I decided on a last minute trip to Wash D.C. for 3 full days and I am really struggling with making plans. I haven't been able to get any tours of the white house or capitol building, Washington Monument, or anything else so far so i will settle for seeing them from outside.
I did want to ask your opinion on booking in advance the Old town Trolley Tour either night or day, whichever is more recommended. I am a little concerned about getting places since I am expecting the first week of April to be very crowded. (I seem to remember reading one post where the trolley company had to refund the $$ because there was no room, if they sell you a ticket I guess that doesn't mean you will actually get on the trolley!!)
Other interests are(although we don't need to do all)
Spy Museum
Georgetown (possibly visiting the college)
Cruise to Mount Vernon
Alexandria
national archives
Bureau of engraving ( no reservations available)
Air & space
zoo


We are a family of four, my kids are 12 and 14 and we are booked at the Palomar. Another thing that worries me is that we are not very early people. It is really hard for us to be somewhere at 7:30AM on vacation to get timed tickets and tickets we can get in advance is very much preferred. Could someone possibly help me plan 3 full days in D.C..Any help and I would be ever so grateful.

Take a deep breath. 3 days is relatively short for a visit to Washington, and there are more than enough things to do that do not require advance reservations. If the weather proves to be nice, you and the kids will probably enjoy spending more time outside than inside in any event. You and the kids will have more fun during this short period if you do not overplan.

Day and night tours of the monuments each offer a different perspective and have their own advantages. A nighttime tour can be more "efficient" in the sense that many other typical tourist attractions (museums, etc.) are closed in the evenings. Also, it is something that can often be done on the first night of your arrival, giving a good introduction to the city. Of course, though the monumnents are beautiful at night, you can literally see more during the daylight. I think it is a personal preference.

Assuming you were to do a nighttime tour, here are some possible suggestions for how to spend the three days, not necessarily in this order:

Day 1: Old Post Office tower (as a substitute for the Monument) - National Archives - Spy Museum.

Day 2: Mount Vernon - Alexandria - Georgetown (Note: I love the boat ride to Mt. Vernon, but with only 3 days, this will eat up a lot of time, and I expect your teens will be bored. I would instead take the metro/bus to Mt. Vernon in the a.m., stop in Alexandria for lunch and or afternoon sight-seeing, and then take one of the boats from Alexandria to Georgetown. You could have have dinner along the waterfront or somewhere else in Georgetown, and head back to the hotel on the blue "Metro Expres" bus).

Day 3: Take the metro to Capitol South, and from there walk to the Library of Congress (you can either do a short "pop in" visit at the Madison building, or spend more time looking at the interesting historical objects there and/or the excellent guided tour), walk by the Supreme Court, and then through the Capitol grounds. Coming from this direction, you will be headed down hill. Once you are at the bottom of Capitol Hill, you can head several blocks further to Air and Space. See how you and the kids feel after Air and Space -- you can head to another musuem, hang out on the Mall or one of the outdoor sculpture gardens.

Moongirl's suggestions are great!

Since nancyjacky mentioned the zoo, I would encourage trying to add this in. If you are crunched for time, you don't have to spend a lot of time there...but I think the pandas are worth a visit!

Moongirl, your response couldn't have come at a better time...it really helped my spirits. Your suggestions sound great for us. Just a few questions:

1. Should the monument tour be booked in advance? if so, do you recommend the old trolley tours? Do you think there will be space the first week of April?

2. Do you need a tour of the Old Post office tower and the national Archives or can you just walk in? I am assuming the Spy Musuem tickets i should get in advance.

3. I love the idea of going to Alexandria and Mount Vernon all in the same day. Can I assume that I don't need to arrange anything in advance (like the boat from Alexandria to Georgetown)

4. I imagine it is no problem to sweitch Day 1 with Day 3 .. I was just thinking that my kids will be anxious to see the Capitol grounds and the White House first. ( I am also assuming that the White House is near the Capitol Grounds)

I know I sound pretty ignorant, but this is our first trip to the D.C. area and there is so much to investigate.

I also will try to get to the zoo, but if not after D.C. we are in N.Y and I will try to go to the Bronx Zoo

Thanks again and again : )

I have been to DC 7 times in which #7 was just a week ago. The group I was with wanted to do the Old Trolley Tour Night Tour of the Monuments so we did. It was $32.00. Our tour guide was Jason who was great especially because it was a cold, rainy night. If I was on my own and my first time in DC, I probably would not have chosen to do the tour on such a night but it was a really fun group. I learned some new things about DC and really enjoyed it. It is a "breezy" way to see DC so if you want to go to places for longer than 30 minutes, you might want another tour or to visit the monuments on your own.

