Must sees in Washington,DC
 

My husband and I will be in Washington for about 3 days that are free of conference events. We are Canadians who have never been to DC. What are absolute must-sees I feel overwhelmed when I look at all there is to see at the Smithsonian for example. Any hepl would be great. We are staying at the Marriott Wardman. Restaurants? Any help would be appreciated.

Here's a starter:

http://tinyurl.com/3b5vmp

For first-timers I would say the must sees are:

Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials
Pick one museum that interests you - don't try to visit all.
Take a peek at Union Station.
Walk by the White House.
Take a tour of the FBI.
Take a tour of the Kennedy Center.

My must-sees are:
Monuments: Lincoln, Jefferson and Vietnam at a minimum, more if you're good walkers and weather cooperates
White House and Capitol: from the outside is fine, go into the Capitol if you have time
The Mall: choose a museum or two, and remember that they're all free admission, so you can dip in and out at will
Georgetown and Dupont/Adams-Morgan: in G'town, get off the main drags of Wisconsin Ave and M Street and walk the cobbled streets, take in the architecture. In Adams-Morgan and/or Dupont Circle, eat dinner, have a drink or a coffee, visit a club. Have Ethiopian food if you haven't tried it yet, or even if you have.
Arlington Cemetary: Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Kennedy gravesite, other notables.
Ride the Metro.

If time permits, and it probably won't, the Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection (an art museum in Dupont Circle), Embassy Row, National Cathedral.

The best restaurant close to your hotel is New Heights. It's on Calvert St., a half block west of Connecticut. You have to look for the door, because the restaurant is upstairs (new heights, get it?).

We have visited DC many times and the best advice is to bring very comfortable shoes.

Things I would avoid:

The Capital Building Tour - just took the tour and found it a bit disappointing. Took forever to get a timed ticket and hassle through security - and then we only were allowed to see two rooms. We were there on a Saturday - it may be different if they are in session.

The Fords Theatre: It's in the midst of a remodling - so take that on off your list.

Things that we love:

The Air & Space Museum: It does have a good Wow factor when you walk in. Lots of recognizable aircraft packed in there. Also keep in mind if you are flying into Dulles - there's a brand new wing of the museum there will really cool stuff. A SR51 Blackbird (?) and one of the space shuttles.

The Holocaust Museum: This is an amazing place. Everyone should go once in their life. Very emotional though, be prepared for that.

Library of Congress: Beautiful inside, a pretty quick tour and very interesting.

FDR Memorial - This is near the Jefferson Memorial, for some reason we don't go to this area very much, but worth the walk.

Spy Museum - one of the few places you will have to pay for, but a fun quirky museum.

The metro is going to be your best friend - I recommend buying the all-day pass and jump on and off as much as you like.

My dinner recommendation is KOMI. Very pricey - but one of the best meals I've had in my life. Very small place in walking distance (15 minutes) of the Dupont Circle metro stop.

I would also suggest an after-dark bus tour of all the monuments...We've been to D.C. before but did this a couple years ago and it was quite nice to see the sights at night without driving, parking, etc. The standard tour is 2-3 hours, and you stop at each monument to walk around.

Oops...another idea...My favorite place to visit is Mount Vernon. It is outside the city, however, so you would need to take a car or a tour. It has a very unique atmosphere and is a special place. I agree that the Capitol and White House are fine from the outside.

When you go to the Smithsonian Museums on the "Mall," I would suggest going into the Air and Space Museum first. After touching the moon rock on your way in and before you do anything else, go to the IMAX counter and decide what movie to buy tickets for. All of them are wonderful. At this point you should also decide if you want to buy tickets for the planetarium. After buying the tickets, then look around the museum and go into the cafeteria.

While in the cafeteria, if you haven't done this back at the hotel, look at an information folder about the other museums and see which ones interest you so you know where you want to go next when you have seen the IMAX film(s) and/or planetarium show.

To me, the Lincoln memorial is the high point of the memorials although I haven't been to DC since the FDR memorial was built, and I am looking forward to seeing that one.

Since you are Canadian, I would suggest skipping the Vietnam War memorial as it was not your war.

I would, however, recommend highly going into Arlington Natl Cemetery to the eternal flame for John F Kennedy if you remember JFK. If you don't remember him, then move on to other sights.

The White House tour is absolutely NOT worth it; the public rooms are boring, and the gardens are planted with annuals so they are dull as well. The FBI tour is most appealing to boys ages 8 through 18. Unless you have some professional reason for being interested in that tour, I would forget that as well since you have only 3 days.

The Capitol is a stunning building inside but I agree with the advice to forego the tour and look around yourselves. My favorite space in the building is the dome where you will see the most awesome statues of past US statesmen. It's a great space.

Union Station, while on Capitol Hill, is an historic preservation success story and definitely worth a look.

Mt. Vernon is architectually very dull compared with Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia, which is fascinating but too far away for you to visit on this trip.

A house I love to visit in Washington is the Woodrow Wilson House at 2340 S Street. Check it out online.

I agree with those who have suggested walking through Georgetown.

And finally... it's good to bear in mind that Washington, unlike New York, is a low city because the Capitol must be the highest building and all other buildings must be constructed with rooflines lower than the Capitol. That's why the developers went across the river to Virginia to build high rises.

Have fun on the Metro! It is SO user - friendly.

Jane

one thing that i find quite interesting is the supreme court building, particularly if there are arguments that day. It's near the LIbrary of Congress--so you can go by and see how the line looks--they run people through every 5 minutes or so.

Hi, bretter -
Another good restaurant near the Marriott Wardman is Petits Plats - great French food in a casual setting. And there are a number of other decent restaurants in that block.
Enjoy!

Wholeheartedly agree with the earlier reccomendation for the National Holocaust Museum. It's an amazing experience I still remember years later.

It is well-designed and very experiential. You can choose to go as deep as you can handle - or gloss the surface.

While the majority of the museum is depressing, the end will fill you up again with hope for mankind.

On a side note - we recently did the tour of Mount Vernon again. I wanted to buy something from the gift shop - and found it ironic that everything I checked was made in China. With the whole lead paint issues going on I was determined to find something American made. The best I could find was an egg-shaped ornament (made in Russia).