Best transportation between the Memorials in Washington DC
 

On a map, it looks like a 3 or so mile round trip from one memorial to the others.

What is the best way for seniors to visit each memorial in one day assuming we start at the Lincoln memorial?

Can you still ride a bicycle? http://bicycling.about.com/od/travel...king_in_DC.htm
I hope it is not too hot when you are there.
Are you parking inside the District? If it is hot, there are evening tours. Park somewhere near a Metro station and ride to your first destination.

Take a tour on the hop on and hop off trolley tours. It beats the cost of taxis from one place to another, gives you background information and is very convenient. It will get you closer than the Metro subway ever can. Even using the trolley, there is a lot of walking.

Leave the heels at home and excess stuff in the hotel. Your purses will be checked going into the Smithsonians and you will go through security scanner and checks in the Capital Buildings. So the less you are carrying, the less time it takes. Even metal beads on shirts and big metal belt buckles will set off the security alarms.

Re: Biking through DC - what a GREAT idea! We are spending a few days in DC in early June and will definitely consider this.

Thanks Tom Fuller...I followed your other suggestion on my previous post. And thanks Skigal for the info on the trolley & packing...

Lincoln, ML King, WWII, Vietnam, and Korea are all together. I am 67 and not in great shape and didn't even think about transportation between them.

The Washington and Jefferson Memorials are a bit of a distance off, and in pretty much opposite directions. The Washington Monument is still closed, I think, while they continue to assess earthquake damage, and unless you go up into it, there is nothing particularly to see up close.

The settting of the Jefferson Memorial is perhaps more interesting than the Memorial itself, but you can take a hop-on hop off to it.

Just a note: there are absolutely no disavantages in Washington to getting out early. The closer to noon, the bigger the crowds. The places you mention have no hours as such, so you can visit them and be on to the Mall museums or elsewhere before the school buses arrive.

Add the FDR Memorial to one being close to the Lincoln, etc. The Old Town Trolley (as mentioned) and the Tourmobile hop on-hop-off option is probably the best. You could also include the Cemetery if you have the inclination and time.

I'll disagree about the cost of trolley tours vs. a couple of 1- or 2- mile taxi trips. If you can walk comfortably around each of the two clusters (Lincoln-Vietnam-Korean and Jefferson-FDR-MLK), taxis from Lincoln to Jefferson and then to the WWII should be less than $20 total for two people. Of course if you want the trolley experience with narration and additional stops, then this advice isn't for you.

Oops, taxi rates are going up a bit, so revise my $20 above to $25 (including a $2-3 tip each tr).

Do NOT use a hop on/hop off trolley/bus tour if you intend to get off at any point. The waits for another trolley/bus that has available seats can be VERY long. If you want to use a HOHO trolley/bus, ride the entire route before even considering getting off anywhere. (BTW, Tourmobile, per se, no longer operates in D.C. Their buses are now operated by Martz GrayLine for the Arlington National Cemetery tour only.)

An exception to this advice would be doing a "Monuments by Moonlight" tour organized by one of the HOHO companies because you travel with a group and have guaranteed seating for the entire tour. They make several stops to get out for a closer look at some of the monuments. Here's an example of one of these tours: http://www.trolleytours.com/washingt...ight-tours.asp

If you want to walk the monuments on your own, then I agree with Kayd about doing the monuments/memorials in clusters and taking a taxi to the next cluster. You might even include the WWII memorial in the Lincoln-Vietnam-Korean cluster as the walk along the Reflecting Pool can be nice (especially if they finish the construction on it before you arrive). Skip the Washington Monument as it will not re-open in the foreseeable future and there's nothing special to see there.

tennislvr1, take a look at Capital Bikeshare - www.capitalbikeshare.com They have stations all over DC and you can rent for an hour, all day, etc. On our last night in DC in October, Mr. Pickle wanted to visit some of the monuments we hadn't seen earlier in our trip, so he rented from Capital Bikeshare. It was one of his favorite DC experiences.

Lee Ann

Segway? If bikes are too much for you?

We walked. I'm out of shape and have cardio issues. We just slowed down a bit. (I'm only 48, but evidently have had a number of "baby heart attacks," so I definitely have to be careful.)