Only have one day
 

Driving from Wisconsin to Willamsburg over spring break. Our family of 6 has never been to Washington, and I am trying to plan out a one day stop on our way. We would check-in pretty late on the 10th (Downtown, convention center area, or arlington) and tour D.C. Easter Sunday. Thinking of seeing a few sites, but skip tours because of time limit. Worth the stop or do I need to carve out 2 days to make this work? Any feedback would be appreciated! (kids range from teenager to 5 year old) TIA

Opps! Should of put Washington D.C. in the subject line. Sorry about that!

Oh yes! Well worth the stop. Check to see if the museums you want to visit will be open but I believe they are only closed on Christmas Day.

I would do a drive around in the morning and look at the exterior of the The Smithsonian Buildings (Air and Space, several art galleries, Natural Hist.& American Hist museums and others bldgs) and the National Archives. On Capitol Hill, The Capitol Bldg, Supreme Court, Library of Congress. Continue to the White House, then Monuments and Memorials, Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson, Vietnam, FDR and if you can manage to get across the Memorial Bridge to Arlington Cemetary, you'll have seen the highlights.

Most of our visitors want to get out and take a good look at The White House, Lincoln, Jefferson and Vietnam Memorials.

We have taken guests to all these places in one day but you can't expect to "tour" anything. It will be just a quick look. There is a tourist train (must pay)that will take you to the major sites on a hop on and off basis. Again check that it will be running on Easter.

We drive ourselves but the Avenues on diagonals confuse people from out of town.

If you decide to take the subway from your hotel to the Mall and walk around to buildings be aware that what looks close may actually be very far when you are walking, especially with a five year old. Would be hard to cover everything in one day like that but might be slower paced and more enjoyable to just settle on a few things

We're practiced at the DC in a day visit! Have a good trip!

kakalena's driving loop is a good idea for the morning. I also recommend getting out and seeing the Lincoln and Vietnam memorials, though IMHO there's not much to see at the White House. The memorials are open 24/7, so get as early a start as you reasonably can. Your hotel concierge might help you plan a route map.

Then in the afternoon, choose one or perhaps 2 of the Smithsonians. Rather than trying to cram in too much, do a bit of online research in advance and choose a couple of things to focus on, depending on family interests - perhaps the dinosaurs and minerals at the Museum of Natural History.

One of the frustrating things about trying to make the most of your time in DC is that most of the attractions are open from 10 - 5:30. If you're not exhausted by evening, check out the Spy Museum. Another off-hours possibility is the Ntaional Zoo, where the buildings are open 10- 6 (?), but the grounds are open much longer hours, and the animals are most active during those earlier and later times during warm weather. The zoo is free, it's actually part of the Smithsonian, but the Spy Museum is $$.

Wow, thanks for the quick replies. Great information...makes me feel better about putting this together. Our trip route brings us right to the Arlington area. Do you think it is better to stay there and use the Metro for our day, or book a hotel in Downtown/Convention center? With little kids (and after a 14-16 hour driving trip), I doubt we will last into the evening for sight seeing. Thanks!

If you are staying in Arlington (I assume you mean Rosslyn right?) that is very convenient to the Mall on the Metro. The Smithsonian stop drops you in the middle of the Mall on the Orange/Blue line.

If you stay by the convention center (I assume you mean the old convention center) it isn't any more convenient to the Smithsonian stop.You'd have to transfer at Metro center to the Orange/Blue Line to get to the Smithsonian stop. With kids it is too far to walk from your hotel and I as I said, if you are on a day trip you've got to conserve your energy because there is so much to cover.

you can view the Metro system at


www.wmata.com


From Arlington, if you do the drive-by tour in the car it will be a little trickier to get across the bridges into the city. It would be easier to drive from the DC hotel.

You might want to post another question here at Fodor talk and ask other families who don't know the roads in DC which they would prefer.

We've found that visitors are confused by the diagonal avenues in the city and the interstate system in the suburbs 95,295,395,495 etc.. It's really not that complicated and your concierge should be able to give you very specific directions to where you want to go. I think you might benefit from asking a novice driver to the city as to which they would prefer.

