sf7307

Penn Quarter, White House. (For me, they're all walking distance because I walk a LOT, but you'll be within a mile of everything if you stay in one of those areas).

obxgirl

Which area is walking distance from the mall and museums?

A number of neighborhoods fit the bill, mostly mentioned here already. Downtown, Penn Quarter, Foggy Bottom, West End, some parts of Southwest and Capitol Hill.

Suggest you google this map of DC which delineates neighborhoods. Zoom in 2-3 times and you can get a sense of the size of the Mall (about 2.25 miles from Lincoln Memorial to Capitol Bldg) and also the neighborhoods that are near or adjacent to it.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...z5qh3tM9dBh5ps

Your quandary is that you want a hotel in the vicinity of the Mall for less than $200 a night at a pricey time of year. Any time of year really. The Hotel Harrington in Penn Quarter BarbAnn mentioned is a tourist class hotel in your price range. Lots of tour groups. Another possibility is the State Plaza Hotel in Foggy Bottom.

Is Washington, D.C. A safe city to walk around in, both day and night?

Yes.

doug_stallings

@Heavens you say you want to visit the White House. That's not possible unless you get a ticket from a member of Congress. Unlikely at this point for late June, but you should definitely try. Most senators and members of Congress have a way to request those on their web sites.

NewbE

Doug makes a key point, although I can't tell, Heavens, if perhaps you were already aware of this??

Also, you can't see "literally" all the museums, lol, as I'm sure you know!

I suggest you take a look at the Smithsonian website and identify a few museums you really, really want to see, and another few you could take a peek at if time permits. The vast majority of museums in DC are part of the Smithsonian. The Phillips Collection (in Dupont, though, not on the Mall), the Newseum, the Spy Museum are exceptions that I can think of off the top of my head.