DC trip
 

My husband and I will be in DC from Sunday t to Tuesday, flying out on Tuesday afternoon. We would like to visit the following and plan to stay at the Americana hotel in VA. We do not plan to rent a car and instead will use the Metro. Any feedback on what we should cover on certain days based on location and best metro pass as well as restaurants? Also would you recommend a white house and/or Pentagon tour?

National Museum of Natural History
Arlington National cemetery
International Spy museum
White house
Lincoln Memorial
National shrine of Immaculate conception Church

You don't say when you are going, but you have to request a White House tour through your congressperson well in advance--and space is so limited that you still might not get in. The thing is, it's a very brief self-guided tour of just a few of the public rooms on the ground floor. IMO, it's not a must; then again, one person in our party was thrilled just to set foot in the WH. To each his own.

I haven't taken a Pentagon tour in decades nor seen the Spy Museum so can't comment on those.

The Shrine is way the heck up by Catholic University, nowhere near anything else. Easy enough by Metro, but just block out 2-3 hours for the trip and tour. Arlington Cemetery is also a separate area, though not so far away from the National Mall. Do it first thing in the morning, is my advice. There's a trolley type thing you can take. Don't miss the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Are you hardy walkers? If so, you could choose a morning or evening to walk to several of the monuments--Lincoln, but also Jefferson, FDR, MLK, the war memorials. The Museum of Natural History is near these, on the National Mall--but the Mall is huge, so be aware that the distances between monuments and buildings is great.

Also, I have tons of opinions on restaurants, but first tell us what your likes and dislikes are :-) Some idea of desired price range would be helpful, too.

Thanks NewbE for info thus far.
do not prefer asian food with exception of indian. Other than that, pretty open. We are looking for good but not expensive food, I guess from 1 to 2 stars.

As NewbE says, unless you request a White House tour months in advance, there's little chance you'll get one. And, even if you do request a tour months in advance, there's little chance you'll get one. There's just a LOT more requests for tours than can be accomommodated.

The Pentagon tour is a tour of a large office building--not a tour I'd recommend. If you want to see the 9-11 Memorial there, it's open 24/7, so you could go anytime.

In lieu of the above tours, I'd recommend the tour of the U.S. Capitol. You can request a tour through the office of your Representative or Senator or you can just request one online.

The White House and Pentagon tours must be requested 6 months in advance. I agree that the White House tour is not worth the time investment. Although the Pentagon is a big office building, I did find the tour interesting. There is a 911 Memorial inside the Pentagon that you would not normally have access to and it is very moving. The outdoor Memorial is also beautiful but it is open to the public 24/7.

PAUL Bakery is great for lunch or a snack. It is located on Penn Ave next to the Archives Metro Stop.

The Library of Congress is so beautiful inside--so much art!!I would recommend that--you would be surprised how beautiful it is. Also do a tour of the Capitol, if you can arrange it.

I highly recommend the Moonlight Monument tour by the Old Town Trolley--it gives you plenty of time to get off and view the memorials. The Korean War memorial is stunning at night, as is the Iwo Jima statue.

Here's a link to our trip report, in which I discuss the Spy Museum, among other things. We also aimed for inexpensive meals and were pretty successful.
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...hington-dc.cfm

There's a great place called Kabob Palace a short walk from the Americana. We picked up dinner from there our first night.
http://kabobpalaceusa.com/

Lee Ann

"The Korean War memorial is stunning at night."

This is so true. The first time I saw the Memorial it had just stopped raining and there was a fog on the ground. It sort of gave you an idea of what the men went through.

The Crime and Punishment Museum is far superior to the Spy Museum, IMO.

You're too late for a White House tour, I believe.

A tour of the Treasury is a real treat, but you may be too late for that as well.

I wouldn't bother with the National Shrine. It's way out of the way of anything else.

I assumed there was some special reason the OP wanted to see the Shrine. It's not a typical tourist destination.