K.

I am going out on a limb here and suggest you make it a two day trip. Don't get me wrong...I love Williamsburg. Moved here from the DC area a few years ago. But if you're coming to Wmbg to tour, you can see plenty of Wmbg, Jamestown and Busch Gardens in 3 to 4 days.

If you want to stay in DC, I'd recommend the Dupont Circle area. I wouldn't stay near the convention center unless I was attending a convention.

For a group that includes two parents and kids ages 5 to teens, don't forget the option that one parent stays at the hotel with the younger ones and puts them to bed, while the older kid(s) and the more energetic parent can go look at monuments, etc.

Or, during the day, likewise split up the younger and older kids (especially after a full day of togetherness in the car) into two separate outings, perhaps younger kids to the zoo, older to a Smithsonian musem.

There's so much to do in the DC area, you might indeed be better off with one day less in the Williamsburg area and one more in DC. How many total days do you have?

I wouldn't stay in Dupont Circle, (again on the wrong Metro line for convenience), also congested narrow streets. A pain to park. There are a couple of hotels by Dupont Circle Embassy Row but I think you'd do just as well where you planned. (Grand Hyatt or Key Bridge Marriott? - just guessing.)

If you can get a good rate because of the holiday (Easter) the JW Marriott flagship hotel is very close and convenient to the mall.)

I'd also skip the Zoo. It's not well maintained and out of your way.

K.

I, too, would be more interested in DC than W'burg. One is stuck in one time frame and the other has something for all ages.

W. DC cannot be done in a day or week- it is the history of our country, most of it, and your children and yourselves, deserve to see it at your own pace.

People come from all over the world to see this-plan another trip-to see the best, with W'burg second.

I LOVE Williamsburg, and return over and over, seeing & learning more each time ... but I agree that you should carve out another day for DC as well. I don't so much agree with history of DC, Williamsburg really being one of the places of the birth of our nation, but DC has all the monuments, memorials, and of course is the center of today's government.

Try to take in many of the monuments at night. Especially Lincoln, FDR and Jefferson. Just coming up from the Smithsonian Metro stop to look around is something.

I've stayed at some of the hotels in the Rosslyn area of Arlington, but I read a review recently of the Quality Inn Court House (on the Orange Line) that rated the place pretty good. Enjoy your trip!

I believe the National Cathedral has some wonderful Easter services. You and your family can be in for a real treat if you've not been there. It is just a magnificent building and a great place I would suspect for Easter Sunday -- even if you're not religous, I think you'd enjoy the pageantry.

I too think you should make DC a two day stop. Williamsburg is amazing but you can see it all easily in three days, and jamestown & fredericksburg in another day. That still leaves a day for busch gardens if you want(is that still the name of the amusement park there?).

And you could start back to wisc. on I64 with a stop in charlottesville to see monticello, thomas jefferson's stately mansion, with other historic bldgs nearby (michie tavern is cool!) Happy planning!

How do you know this family is going to "Colonial" Williamsburg to sightsee?
They just said they're going to Williamsburg.

They may be going there for another reason. It could be to visit family or a trip to look at William and Mary as a potential college for one of their teenagers or something else.

They haven't given you that information or asked about the relative merits of the two tourist destinations. : )

K.

You can get a nice introduction-- that is still leisurely-- in one day (and it doesn't have to be an all day thing either). I would want to stay in a centrally located hotel-- you may be able to find a good rate at one of the hotels near the Capitol/the Mall. That way you can see the monuments lit up at night without much effort. If it is a nice day just wander around (I would get a stroller for the 5 year old-- he or she might not want to be seen as a "baby" but after a while will be happier if given the chance to rest). Starting at the Capitol walk through the mall to the Washington Monument and then along the river, around the Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln memorial. Lots of places to stop and sit, run around on the grass, take pictures. You are basically walking into a postcard-- less important to go inside, breathtaking to be inside the images you've always seen-- in the afternoon walk over to the White House. The last time I was in Washington I only had a morning and a bit in the late afternoon-- this is what I did and it was great. I have visited before (on school trips and with my parents) and would recommend the FBI tour if it is still available (I loved it when I was 8). If you are there on Monday, the smithsonian would be a good choice as well as the white house. A drive to Monticello would also be great. If your family likes gardens there is a new national conservatory garden as well as a garden at dunbarton oaks.