Thanks for the feedback coldwar : ) I think that the Old Trolley night tour sounds good for us. Do you think we need to book in advance being the week of the cherry blossoms?

nj -- I cannot speak to the issue of the Trolley tours, but none of the other activities I mentioned require advance reservations (though, as you suggest, I believe most people prefer advance tickets for the Spy Museum). Check the various websites for visitor information. With respect to the Library of Congress, I notice that I indicated the wrong building above (there are 3) -- it is the Jefferson building where you will want to stop in, even if just for a brief visit. Note that you can also go inside the Supreme Court, too, Visiting arrangements depend on whether or not there is an oral argument going on. The website gives some details, but what I think it may not mention is that if there _is_ an argument, there is a special line for visitors who only wish to get a 5-minute glimpse of an argument (versus people who line up early in the morning to hear an entire case being argued). The line moves pretty quickly, and is worth it.

You could certainly do the three days I suggested in any order you want. I forgot that it sounds like you will likely be in town in time to see the cherry blossoms, in which case you will most certainly wish to spend some daytime time around the Tidal Basin, near the Jefferson memorial. Maybe do that after Air and Space. With respect to the White House, it is not so close to the Capitol, though certainly walkable (approx 16 blocks) and "doable" in the same day; however, I believe most of the 'monument' tours include a stop there as well. It might make sense to do this instead on the Old Post Office - Archives - Spy Museum Day. (I only suggest the Old Post Office tower, btw, because you seemed disappointed about not getting Monument tickets. If the kids aren't hankering to go up somewhere high, you could easily skip this in favor of something else.) Get yourselves a good map, preferably in advance, to give yourselves a better feel for the layout of the city. In addition to metro, check out the new Circulator bus route that goes around the mall: www.wmata.com Given the ages of your kids, I'd encourage you to get them involved in planning and prioritizing, if you haven't already. The Smithsonian and National Gallery websites have a lot of information about permanent and temporary exhibits that might help them decide which, if any, of the other museums is of interest. This is especially good to know in case it rains, and you find that you want to spend more time indoors. I'd encourage you to stay flexible, and to focus on the quality of your visit, rather than quantity of things seen. You simply will not see everything in 3 days, so pick and choose the things of greatest interest and enjoy them at leisure.

I have gone to D.C. two times. Our first trip, we went to atleast 9 or 10 of the Smithsonian Museums. I would definately recommend the Air and Space Museum.
If you do go to the Zoo, try and go early in the morning, because it is a long walk over it, and can get tiring. We went to the Zoo, and then took a trolley tour through Georgetown and Embassy Row.

If you go to the National Archives, it is a bit of a wait to get in but worth it.

The Postage Museum and Union Station are both great places to visit, if you have time I would recommend checking them out.

I'd skip the zoo. Other cities have other zoos and unless you are really into Pandas, the zoo will take a big chunk of your three days in DC.

Have you considered the Holocaust Museum? I believe you can book online and then pick up your tickets there at the desk. My children are 11 and 13 and it was a good visit for them.

Moongirl, again I can´t thank you enough for all your advice. I hope one day I can repay the favor if you travel to Mexico or New york (I am from NY and currently reside in Mexico)
Now, how do you think this sounds:

Day 1-
Morning
Metro - Capitol South
Library of Congress, (stop in the jefferson building)
pop in to the Supreme court

Lunch at Union Station

Afternoon
Air & Space
visit Tidal basin area around jefferson memorial

Evening
Old trolley monument Tour (We get in late the night of our arrival so I put it in here)

Day 2
Metro/bus to Mount vernon
Lunch in Alexandria
Boat from Alexandria to Georgetown
Dinner georgetown
Head back blue "Metro Express" bus

Day 3
Old Post office
(possibly walk around white house)

Lunch at dupont circle

Afternoon at National Archives and Spy Museum

Maybe you could recommend an area for dinner on our last night. I keep hearing about Adams Morgan. Maybe that would be a good place to go??
I am still on the fence about doing the old trolley tour our first night or doing it in the morning instead of the Old Post office and trying to squeeze the old post office another time. My husband will definately want to go to the Old Post office because he loves views (and is not such a fan of museums I might add)

I appreciate so much all your tips about keeping our schedule flexible (will do) and getting my kids involved. Right now they have so much homework they can't but I can't wait to get their input. I also can't agree with you more about quality vs. quantity.

