn't get in there at any other time) so I will need to think about the timing and logistics of it. OR do Ellis Island on the 25th, take as long as we want and then fit in the museums later. I've been to the statue before and hubby just wants to look, not go in, so that's no bother.

We're staying near Dupont Circle, so good to hear there's plenty there. Definitely considering monuments at night now too

Once you have returned from Ellis Island and are off the ferry, it will take you 20-30 minutes to walk through Battery Park to the 1 train, wait to the 1 train, ride the 1 train to the Christopher Street stop, and walk from Christopher Street to Bedford Street. Alternately, you could take a taxi, which might cut the travel time in half.

Personally, I would not want to spend my time on Ellis Island watching the clock, nor be dependent on the whims of traffic (waiting/riding ferry, waiting/riding subway/taxi) to get to a lunch that was so important to me.