I will be travelling to D.C for 3 days - well 2 1/2 days and was hoping I was using my time wisely. The plan:

17th Nov - arrive about 3.30pm from NYC on the train, go directly to hotel. Do a night tour of D.C

18th Nov - do an 8 hour tour of Mount Vernon, Alexandria & Arlington Cemetery. Nothing planned for that evening as I am travelling alone and don't really want to go out to a restaurant on my own.

19th Nov - go to the National Cathedral - what would be the best way of getting there. Then back to the National Mall and walk down from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol Building. Stopping to see the White House of course. I would also like to go to the National Archives but not sure if I'll have enough time.

I then leave early on the 20th to head to Philly.

Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

How to get to the National Cathedral depends on where you're coming from.

EricH.. I am staying very close to Union Station

You can use the Trip Planner feature on the Metro website, www.wmata.com to find out how to get between Union Station and the National Cathedral. There is no Metro (subway) near the National Cathedral, so you would have to take a bus. The 96 bus seems to be the one you'd take and it would take around 35 minutes to get there. The fare will vary by time of day, but should be around $2.00. There is also the option of a taxi, but I don't know what the fare would be.

The walk you are planning for November 19th will basically be the same as your evening tour on the 17th. If you are running short of time after going to the National Cathedral, you could go to the National Archives first and then do as much of the walk as you have time for afterwards.

Thanks longhorn55, doing the National Cathedral and then National Archives makes sense. I did realise that I would see the same things as in the night tour, but obviously it would be different in daylight Really looking forward to spending some time in D.C

Depending on your energy level on the evening of the 18th, you may want to take the Metro from Union Station to Dupont Circle and just wonder around. There are lots of little shops and book stores.