Help with itinerary...4 days in DC
 

Hi Everyone! We are from California and traveling to the east coast with our two teenage boys. We will be spending the first part of our trip in NYC and then heading over to DC. I was wondering if you can help with our itinerary. We have about 4 days in DC in June. This will be our first visit! Very excited but overwhelmed with all the places we want to see. We kind of know the places we want to visit...but need help to make sure it makes logistical sense. Also, let me know if I'm missing something that I should check out. We are staying at the Embassy Suites near the Convention Center and plan to do a lot of walking. Day 2 is flexible since there are no scheduled events.

Day 1:
Arrive by train from NYC.
4:45 Bureau of Engraving and Printing Tour
Dinner at Founding Farmers
Monuments at night...would we be able to do all the monuments at night or should we break this up for two visits?

Day 2: (Flexible day)
White House Visitor Center
Holocaust Museum, Museum of American History, Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Castle

Day 3:
9:45 Library of Congress Tour (Can we do this ourselves without the tour? If so, I would move this to Day 4 after the Capitol tour)
Air & Space
Georgetown?

Day 4:
9:50 Capitol Building Tour
Botanical Garden, Supreme Court, Museum of American Indian
Lunch at Mitsitam

Day 5:
Open in morning. Be at airport by 2:00

I really wanted to get a time-stamp ticket for the Permanent Exhibit at the Holocaust Museum but it's not available any more. I wonder how long the lines will be for same day tickets? Also, tickets for Washington Monument and National Archives are not available. Is it worthwhile to go up the Washington Monument?

We also want to spend some time at Gerorgetown. Not sure what day to fit it in. Also, want to visit Dupont Circle for dinner one night. Any recommendations?

We may want to check out the Newseum or Spy Museum. If we can only do one...which one would you recommend? I've heard good things about both.

Your itinerary is doable and the sites can be accessed by Metro or on foot. You've also grouped sites together logically. On your questions:

- Without insight into your interests, it's hard to answer the question of whether or not you're missing something.

- How are you viewing the monuments at night? If on a bus, yes, seeing the main attractions at once is doable. If not, perhaps start at the Lincoln Memorial, walk down the National Mall towards the WWII Memorial, and up to the White House. You can also continue towards the Capitol Building, but it is a longer walk.

- With the Library of Congress, yes, you can see it yourself without being on a tour.

- What do you want to see in Georgetown? It's mostly the same shops you find everywhere these days. It's usually quite busy on the weekend, so go on a weekday if you to avoid crowds. You can easily access Georgetown on a Metrobus or a Circulator bus; just make sure you get on the right one.

- Washington Monument tickets get reserved very early in advance, especially in the summer. It's good for a different perspective on the monuments if you can get a ticket. If you are going to the Newseum, there's decent views from its rooftop deck too.

You can do the Library of Congress without a tour. Tours are good but I wouldn't plan a day around it.

Even with tickets, lines for the Washington Monument will be long. IMO, not worth the wait for a view. Check out a map of the Mall memorials -- unlikely you can cover them all unless on a bus tour. There are segway tours as well. Between the Lincoln and the WWI memorials, you'll also see the Vietnam and Korean War memorials. The Jefferson is really the outlier so you might want to leave that for another time. Check out the DC Circulator bus for the National Mall -- it's the only public transportation to the Jefferson. (Your Smartrip metro card will work on all DC buses)

<i>I really wanted to get a time-stamp ticket for the Permanent Exhibit at the Holocaust Museum but it's not available any more. I wonder how long the lines will be for same day tickets? Also, tickets for Washington Monument and National Archives are not available. Is it worthwhile to go up the Washington Monument? </i>

There are some same day tickets you can grab on line starting at 6 am the day of. That is new this year. If that doesn't work, you can get in line at the museum an hour or so ahead of time to get same day tickets. I'd send someone in your group over around 8:30 with a good book or iPhone charge to wait for 10 am opening. Your plan is to be in the vicinity of that museum for the day so that is good -- you should have some flexibility.

<i>We may want to check out the Newseum or Spy Museum. If we can only do one...which one would you recommend? I've heard good things about both.</I>

I'd vote Newseum. Their tickets are good for two days visit so you could split it up amongst yourselves. Both places are worthy -- Spy Museum requires a fair amount of exhibit reading and that is more difficult with bigger summer crowds. Go first thing to avoid that.

