Hi

Planning a 4 day trip to DC in May with my husband (no kids). We are staying at the Wardham Marriot in Woodley Park. We have no problems dealing with the Metro (we are from NY). I am a little confused about how things are set up. Are all the monuments (ie FDR, Jefferson, Lincoln) within walking distance from eachother. What else is there to do in the area of the monuments. We plan to devote one day to the Smithsonian museums. Basically, what i am trying to do is figure out how to see things in a logical order without running around in circles. Other things we are interested in seeing:
monuments
Air & Space, Nat History, & American History
holocost museum
arlington
mt vernon

maybe there will be some other things....
Please give me any help you can!

Cordelia

the monuments are pretty much in a circle so you can start and end up at the same one. it's a nice long walk, i think the best time to do it is at dusk - they are so lovely at that time. you can start at the Washington Monument - near the Smithsonian metro, or at the Lincoln Memorial, about 10-15 minutes from Foggy Bottom metro.

What do you want to see in Arlington? it's a pretty big city.

Starting at Smithsonian metro station, you can walk to the Holocaust Museum. Then to the Jefferson Memorial where you can get a two-person peddle boat and cruise the Tidal Basin. After Jefferson, ccw around the Basin will get you to the FDR memorial (though you would be starting at the end of the memorial, I think). Then Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, and Washington Monument. You could go in the reverse direction, but you need reservations/tickets to visit the Holocaust Museum at a specific time.
That would be a lot of walking. The museums that you mention are near each other along the east side of the Mall.

I didn't know about it until seeing it mentioned on this forum, but you can take a boat ride between Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria, and Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon is a good distance down the Potomac.

In Arlington, I assume that you are interested in visiting the Iwo Jima Memorial and Arlington Cemetery. You might be able to visit both of those via metro, continue to Old Town via metro and bus/walk. Then boat to Mt. Vernon and back to G'town. That would be a day.

You might consider some of the walks a bit on the long side. Look at a map and count the number of blocks between the Capitol and the Jefferson, e.g. The monuments are indeed lovely at dusk, but remember you have to get back from them, and some are quite far from a Metro station.

One suggestion: the Tourmobile, which goes in pretty much the loop you want to go in, and is a hop-on, hop-off conveyance. http://www.tourmobile.com/ You can get tickets at any one of several kiosks (see the website).

There are also some trolleys, but I'm less familiar with (and less sure about) them. These seem to be based at Union Station.

If you look at a good guide book with maps, or buy a map of DC such as Streetwise, you can see exatly where the museums and monuments are in relation to each other. I always buy a map as I plan to visit a new city; it is the only way to get oriented and plan my time intelligently.

Also, check out the museums' websites so you can learn which of the Smithsonian's 14 or more facilities have exhibits you'd like to see.
www.si.edu is the place to start.

Enjoy your stay. Washington in lovely in May.

Sounds like you've received some good advice so far, but I'll add my two cents. When we have guests from out of town we usually include at the begining a drive around the mall/capitol area at night (too much traffic during the day) to give an idea of how everything is layed out. Of course, if you don't have a car, you can skip this part! But really my post here is to give you a general idea of how much you might expect to be able to fit into each day.

On one day you might try taking the Metro to the Smithsonian or L'Enfant Plaza stops and visiting the Holocaust Museum - tickets may be required, but they're free. From there you can walk to the Jefferson and then the Washington Monument. The Holocaust Museum usually takes several hours, so these things may fill one day, otherwise do whatever you feel up to.

On another day you might take the train to either the Smithsonian stop and visit the museums or take the train to the Capitol South stop and walk around the capitol and congressional buildings on your way to the museums.

Another day take the train to the Smithsonian stop and walk down the mall past the Washington Monument and see the Vietnam, Lincoln, Korean, and FDR memorials. They're all relatively close to each other. If you still have energy after those you can cross the mall to go look at the White House. No tours are open right now, but nearby is the White House Visitor's Center, which has information and displays about the WH.

Other days you can take the Metro to the National Cemetery stop and visit Arlington National Cemetery or get off at the Foggy Bottom station and do a little wandering and shopping around there. The boat ride is a good suggestion - some go from Georgetown down to Mount Vernon or at least Old Town Alexandria. You can get bus daytrips to Mount Vernon if you're interested in that. Then there's always the National Zoo down by your hotel - the pandas are pretty popular there.

Mostly just pick a few must see things and then pick and choose what you're in the mood for each day. Yes, it's a lot of walking, but that's what trips to DC are like. Fortunately most of it is in nice, scenic areas (the Mall area). And have fun!