Thanks also to mermermouse... I will definately try to see the postage museum if time allows and put in Union square for lunch already.

nj this looks good to me, except for the lunch plans on Days 1 and 3, which take you a bit out of your way. Your nighttime trolley tour will leave from Union Station, so I would plan on visiting the station right before that -- maybe for dinner? America is a restuarant there with lots of kid options; alternatively, there a Pizzeria Uno's and also the food court in the basement. If you are looking for a fun lunch on Day 1, try the Museum of the American Indian instead, which will be right on your way from the Capitol to Air and Space. On Day 3, Dupont Circle is really out of your way, and it is also the neighborhood where your hotel is located, so I'm not sure why you would hop back there unless you want to return to the hotel. There are a ton of restaurants in the downtown area, and a food court in the Old Post Office if that appeals, so you might just want to play lunch by ear. Otherwise, I could recommend Ella's Wood Fired Pizza, on 9th Street between F and G, as a place with very sophisticated grown up food that also appeals to kids.

Good luck and have fun!

I only read part of this thread, so forgive me if I'm covering something that was already covered. I'm about to sign off this computer and am rushing. However, I live here and last week it seemed a lot more crowded downtown than in previous weeks - so I guess the tourists are coming. No signs of blossoms yet that I've seen, but they may be here - just don't know. In any case, you'll still find Washington to be a beautiful city, and the nighttime monuments bus thing sounds expensive but good. We just had a visitor from Boston and my husband drove her down to the Lincoln Memorial at night - a fun thing to do. In addition to the Trolley tour, there's also the Tour Mobile (sp?) which is similar and costs around $20 I think. There's also a Metro one day tourist pass, but if you're doing like most people and trying to cram a lot into a couple days, I don't know if I'd recommend Metro for all your travels. Can be a little confusing figuring out which exit you want, which way to walk, etc. Bus or trolley is easier. There's also a new, big red bus that goes on a limited route - not really a tour bus, but goes to Georgetown if nothing else (not that I would recommend Georgetown - highly over-rated in my opinion). I just made some suggestions in another post, so you might want to look at that - unless that was your thread! Previous suggestions are pretty good - although Old Post Office in my mind is nothing really special. Just walking around the Washington Monument (and White House, for that matter) is fun. Pandas at zoo are cute, but other than that, a zoo's a zoo, so I'd skip it! Circus is in town soon, though, if you're interested in that. Of course, a circus is a circus is a circus....

You should know that the Blue "Express" Bus-the Georgtown Connection--will no longer operate from Foggy Bottom. It will still operate from DuPont Cirlce. To and from Foggy Bottom, people should take the Circulator.

I live near DC and am often a tour guide for visitors. I have kids 17, 16, 11, 9 and 5 yo.

Did you call your representatives? Tell them about last minute trip. The aides will usually give you a private capital tour without waiting in line for tickets if you ask nicely. They will bring you by congressional tram underground. My kids loved it.

The first day I would hit the Capital Mall. As early as possible pick up tickets for the elevator to bring you to the top of the Washington Monument at the 15th Street kiosk. It is so awesome to get a great overview of the city and a photo op. The Capital, White House, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, National Archives, and most of the Smithsoniums are there. "Natural History" and "Air and Space" are our favorite museums. The WW2 memorial is there too.

The White House, Pentagon and Bureau of Printing and Engraving are not having public tours last minute. Families always took pictures by the White House at the sign that says "1600 Pennsylvania Ave" but they recently removed it so don't bother searching. <grin>

The Holocaust museum is right across Independence Ave from the Washington Monument. The tour is time consuming and emotionally exhausting for kids due to it's powerful message and graphic details. However, there is a part called "Daniel's House" which does not require a ticket, takes less than an hour and covers the concentration camp journey for one family but is thought provoking and on a level kids can relate to. It portrays the suffering without the excruciating details.

I STRONGLY recommend Arlington cemetery. There is a tram that brings you to the points of interest. The Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is every 30 minutes and the Lee House is a great Photo site for the Capital Mall.

We often go to the National Portrait Gallery where all the official presidential portraits hang...and other pic. Real nice and calm. That places you by Chinatown where my kids love to have dinner. The entryway into Chinatown is a nice photo op. Even if you don't like Chinese food, there is a Fuddruckers (hamburgers) there.

I'd go to the monuments (Roosevelt, Lincoln, Korea and Vietnam) after dark. It is less crowded and my kids bring their razor scooters.

Best advice is wear comfortable walking shoes, travel lightly and be prepared for metal detectors in every building. My kid once wore wheelies and they set off every metal detector and it was more trouble than they were worth.

Have Fun. Very seldom are you ever in a place with such an exciting past.