kakalena,

>They haven't given you that information or asked about the relative merits of the two tourist destinations. : )<

To the contrary, the OP asked "do I need to carve out 2 days to make this work?"

darboy: I live outside D.C. If it was me, I'd take two days for D.C. if possible. From what you've said about doubting you'll last into the evening, I'd get a hotel in Arlington w/an indoor pool (there must be one, I know the Sheraton Natl. Hotel has a nice enclosed rooftop pool, but not sure if they are in walking distance to metro or have a metro shuttle), where you could use the metro to get into D.C. With such a short period, it would be less stressful than navigating the streets of D.C., finding parking, etc. Then you can go back to the hotel in the evening and play in the pool. If you had two days, you could do the Tourmobile (where you pay a price and a trolley-like bus drops you off and picks you up at all the major sites) one day to see several sites, and go back the second day for a more in depth visit at one or two Smithsonian museums. Kids the ages of yours usually like Air and Space museum and the Museum of American History (sounds dry, but it isn't at all- hands on science experiment area for little ones, lots of pop american culture exhibits for the teen, and a cool new transportation exhibit...) or the Natural History Museum (dinosaurs, a cool live insect area where they can handle exotic beetles and the like, IMAX films that are sometimes in 3D)
I think a combined Williamsburg/D.C. trip would be great, but one day in D.C. might be tiring and leave you frustrated that you don't haev more time. Two days would be better, IMO.

To give you an idea of the scale of the Mall, it is 2.6 miles from Capitol Hill to the Lincoln Memorial, not allowing for meandering.

There are no hotels on the Mall as someone has suggested.

Courthouse is just another stop away from Rosslyn on the Orange line. Some little cafes restaurants out there.

National Cathedral is out of the way and will be packed out the door on Easter.

FBI tours are closed for renovation. Dumbarton Oaks gardens are out of the way and not of much interest to kids. New botantical conservatory is okay but doubt you'll have the time.

Tourmobile is about $17 for adults and $9 for kids under 12. Not sure of exact price. They have a website.

No one has mentioned you will be arriving at the very tailend of the Cherry Blossom Festival. May be hard to get a room and is usually crowded. Maybe you'll see some blossoms though. Very beautiful and they surround the Jefferson Memorial so not out of the way.

Kids love Spy museum but it is a commercial enterprise (a few blocks away) and there are tons of other things to see for free first.

Yes, yes! It can be done in one day. I took myself on a wonderful self-guided walking tour of DC in about 6 hrs. a few years ago, after arriving on Friday afternoon for a Saturday convention.

I saw the White House, Washington Monument, Vietnam Memorial, Watergate Hotel, took the long, beautiful stroll along the reflecting pool at the National Mall to the Lincoln Memorial (think Forrest Gump), took a quick taxi to the Capitol Bldg. and Supreme Court, and walked back to Union Station for dinner and a little shopping. I only regret that I had to skip the Smithsonian. (My daughter, who had been previously, said you needed a whole day for that.)

My trip was the same time of year as yours, and some of the beautiful cherry blossom trees in DC were still blooming. There were lots of kids there on Spring Break, and they were having a blast sliding down the curved concrete alongside the steps in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Take turns carrying the 5-year-old if you have to, but the stop will definitely be worth it.

FYI, the Smithsonian Institution operates 14 museums in DC, plus the National Zoo, and 2 museums in New York. The most popular DC sites are probably the Air & Space, Natural History, and American History. It would certainly not be possible to visit all 14 of the DC "Smithsonians" in one day; IMHO, 3 would be pushing it.