While downtown eat a nice meal at Old Ebbitt's Grill. For other lunches while you're touring the Mall area, most of the museums have restaurants - some are sit down, some are more fast food. Then there's always the street vendors for hot dogs, ice cream, etc.

I'll add another plug for the tourmobile. You pay once and can get on and off all day, so you can control how long you stay at each destination. You can do just sites on the mall or add on Arlington cemetery, which I recommend.
Some of the sites require timed tickets, where you stand in line for tickets which then have an assigned time to come back for the tour, which can mess with your scheduling. Last time we were in DC we needed timed tickets for the mint, Washington Monument, and the Holocaust Museum. In our opinion, the mint tour wasn't worth the wait; the Washington Monument ticket gave us time to walk to the SI Museum of American History, so that was no problem.
The Holocaust Museum was a little different story -- we were there at a busy time, had to line up early in the morning and the earliest tickets we could get were for 1:30 pm. We spent over 3 hours in the museum and didn't see it all, but it was really at the limit of what we could take. I guess it depends on your heritage and attitude, but if you have Jewish heritage as we do this will affect you for a while. Another words, if you're looking to plug a quick museum visit into your schedule before dinner and a night out, it should be Air & Space or Natural History, not the Holocaust museum.
-shirley

I'm just in the middle of reading a slim little book, both humorous and informative, about touring the DC monuments, museums, and memorials. It organizes the city into quarters and covers each quarter and what there is to see there in separate sections. It's called "Washington Schlepped Here" by Christopher Buckley. I got mine from the library so if your a cheapo like me, you might want to try your library.

As a former NYer, I can share with you that the DC monuments are quite spread out and there are really no easy pedestrian walkways to follow in between. I think many are surprised at how far they need to walk. It's pleasant if you are not under time constraints and the weather is nice. The Smithsonian and some other museums are clustered in one area and easy to visit in 2 days and you can fit in 1 of the monuments each day unless you do the trolley tour and see alot with assistance. If you want to go to Arlington and Mt. Vernon, rent a car and take an entire day to do that. Instead of Arlington, try Old Town Alexandria which is a nice harborside town with plenty of restaurants and boutiques.

If you want to do a couple of museums per day I would go to the ones that are on the same side of the mall, like American History and Natural History are next to each other one one side, and Air & Space and Holocaust museums are on the other side.

The monuments and memorials that are considered "on the mall" are all connected by streets, sidewalks, and even a nice walk along the Potomac River. Aside from having everything lined up in a row right next to each other (which the museums are already), I can't think of a better arrangement than the one there is. It's a very green, grassy area on the Mall, making it an enjoyable walk (unless it's raining).

Here are some links to maps to help you determine how comfortable you feel with walking:

http://www.si.edu/visit/infocenter/mallmap.htm

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/walkingtours/Washington_DC_Walking_Tour/dctmap.html

http://www.washingtondcon-line.com/maps/maps_mall.html

THANK YOU all so much for taking the time to respond. Your suggestions were exactely what I needed. The web sites you suggested were useful.
Looking forward to my trip!!!

check out bike tours in dc, we just did three hr tour and seen all the sights up close. bike tour is less tiring than all the walking which we also did. bike tour is very safe and fun. u can also get a weeks pass for the metro for $17.50 to be used anytime in the week

ordr your tickets before hand for the holocost museum and pick them up just prior to your visit there

To get around The Mall, definitely buy a ticket on the tourmobile one day. DO NOT buy a ticket for Arlington Cemetery on the same day. The Cemetery can take a full day to go around if you want to see everything including the Custis Lee Mansion at the top of the hill.

For a four day visit, I would recommend forgetting Arlington. There is just too much to see on The Mall.

The Holocaust Museum will take you 4 hours and you will be totally drained at the end. I tell people to plan nothing else after that except maybe a rest in their hotel room before going out for dinner.

Be sure to contact your Congressman ahead of time to get whatever assistance they can provide with passes and tours. Advance planning will pay off in less time wated.

Do not miss the American History Museum. In my opinion, it is better than the Space Museum unless you are a space/airplane nut. Me, I'm a history nut.

Be sure to stop in at Ford's Theatre and walk across the street to the Peterson House where Lincoln died.

There is much to see and do in DC. Do not even think you can do justice to the Smithsonian Museums in a few days. I live here, I go to the museums to see every special exhibit and I still have not done them. It takes a lifetime--and then some.

For 4 1/2 days set your priorities and go for it. If you have to cut back because you are exhausted, cut back. It should not be what I call the Forced March through Our Nation's Capital. That is no fun and it is, after all, a vacation.

Do not forget to look around all over DC. Right now everything is in flower and it is gorgeous even if I am sneezing.