My husband and I will be in Washington D.C. for a conference(this week) and have two days on our own for sightseeing. We are staying in Crystal City and planning on taking the metro. Could I get some comments on my Itinerary:

Hyatt Regency Crystal City (closed last week for norovirus-now reopened)-should we chance it?

Day one Thursday-early morning tour of Arlington on way into town (8am-10:30am)
Stop at Washington monunment-I will book these tickets ahead of time(what time would be best?-11:15)
2:30 tour (scheduled with congressman staff) of Capitol
Want to see National Gallery of Art(where should this fit?)
Night tour of monuments(which company is best Partyshuttle or tourmobile?)

Day Two-Friday
Would it be worth it to go to Mount Vernon first thing in the morning or stay in the area? I've heard that Mount Vernon is not to be missed since the newly added attractions. How much time to allocate here?

We both have only been to DC as youngersters-now in our 30's.

Thanks much for all the information everyone has provided as I have been reading very excellent advice and also thanks to those who can answer my specific questions!

Just a couple of notes:

--It's a pretty quick trip for Arlington so pick out what you most want to see.

-- For Washington Monument, not a lot of difference.

-- For National Gallery, to get the most in, you could go there for lunch (one of the few museum cafes that are decent) and make your plans over lunch, If there's time, run through a quick wing, then return with a plan after the Congress tour. Not much time here but perhaps the "what to see in an hour" link will help.

http://www.nga.gov/ginfo/index.shtm#hours

Mount Vernon is lovely and one of my favorite places in the region. The subway doesn't get you close but you could add a bus or taxi final leg. There's also a boat from DC (and might be one from Alexandria). The boats are usually full day affairs, but you can do the actual visit in a half day if you metro and taxi/bus.

Re: norovirus -- according to the news, they sent crews of people in to clean the place top to bottom, inside and out. I'm guessing you will wind up staying in one of the cleanest hotels of your lives! I note that there was a similar outbreak in the past couple of months at a hotel near Dulles airport -- the hotel was similarly closed for cleanup, then reopened, and I've heard nothing about a repeat outbreak. Crystal City is not my favorite place to begin with, but I personally wouldn't change my plans due to the norovirus thing alone.

Re: Mount Vernon -- I would definitely go, and I think your plan of going first thing in the a.m. sounds like a good one. Once you get there, you can gauge your level of interest -- some people could definitely spend all day there. The amount of time you wish to spend will probably also depend on the weather.

Re: Washington monument, while I personally ove going up inside, if you just have 2 days in D.C. (or really 1 - 1.5 days, if you are going to Mt. Vernon and Arlington), I'm not sure I would spend the time on that. The timed tickets are nice, but you'll be boxed into that time frame if you find you want to linger in Arlington. Also, even with the timed tickets, by the time you pick them up, wait in the security line, wait in the tour line, etc., the whole experience can take up to two hours. Alternative spots to get a good view of the city are the tower in the Old Post Office, or if the weather is nice, the terrace at the top of the Hotel Washington.

er, that was supposed to read "I personally LOVE going up inside," above . . .

Thanks much to repete and MoonGirl for the advice. We will definately be going to Mount Vernon for sure now.

MoonGirl-You had said that Crystal City isn't your favorite place. Is it safe? We will be taking the Metro back from Union station after our night tour of the monuments. or should be take a taxi?

Still unsure about the Washington monument-maybe if we go there first thing in the morning (before Arlington), the wait times would be shorter?

Thanks again for your insight on Wasghinton DC

health, search on "crystal city" and you will see a discussion of the exact question you are posting -- in a nutshell, Crystal City is very safe, just also rather corporate and boring. That said, it is only one metro stop from being in DC proper, so is much more convenient than other suburban locations. I'm not sure how late at night your monumnet tour ends. Be aware that the metro closes at midnight on weekdays. I don't have a good sense of exactly where your hotel is in relation to the metro (I get the many Crystal City hotels mixed up), but the hotel says it is a 10 minute walk. There will be a lot of cars, but not many people on the main street of Crystal City in the evening. Objectively, you would probably be safe, but if you are not familiar with the area and it is very late at night, it is possible you would feel a little uncomfortable. A cab from Union Station will probably run $15-17; if you are tired at the end of the evening, I might go with that option.

I note Crystal City is making efforts to shake off the "boring" label -- most recently, it announced that it would host the funky Art-o-matic show: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/b...ost-artomatic/

Thanks moongirl, especially for prices of the taxi, that will help in our decison if we are too tired to take the metro-the tour ends at 10pm. Glad to hear that Crystal City is a safe area.

Thanks for your help and I will report back on the trip next week.

I actually possess a tour guide license in DC, but do not use it much.

Mount Vernon now takes a minimum of 6 hours to see everything--assuming you do not spend a lot of time walking the grounds. The Education Center is fantastic and not to be missed.

I discourage people from going to Arlington unless they can commit 4 hours to the site. You will want to see, at a minimum, the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns, Kennedy Graves, and Arlington House (Custis-Lee Mansion. Some people skip the Mansion, but I think that's a shame.

In my view, concentrate on fewer sites and spend more time at each one.

I realize the OP has already made her trip, but perhaps this advice will help others. I sure would like a trip report as to how it all turned out.