I also vote for the Newseum. I believe they have AAA discounts if you are a member.

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (an annex to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum) at Dulles is very worthy of as visit. It houses the Space Shuttle Discovery, the Enola Gay and an Air France Concorde just to name a few. I found it as fascinating as the Air & Space Museum in DC.

I always recommend Segway tours for DC. I live in Northern VA and have seen all the monuments a zillion times but seeing them by Segway was really fun! My friend and I went with Capital Segway but there are several companies that do these tours. We covered a ton of ground and it's a nice way to get an overview of the monuments and surrounding area. Our tour lasted about 3 hours and cost (I think) about $60. Worth every penny.

If you go to the Newseum, consider eating at The Source, the restaurant that's attached. Their dim sum is fantastic, especially the fried rice.

While seeing the monuments all lit at night they are also very special during the day, esp the Viet Nam monument with the names of all the dead. I would make time to see them both ways.

Great itinerary. Only thing missing that I think is important is a trip to Arlington Cemetery to see the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It does take a couple hours.

Another place is the zoo. The zoo opens early so your last day it may be an option.

Another vote for the Newseum! We really enjoyed it and went with our early 20s kids. They do offer AAA discount and I believe a college student discount.

Holocaust Museum was very moving.

Hop on hop off buses take you around town pretty easily.

We (Mr. Pickle, teenage PickleDude, and me) did a monuments at night walking tour with DC by Foot, which we all enjoyed very much. It looks like they call it the National Mall tour now. http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/washi...nal-mall-tour/

We didn't have time to visit the Newseum, but we went to the Spy Museum and thought it was very interesting.

Lee Ann

I have two recommendations for dinner in or sort-of-near Dupont Circle. Right in DuPont Circle, we like Circa. In case it comes up, we definitely do NOT like Tomate. About 3/4 mile north of DuPont Circle (a nice walk), we really liked Mintwood Cafe. About 3/4 of in a different direction (also a nice walk), on 14th St. There are any number of good restaurants. Ted's Bulletin is really good for breakfast if you're in the neighborhood.

Agree with all of your suggestions (and the non suggestion for Tomate), sf7307. The sister Circa at Foggy Bottom is one of our go-to places.

Thanks for all your help! I'm so excited!

I'm going to squeeze Library of Congress with Capitol Hill to not waste time going back to the same area.

As far as the monuments...we assumed we were going to walk it. But Segway or bus tour would be a great idea.

Will put Newseum on our itinerary! And plan to eat at Source and check out the observation deck. Thanks for the tip!

We are considering Arlington Cemetery...seems to take a lot of time to get there and experience it.

Our schedule is a bit museum/capitol hill heavy. That's why I wanted to venture to Georgetown and Dupont Circle to get a different feel of the city. I would enjoy walking around Georgetown and checking out the boutiques. Eating a good places.

Pizzeria Paradiso in Georgetown is very good.

On one trip, we rented bikes near the mall and rode to the Jefferson Memorial, to Georgetown (University and village), and back to the mall. It was really great (but it was also a Sunday - no traffic at all downtown)

Just a head's up (not sure if anyone mentioned it) that Newseum is private (not part of the Smithsonian) and there's an entrance fee - I think it's about $20 per person.

Arlington is a must-see (like Pearl Harbor) sometime in your life, but whether you can fit it in on this 4-day trip is another question.

If you want to get a "feel" for a different part of the city, and the weather is decent, I'd spend an hour in the DuPont Circle area and then I'd walk from 19th and R up either 19th Street or Corcoran to 14th Street, and eat somewhere on 14th (Etto, Doi Moi, Amsterdam Falafel Shop, Ted's Bulletin, so many choices). I'd do this late afternoon/early evening, when there's loads of people about.

A quieter but really nice walk through very nice residential neighborhoods (DuPont Circle, Kalorama, Adams Morgan) to Mintwood Café - walk from DuPont Circle up 19th to Columbia Road, bear right on Columbia Road.

