A short day in D.C.
 

We are going to New England and will have one day on the way to see Washington D.C. What is the best hop on hop off tour to give my children a good survey of the "must see monuments" in D.C?

I have been to DC three times in the last three months and I must say the guided tour that stands out in my mind is <i>Washington After Dark</i> at http://godc.about.com/od/dctoursitin...lighttours.htm. The night shots you see here are an outcome of that: http://tinyurl.com/6qtxhk. During the day, I suggest just walking around Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Korean Memorial, Washington Monumment, World War II as all are nearby, and easily doable within 5-6 hours. Then do that night tour and you will be all set.

There are two bus companies that do hop on/hop off tours of D.C.--Tourmobile and Old Town Trolleys. They both cover the Mall area where the monuments and museums are, but then their itineraries differ. Old Town Trolley goes up Embassy Row to the National Cathedral and also to Arlington Cemetery (but they do NOT go inside the cemetery). Tourmobile goes inside Arlington Cemetery and does a narrated tour there stopping at the Kennedy Gravesite and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. See their websites for more info.
Of course, depending on the ages of your children, you could walk the Mall from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and see the monuments on foot.

In addition to Tourmobile and Old Town Trolley, there's a new hop-on hop-off company, Open Top, that has been operating for the past year and their buses look very nice.

http://opentopsightseeing-dc.com/

I have not taken this DC tour, but I really enjoyed the view from the upper level on similar buses in Madrid and Barcelona. You see so much more from above.

ComfyShoes, can you tell me approximately how long you have at each stop where you step off the coach and visit the memorial, and additionally about how far from the coach to the memorial?

My Dad's Navy reunion is in Baltimore this September, and we are tacking on extra days so that we can see Washington DC. I'm going in order to deal with luggage and get them from place to place. Dad has limited mobiility, he cannot walk far nor fast. He has one of those push chairs? (I don't know what you call them...the chair with wheels, but not a wheelchair.)

Anyway, I'm trying to work out an itinerary that gives them a view of Washington DC witin the parameters of his abilities. The Washington After Dark looks like something they could do.

The on and off tour buses keep moving. You can either stay on for the whole route (2-3 hours) or get off at one or more stops and board the next bus that comes along, 20 minutes or so.
For someone with mobility limitations, I'd probably stay on for whole route, then take taxis to the several you want to go back to.

kayd, thanks for that info. Although I was under the impression that the Grayline tour(the Washington after Dark tour) wasn't a hop on, hop off type of tour, please correct me if I'm wrong.

We did take the hop on-off trolley in Boston last year and it seemed to work well. We do have that in mind as well. But I was thinking my parents would enjoy the After Dark tour, and because they've gone on Grayline tours before elsewhere and were happy, this was my first consideration for them.

Rather than hijack this thread, I'm going to do additional research and come back with more questions on a separate thread at another date.

You are correct, the nighttime tours aren't hop on/off. They stop at 5 or 6 monuments and cruise past the others. The websites of OTT and Grayline have info about the tours, but perhaps phone calls to the providers would get you better details on waiting times and walking distances at the stops.

whoknew, That Washington After Dark tour stopped at half a dozen locations and I am pretty sure for almost half an hour at each location. They will drop you within 5 minutes of walking distance of a monument. I suspect that it will be plenty of time for your relative but I really recommend that you call and talk to them directly. For what it is worth, I liked it a lot to not have to worry about driving and yet experience it all in the night.

Thanks ComfyShoes for that info. I do have their number and will be calling them. I really want to make this a great trip for my folks.

I've found 5 night tours of the monuments so far. They don't all stop at the same places, so you need to research which one stops at your preferred sites. They range in time from 2.5 hrs to 3.5 hrs and from $25 to $38, not necessarily in line with the length of time.

- DC the Lights Tour - by OnBoard DC Tours (formerly Party Shuttle) (3 hrs / $35 / Old Post Office)

- Twilight Tour - by Tourmobile (3.5 hrs / $25 / Union Station)

- Washington After Dark - by Grayline (3 hrs / $38 / Union Station)

- Monuments by Moonlight - by Historic Tours of America (Old Town Trolleys) (2.5 hrs / $32 / Union Station)

- Washington by Twilight - by All About Town Tours ($32 / picks up at some hotels)

I'm looking at doing the OnBoard DC Tours one as it is the only one which claims you step off the bus to see the White House and Capitol. The others just drive by.

Please do your own checking on the above as info is always subject to change.

The &quot;best&quot; hop on/hop off tour is the one with the best route for your purposes. All have different routes AND different stop locations. You have look carefully, for example, for how far the Washington Monument actually is from that stop. Distances are much greater walking than they appear on those maps! Though, due to ever increasing security, none of them can stop very close to the Capitol, White House, etc.

Much depends, also, on the time of year and weather.

Last month, we opted for the Open Top because the weather was spectacular and views are far superior (panoramic and unobstructed) from seats on the open air upper level. And, the seats are much more comfortable than the Tourmobile or, especially, wooden benches on the trolleys. But, on a really hot and sunny day, a covered vehicle may be more preferable.

If you have time, I highly recommend stopping for a tour of the National Cathedral. It is magnificent, and the kids will appreciate having been there next time a service is held that is televised! And, the views from the top of the tower are awesome.

We also took the Grayline night tour and were very pleased. The stops were timed perfectly for up close visits and photo ops. Our driver/guide was just terrific. Again, weather may determine the type of vehicle you would prefer - open as opposed to closed (and heated or air conditioned).