How To Do DC in 2 1/2 Days
 

Really. I am a tour guide and actually did this with a group. It was a school group from a church school in the midwest.

Day 1

Group arrives from the midwest having "slept" on the bus.

7:30am Meet the group at Union Station. Take them immediately to a photo stop in front of the White House.

From there do FDR and Jefferson Memorials.

By that time the Smithsonian has opened. 2 free hours at the Smithsonian in museum(s) of choice. Most go to Air & Space. Others go to American Indian or Art Gallery. I busy myself straightening out where to go with the group for their reserved Capitol tour.

Lunch is in the Air & Space cafeteria or wherever.

After lunch head to Senator's office for a guided tour of the Capitol from one of the Senator's interns.

Head to The Archives. No line. Go in. See the Constitution, Declaration and Bill of Rights.

Walk down to the Old Post Office Pavillion at 12th & Penna. Aves., NW. Another of DC's food courts. Eat at one of the places and let the kids go up in the tower. Oh, well, some of the kids need an adult to go up. Abandon chair and escort them. Not what I wanted to do, but I'm the guide. I have to keep them happy and make sure they see everything.

Head over to The Kennedy Center and take in a free performance at 6:00pm. Take photos on the terrace.

END OF DAY ONE

Day 2

Meet the group at Arlington and try to figure out which bus is the right one (there were several in town from the bus company I worked for). I have to tell you that there were over 50 tour guides waiting for buses. Thank goodness Arlington is a big place!

Take the kids up to the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Then go to see Challenger/Discovery Memorials and the mast of the battleship Maine. Walk to the Kennedy graves. Point out Supreme Court justices and a few other graves and hurry to the visitor's center where the women's restrooms were, thank goodness, open (They were closed when we arrived).

Lunch at the ever popular food court at Union Station. Can't recall what I ate.

1:00pm Holocaust Museum. I went through with the group but I don't always.

3:30pm Cruise on the Spirit of Washington. Food is so so but the group has a wonderful time.

7:00pm Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a performance of the Old Guard Drill team.

8:00pm Walk over to World War II Memorial.

8:30pm Since everyone is exhausted, the bus takes us to Korea, Lincoln and Vietnam. Walk the monuments with the group.

Bus takes us to Iwo Jima. Get out and interpret the statue.

END OF DAY TWO

Day 3

Meet the group at Mount Vernon after a terrible drive in traffic (no good public transport there). I got there--whew--2 minutes ahead of the group. Take the part of the group that wants to do the Mansion and the Tombs.

The tour was supposed to end here. It did but then I phoned the driver: I had gotten the group into the National Cathedral for a noon prayer service. I told the driver to get that bus into the Cathedral garage NOW. I get to the Cathedral ahead of time. We get escorted up to the choir where the service has begun. Before entering, I tell the kids, "When we go through this door (the main door), there is no talking." The kids behave like angels. I find out later that they had just been confirmed and this was their second time taking Holy Communion (What do I know? I'm Jewish). This was very meaningful for the group and much better than taking a tour with 100'a of noisy 8th graders from all over the country.

END OF TOUR

The group went to Gettysburg and then home. I went to bed.

By the way, the group "slept" on the bus going home too.

By the way, I recommend that you take a bit more time, but, if you only have 2 1/2 days, you do it the fast way.

Most important things to know: Where the toilets are and where the buses can park.

This is extremely helpful! Wouldn't it be great if Katie at Fodor's could include putting this up as a separate section, like travel groups, suggestions for group travel or something.


I want to do this, I just need a second and third me to accomplish all I want to do!

How exhausting!
(But the food court in the Old Post Office is miserable, I work across the street. If you want better food to fit into this schedule, go up the tower, but then eat at the Reagan Bldg.)

I do agree that the Reagan food court is better. By the time we went to the Old Post Office Pavillion, people were exhausted and it was closer to walk than Reagan. You make compromises. And the Tower gave people something to do while some chose to just sit. I think almost everyone ended going up in the Tower after a few went and praised the view. It also gives the best view I know of the Federal Triangle Project.

I did have one older woman and another one with a built up shoe, so I was cognizant of the walking (They took the tourmobile at Arlington while we walked it). They both did well but I did get them seats at the Old Guard Tattoo. There must have been over 100 groups of 8th graders there on the night we went. They announced all the schools (I forgot to include my group on the list; I'll do better next time). I thought they would never get to the end. I believe some of the groups announced never made it because there was no cheering when they announced their names.

Each one of these tours is different. I even had a group go to a Baltimore Orioles game. You research what is going on that you think they might like and somehow fit it in. Then you do the things they want to do. You must remember that it is their trip. Getting them into the Cathedral took several phone calls. I was trying to get a reservation for a bus tour that canceled when someone said they were having a service at noon and there were no bus tours. It took me a nanosecond to say, "Can I bring them to the service? It's a Lutheran School." When the celebrant at the Cathedral asked, "Did [name of school] make it?" I knew I had done the right thing. Very happy group of people. I will probably get the same group again--or at least be offered it. You get work by doing a good job.

You sometimes need to research things for these tours. On my second tour they had something about a Martin Luther King keystone. I hadn't a clue, but you can find everything online. After I located it, I made sure I knew where it was by going over to look at it and read the inscription. It ended up just as a drive by, but I was sure I knew I was pointing to the right thing.

And sometimes you get very nice thank you notes.

It is exhausting work, but surprisingly well paying in DC because there is a tough licensure test. Some groups choose to guide themselves (or the teacher does it), but people who do it more frequently do know a few things.

I have a lot of information in my iPAQ--not to mention phone numbers to everything. You have to know where to call if things do not go smoothly (like the problems with The Capitol tour).

People pay a lot of money for these whirlwind trips and they have an absolute right to have a good time. Tour guides must make that happen if they expect to stay in the business. If you enjoy it (and I do), you do a good job and work very hard at it.

I have to tell you that except for the elderly woman, I was the oldest one in the group. Most DC tourguides are retired from other jobs. The work is heavily seasonal from March to June. It is supplemental income for me at this point, but I plan to do more of it as I continue in dribbs and drabs to retire from my law practice.

"The work is heavily seasonal from March to June."

This is actually one of the most useful tidbits of information in the thread, since it anwers the question: When can I take my family to DC and avoid the crowds of school groups? Even when they're perfectly well-behaved they can be overhwelming.

Yes, I do advise those wanting to come to avoid the spring. In the fall, while we do get groups, they are mostly groups of seniors. The kids are all raising money then for their spring trips.

Even the summer with all the families is not as busy as the spring. It begins mid March and lasts through the first week of June.

I want to tell you that tour directors help each other out all the time. I took this class awhile back. One of my classmates called me while he was with his group this afternoon. He had some questions and I looked them up online while he held on. Then another classmate called him and asked a question. I got that for him too. If you have ever been on a guided tour, you bust your butt to make it all run smoothly. The people have paid quite a bit for their trip and it is up to you to give them a good time--even if that means getting them into the Washington National Cathedral without a reservation! A cell phone and an iPAQ are really necessary. I have a lot of notes in my iPAQ, but I don't look at it too often. They always laugh when I pull it out to look something else. I call it my secret weapon. LOL

By the way, after I finished answering my colleagues' questions, I then had one for a colleague who has been doing this longer than I have. He emailed the answer back to me and the relevant phone number went right into my iPAQ.