<i>If you want to get a "feel" for a different part of the city, and the weather is decent, I'd spend an hour in the DuPont Circle area and then I'd walk from 19th and R up either 19th Street or Corcoran to 14th Street, and eat somewhere on 14th (Etto, Doi Moi, Amsterdam Falafel Shop, Ted's Bulletin, so many choices). I'd do this late afternoon/early evening, when there's loads of people about. </i>

There are loads of people around all evening, not sure why you'd specify late afternoon or early evening. That part of 14th Street from Logan Circle up to the U Street corridor is one of the busiest parts of the city at night. The different "feel" is that the crowd is younger, more 20s and early 30s than Dupont Circle.

Agree with sf7307 and gardendiva that Arlington National Cemetery is a must see. So much history there. Great views to DC. My mom is buried there and being from California, I don't visit DC nearly as much as I would like.

obxgirl, I only specified "rush hour" because on the walk from 19th to 14th, it always strikes me how many people are on the street (my DH decided that the dress code after work hours requires yoga pants and a yoga mat for 20s-ish women in those neighborhoods). I know 14th St. and the area around DuPont and U Street themselves will always be lively at night.

Apologies for the misunderstanding, sf. ^^^

Not at all!

Given how many excellent museums there are in DC and it appears you haven't seen any, I would not promote the Newseum given your itinerary. First, I can't believe you intend to visit 3 museums on day 2, in addition to the other things? If that's a suggestion of ones you might visit you still ahve plenty to choose from. You could move one of those to Friday, I also highly recommend the Archives which you don't list. I think it is very important historically.

The problem with the Newseum, even though well done, is that it is a lot of reading stuff (the Archives, also, but it is free and doesn't take as long), and it is extremely expensive, even with a AAA 10 pct discount. It's regular fee is $23 for adults and $14 for teens. I don't even know when you plan to put in the Newseum into your schedule. YOu don't even have hardly any time on Friday free, anyway.

Agree that Georgetown is nothing special to see. If you just want to walk around, you could easily do that elsewhere, like Adams Morgan.

Day 2 contains too much of a muchness, not allowing you to spend much time at any of the museums.

You can just walk past the Smithsonian Castle; there's not much to see inside, compared with the actual museums.

We found the Newseum overwhelming, even with 3/4 of a day to visit.

Arlington Cemetery is definitely a must see. Doesn't take a lot of effort being across the river and it's worth the three hours or so that it will take you. Do the tram tour but walk away from the stops too. Do some homework and know what sights (Space Shuttle Memorials, USS Maine, etc) and where they are. It's hallowed ground and needs to be seen.

Thank you all for all the helpful advice. I'm still trying to fine tune the schedule.

We got into the White House tour! The only problem is that our White House tour is scheduled for 8:30 in the morning and we have a Capitol tour scheduled for us starting at 9:50. Is that even feasible?

You're missing a couple of great cities between NYC and WAS.
Philadelphia has some history the boys should be exposed to.
Baltimore has the Inner Harbor, Camden Yards and the National Aquarium.
Is it possible to swap the Capitol tour tickets with someone else for a later tour or are your names on them?

Unless the White House is really important to you, I would skip that tour. You will spend more time going through security than you will actually in the White House. 8:30 is not the first tour time so you may be delayed.

Also, remember you can't bring anything into the White House, no purses or backpacks for sure - I'm not sure whether cell phones are permitted. So you'll have to leave everything at the hotel or leave someone outside with all your stuff.

Ugh! I think we would rather do the White House tour instead of Capitol if we had to choose. Just because it's harder to get that tour than the Capitol. I sent our representative an email about the two conflicting tours they booked for me. Hoping the can find us another time for the Capitol tour. One of my boys really want to see the Capitol as well... As and extracurricular project, he recreated the Capitol building in a cad program and his science teacher 3D printed it. So it would be cool if he got to experience it.

Yep...no purses etc. just basically phone and ID. That's kind of a pain to have to go back to the hotel to get our necessities.

Also, what is the best way to get from the White House to the Capitol in the mid morning? Über or public transportation?

I wish we had more time with this trip to do the cities between NYC and DC. We have to get back to the West Coast for a wedding.

<i>Also, what is the best way to get from the White House to the Capitol in the mid morning? Über or public transportation?</i>

I'd go with Uber or a cab. Metro would take about the same transit time but you'll have a short walk to McPherson Square as well as the possibility of having to wait for a train.

I hope you can get the Capitol tour moved. Both WH and Capitol are memorable tours of iconic buildings. Your son's project sounds impressive!

