herringtonb

I've lived all my life in "the other Washington" (Seattle) and now at 59 I'm taking my first trip to visit my sister in D.C. for 12 days. She really knows nothing about the area, strangely enough. With all the sights, what are the Must-See's? Any suggestions of other interesting things to do to break up viewing all the museums?
Thanks,
Bob

rb_travelerxATyahoo

Bob - If you do a search on Washington or D.C. up able and click the search button, you'll find a wealth of DC discussions and recent trip reports. It's a great place to visit, you'll enjoy your trip.

PamSF

The Holocaust Museum because you should and the Phillips because you can. Do not attempt to see the HM and the FDR Memorial or the Vietnam War Memorial on the same day unless you plan to go the the bar at the Tabard and drink heavily.

PamSF

PS: do try the bar@The Tabard. It's the watering hole for DC progressives..a dying breed. We were "turned on" to some fabulous jazz there post NPR.(The whole environ was switched @ 5 pm).

tovarich

We'll be visiting Washington DC first helf December and plan to take the Old town trolley the first day.You see all the interesting things and can hop on/off all day. The other days you can then see more in depth the things you're really interested in. We've also booked the Monuments at night tour.This was suggested here on Fodor's in order to travel at night in a safe manner as there seems to be a crime wave in DC at the moment. Paul

corwin

i have loved taking my children to DC every other year or so. the smithsonian, the botanical gardens, the supreme court, the library of congress, and the fbi building/tour are some of our favorites. the other fav is SOOOO hard to get in to, the US Mint building, long lines and long waits just to get a ticket, and they may run out for the day before your turn in line comes up. this happens no matter how early you get in line.

we also love the lincoln memorial in the early am just before it opens. i preferred staying in fogggy bottom in a small hotel with an excellent restaurant. spending entire days on our feet, out and about, we had no desire to "go out" for dinner other than right downstairs to the hotel restaurant. keep that in mind.

we broke up our trip with a trip way out of the city to visit gettysburg and friends. then we came back in and did the capitol bldg tour, which all of roundly hated. it was unnecessarily dull and uninteresting. our white house tour was not much of anything, except it was a big deal to us just to get in. it took connections. american history museum and arts and crafts museum really took second fiddle to our favs mentioned above.

the national geographic building was fairly interesting, too.

The_Editor

Goodness, please take "corwin's" recommendations with a large grain of salt. There is no Mint in DC (though there is a Bureau of Printing and Engraving, which makes paper money), the FBI hasn't given tours in several years, the Lincoln Memorial is open 24/7 (though the little museum in its bas is not). "The Smithsonian" includes the American History museum, which will close on Labor Day for a multi-year renovation.

As rb_traveler advised, do a search of past posts. And visit the Smithsonian's web site at si.edu to get an overview of their wonderful offerings.

To break up the museums/monuments routine, visit Georgetown, which has a nice cosmopolitan/college town feeling, with shopping, historic buildings and gardens (Tudor Place, Dumbarton Oaks), restaurants, etc. Travel via the Metro or the new Circulator Bus which makes Georgetown more accessible.

zlaor

We spent a day in Philly before going to D.C. for several days. If you are a history buff that would really tie in nicely.

What I consider "must see" in D.C. are the White House, Licoln Memorial, Air & Space museum and The National Archives which is amazing.

If you want to go to the White House contact your congressman to get you tickets.

pollyvw

Another must see: The National Cathedral

zootsi

With 12 days, you should be able to see quite a bit. Of course, the Smithsonian museums on the Mall are world class, and you should see them all, even if it's only for an hour or so. The Holocaust Museum is unforgettable, as is a tour of the Capitol. For a nice day in the countryside, Mt Vernon is relaxing and beautiful. Stroll around the Dupont Circle area, and Georgetown. Take a ride on the mule driven canal barge. There is so much to see and do, you won't be bored.

LN

I've been living and working (and visiting the sights) in this town for a loooong time.

If I were coming in for the first time it might be nice to take the tour first. I think Gray Line has one that goes around showing you the various sights. Later you can go to places you'd like to get into.

I love the White House and the Capitol and you must have special permits for that nowadays but you can still walk around the exterior and then, if you're up near the Capitol, try to see the Natl Gallery of Art, the Supreme Court building, Library of Congress, or the House or Senate buildings.

Smithsonians (there are many) Air and Space is wonderful as is American History. Then you can walk over to the Monument and take the elevator up to the top. Great view. If you're walking is up to par, head over to the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials and on the way back, pick up the World War II memorial, the Viet Nam memorial and the Korean War memorial also. As you probably know there's no fees for entrance.

If possible, try to get to the Kennedy Center and at least have an iced tea out on their magnificient deck overlooking the Potomac and Virginia as well as planes flying into National (oops Reagan) Airport.

The National Cathedral is up off Massachussetts Ave NW and is wonderful and so is the Catholic church on the grounds of Catholic University in NE.

You also can take a cruise down the Potomac to Mount Vernon and I'd recommend that over driving - much nicer way of getting around DC's traffic and much more scenic.

Hope this helps and if you need more - just ask!

npurpleh2

The obvious is that you will want to do the Smithsonian musuems, but in addition to that, I highly recommend the Spy museum. I've taken guests to it and both my guests and I have really enjoyed it. It is a bit different than the Smithsonian museums and might be good for you to break up visiting the more history focused museums with something a little different. If you have a car and want to get out of the city, you could do a quick trip to Great Falls which is not far outside the city (can be less than 30 minutes in decent traffic). The Virginia and Maryland sides are both nice and while you'll hear opinions for both, I prefer the Virginia side.

pollyvw

With 12 days, definitely try to do a couple of daytrips outside DC.

Annapolis is a great site...walk around the harbor, duck into some shops and tour the Navy Academy.

Baltimore's Inner Harbor and Fells Point plus Ft McHenry make for a great day-trip.

Gettysburg is not far with its Civil War sites...and from G'burg a tangent to Antietem and/or Harper's Ferry.

There is just so much to do around here that is not centered around the Mall.

I love the idea of the Grayline tour to start you off. Then go back to places that intrigue you. Do a search to find out about the Tourmobile which is a very good way to get around. Things are much further apart than they look.

In DC, did anyone say Arlington Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the JFK Gravesite? The view of DC from the latter is very impressive. And yes...definitely the monuments at night!