October Weekend in DC
 

We are traveling with our 12 year old son over the Columbus Day Weekend. We are staying at the Hotel Monaco. Would appreciate any ideas on itineraries.

I would get a guide book if I were you.

Hi,

Welcome to Fodor's. It will be more helpful if you give us a bit more information (help us help you) about your interests, how long you will be in DC, etc... :-)

With a 12-year boy, a few ideas that come to mind immediately are: Air and Space Museum and Spy Museum. The new Newseum sounds great, but I haven't been yet. Of course, the momuments are amazing as are the many Smithsonian museums, the Capitol, and much more. There are also some bike tours that might be fun.

If you don't have a guidebook yet, do get one and start browsing to see what catches your interest.

In addition to a guidebook, you should search the recent Fodors threads, since a couple of them during the past week have related to travel with kids about that age.

lucky - I am taking my 11.5 year old for 4 nights to DC for the first time (for both of us) the following weekend.

There are a few threads going on right now that might help you.

For a fun overview of the mall, take "Bike the Sites." The guides gear the ride to the level of interest of the riders and show patience with kids.

If you have a nice evning, be sure to to return to the mall after dark when the monuments are lighted.

Keith

This is my first posting - thanks for the guidance. Anyway, we are driving from Connecticut, arriving late afternoon this Friday and leaving Monday. I did do some research and identified the Spy Museum, Air and Space, the Newseum as places of interest. My son's interests are sports and XBox live. Given that, I am trying to find sites that have a bit of a wow factor. I've been reading good things about night tours of the monuments and the Capitol. I'm open to any and all suggestions. thanks.

Given that your son like sports and X-box, he would probably love ESPN Zone.
You might also want to check out this Vistor's Guide from the Washington Post. There's even a section on what to do in 3 days:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv...l_visitorguide