If you are coming in summer and do not have Congressional Tour passes reserved through your Congressman, I would recommend that you view the outside of the building and forget about it.

The Capitol Building is more interesting anyway. When the tour is over ask the guide about the subway that connects the House and Senate to The Capitol. Kids will love riding it.

In the season, getting White House tour tickets is an endurance test. You need to be down there at 5:30am when they pass out tickets for the same day public tours. The lucky individual selected to run the marathon from your party can get up to 4 tickets.

If you like to sleep late, you will just have to go home without seeing the inside of the White House.

I reserve tickets for August for guests in January. Don't expect to call your Congressman now and get them. Each office gets only 15 tickets per week, so you will almost certainly find no tickets available at this point.

If you miss out on The White House, when you go home just lie to your friends about going. LOL

Lauren,

It sounds like you had a bad experience with the tour. Did you have to stand in line early or were your tickets through your congressman? We requested tickets through our Nebraska senator 2 years ago and received them--but I made my July request in April so that may have had something to do with our good luck. Call me sappy but I think it's worth going through a little extra effort to see the White House. Our kids were fascinated and so were we! One funny thing--my then 7 year old daughter-of-conservative-parents blurted out as we entered the White House and walked through the security checkpost, "I HOPE WE DON'T HAVE TO SEE BILL CLINTON!!" I'm surprised we weren't tossed out on our ears...

This is REALLY SAD. To lie... to have an IDIOT 7 year old...sad and sadder.

Agree that lying is not a good policy, and isn't it interesting that
"Won't Go There" calls a 7 yr. old who doesn't want to see A LIAR, BILL CLINTON, an idiot! Ha! Who really are the idiots here?

It's always worth a try to call your congressman for tickets. We planned pretty late for our visit and still received tickets, and it is a much better way to go than standing in line with the masses of course. It IS worth it to see the inside of the building that our presidents have called home since the early 1800s.

What is really sad is an adult calling a 7 year old an idiot! Just shows how we respect and value children in this country.

And, yes the White House tour is worth it.

sr and Dee:
Who said Won't Go there IS an adult?
On this board you guys think it's all over 21...saddest!
My parents are conservative. Usually conservative kids do not blurt...duh???

We wanted to see the WH with Canadian friends last Dec. - couldn't get passes beforehand (and this was a "not busy" time.) Got there at 10 AM, waited in line almost 3 hours for 20 minute walk-through. It was a long time to wait, and I can't imagine waiting with kids. I wouldn't have stayed in line except our friends really wanted to see it.

To wont go there:

The saddest thing of all is that the rest of us have to endure your pathetic democratic drivel. And you do not have the guts to post your real name.

there is a much better site for posters with an attitude...the thorntree at www.lonelyplanet.com

I live in DC, and I've done the White House tour 3 times, unfortunately. The most recent was last November, with friends from Europe. They really wanted to see it, and since we went on a week day in November, we only had to wait 15 minutes, luckily. Even though I tried to warn them about the tour, they were still very disappointed when it was over. They (and other people in the crowd) kept saying "That's it?" "I'm glad we didn't wait very long for that."

Greg:
I am not 21, can not post my name as my parents told me to NEVER do so on the INTERNET...silly old man!

I completely agree with the response saying this tour is not worth it. The wait does not justify the pay-off. Sure some of the rooms are picturesque, but overall a disappointment. Can't even get to the Oval office or bedrooms. Go see something else. Yes, I'm a patriotic American to those of you wondering! Good luck.

OK, I live in the DC area.

I have been to the White House more times than I want to think about.

I started the thread to give people he "heads up" on getting in. I order Congressional tour tickets for August in January for home exchangers all the time. Each Congressional office gets, I think, 15 tour tickets per week. That is why it is hard to get the tickets for the "Congressional" early morning tour.

If I were going to DC for just a few days, I would not want to get up at the crack of dawn to queue for tickets at 5:30am to be certain of getting in. That is why I posted this.

If you don't have Congressional tickets during the summer tourist season, it is up to you whether you want to put yourself through the early morning marathon to get tickets on VACATION. In my opinion, just go to The Capitol and forget the White House unless you absolutely "must see" the White House.

If you come back sometime in the off season, you can get right in (no tickets in the off season). The problem with the White House is that the hours are very limited (someone does live there, after all) and it is #1 on everyone's "check off" list.

We live here, too. It is a pain to get tickets, however, if you have the right attitude (like much else in life) it can be very interesting. Occasionally, around Christmas and in the Spring, there are special tours in the afteroon (for the gardens) and evening for Xmas where there are tours with manageable lines. If you plan ahead and have a group, you can write to the White House Visitor's office directly for tickets (20 or more). It helps if you have some political connections. Sometimes it works, sometimes not -- there are other things going on at the White House after all. Overall, the Capitol and also the Library of Congress have lots of interesting things to see and do if this doesn't work out. And you cannot take pictures inside anyway. The best photo opportunities are outside the fences.