One of these days, I'm going to remember to schedule a White House tour in advance of a trip! (We have been on the Capitol Tour and it's great).

On my trip to DC two years ago we did the White House tour and the Capitol tour through our representative. We all agreed the White House tour was lack luster. Basically walked through a few room. Guards would answer questions, no tour guide. However, we had a private tour of the Capitol with our reps intern. Road the underground tram between the Rayburn House of Rep Building and the Capitol. Visited a private committee room and ate at the Capitol cafeteria. Way more cool than the White House. We also took the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Really enjoyed it. Library of Congress is just OK. We happened to hit that on our second trip. We stumbled onto a day where the "library" was closed but the building was having an open house. So we got to go back into the archives. If pressed for time, skip it.

Georgetown took effort to get to by public transportation. I was underwhelmed.

Don't know if you will be there on a Friday night, but if so, check out the Marine Corp Barracks Parade.
http://www.barracks.marines.mil/Para...ingParade.aspx

Wow, we LOVED the Library of Congress!

I would choose the Capitol over the White House tour any day, even without a staffer as a guide. The WH tour is self-guided (although there are guards standing around to answer questions) and covers only a very few rooms. It's worth doing once, but I wouldn't prioritize it, personally, especially given the hassle factor.

IMO, the free docent-led tour of the Library of Congress is necessary to appreciate what you're seeing. We loved it! Ditto the Supreme Court.

Georgetown, underwhelming? Well, depends what you did there. The shopping is mostly chains and stuff you can easily find online, but the historic neighborhood, the Exorcist steps, Dumbarton Oaks, Tudor Place are all well worth seeing if time permits.

Meant to add, I am always ambivalent about recommending the Newseum to tourists with limited time. It's a great museum. But you can't zip through it, and you wouldn't want to given that you've paid admission and given that the whole point of the place is to take time to read, and read a lot.

OTOH, I wholeheartedly recommend at least walking past it, because they put up one front page from each state every day, and it's fun to browse and see what's news around the country.

A couple suggestions that might break up all your museums on day 2 --
FDR Memorial which is outdoors and one of my favorite memorials in DC.
https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presid..._memorial.html
Also outside and the newest memorial (for now) is the MLK. https://www.nps.gov/mlkm/index.htm

I love the Newseum, but you have to be into the news. And as mentioned above there is alot of reading.
Did you mention how old your teenagers are? They Spy museum is fun and interactive and they might like that. There are a couple of fun "experiences" one can do. Check it out. http://www.spymuseum.org

What would you be looking for in Georgetown? As mentioned above its pretty much chain stores. Hard to imagine teenage boys enjoying Dumbarton Oaks or the Tudor Place.

Also not sure what Dupont Circle has to offer to take time to visit on such a short stay in DC. Pizza Paradiso has great Pizza & sandwiches. Otello has good food, not great but very good. Lots of people like Kramers on Conn Ave -- its a bookstore that's been around forever with a moderately priced restaurant in the back. Fun if you're a book lover and decent food. There's a wonderful Sunday market there-nice place for breakfast or a snack.

If the reason you have picked Dupont & Georgetown is becuase they are well known, much of the center of nightlife has moved well east. If you want to see where "all the action is" you might go over to 14th St which is packed with people and some great restaurants. Also the area around the Verizon Center is hopping all the time. Again many restaurant choices.

This article while a couple years old is till pretty accurate
https://www.thrillist.com/eat/washin...-washington-dc

Enjoy DC!

Newseum is fantastic. We have been three times and still love it each time. Great for families with kids of all ages. They do an amazing job presenting the news in a very interactive, poignant and fun ways. Great views and decent cafeteria too if you find you cannot fit in lunch.

Keep the White House tour. We have been on the regular one and the VIP and both are well worth it.

Goergetown is not a must but is nice if you can fit it in. If you have a few hours to stroll, stop and shop and eat, then add it in. If not, do not feel bad.

The museums you have are must do stops IMO and I would keep them.

I would break the monuments up into two days to see them all. How much time you spend at each one is totally up to you. Some are better at night than others.

Check out DC Ducks. A fun and exciting way to spend an hour and a half if you have the time.

Have fun.

Wow!!! Thanks for all this helpful advice. Lots to research and ponder over. I love hearing all your experiences and recommendations.