Organizing a trip to DC for schoolkids
 

I am working on organizing a school trip for some students from a private school in the Seattle area to DC this fall @ mid-end of Oct. I would like to keep it under $500 for airfare, hotel, food(main meals) for 5 days. I did hear that sometimes the Smithsonian offers free tours for schools. Anybody else know about that, or have any other advice? I already am figuring a adult to student ratio of 1:3. Any advice, I am opne ears.

BTW, by $500, I mean per adult/student

re Smithsonian tours:

"Group Tours and Resources for Teachers


Most Smithsonian museums offer free tours of their exhibitions. To schedule a group tour, call Monday -
Friday (except federal holidays) or write to the Education Department of the museum(s) of interest."

http://si.edu/visit/groups.htm

Under the where do we park section.

My DD is taking a east coast tour in June from CA to DC, Philly and Boston over a 6 night period. Airfare, lodging, food, admissions ground transportation included is over $2000 per kid. $500 seems low so I do wish you luck.

There are several Embassy Suites in the DC area, and I know from personal experience that some of them will let you cram 6 students into a room with two double beds and a sofa bed.

All ES hotels offer a free hot breakfast and most have a pool; they also have some level of kitchenette, at least a fridge and microwave. The one in Crystal City is a hike to the Metro, but the one in Friendship Heights is literally on top of a Metro station, and the others are walkable.

Oops, after reading Suzie's comment, I notice that you included airfare in the $500. You might be able to work out something something with a travel agent who deals with charters, but that's a very tight budget.

Actually I am an agent and I do have ways to find discounts for students that are not normally available, and I did find earlier today a fare for @250 pp from SEA to BWI, and hotel for @60-70 per night

AirTran is showing $197 (plus tax = $223) for some dates in Oct.

Please share the name of the hotel. If you're not familiar with DC, we might be able to help you figure out whether it's suitable. Is it the Harrington?

I have looked at a few options for hotels. There was a Days Inn in College Park, and a Quality Inn in Mt. Vernon. Is that too far, and they were both @65-75+tax pernight

The Quality Inn Mt. Vernon is actually in Alexandria, but relatively handy to THE Mt. Vernon.

The online reviews of both places are horrible (tripadvisor, etc.).

College Park is quite a distance from the places you'll be visiting, but it does have a Metro station. IMHO a place that's within an easy walk of the Metro is OK. You can go to the trip planner at wmata.com and plug in a hotel address to get an idea of its Metro access.

Another handy tool, unique to DC, is stationmasters.com, which has a series of maps that show features like hotels and Metro stations.

I have @ a month to plan this, so that we can have it ready @mid May. These are all good ideas. If anyone has any more suggestions, have at it

In all honesty, I don't think it is worth trying to do this for that budget. You will not be happy with your hotel and transportation arrangements at that price and you will end the trip feeling like you have been through the wringer. Good luck!

I think it's doable since so many things in DC are free. You could do 2 or 3 Smithsonian museums, take a day to see the monuments, go to the zoo, see the changing of the guard at Arlington National cemetary.

I would also contact your Senator to get a meet and greet and a tour of the Capitol.

You can save a lot by having cereal, milk, bagels, bananas in the rooms for breakfast, and lunch-time picnics (i.e. food from the grocery store).

Maybe send out for pizza in the evening ...

Aren't there people who are paid to organize such trips and who have deals with airlines and hotels. Trying to plan something like this yourself seems like a fool's errand.

You have to make arrangements ahead, I'm sure, but when we were there we saw school groups giving the presentations of the flowers or wreaths, at the Tomb of the Unknown at Arlington. If you are going to the Cemetary, maybe this would be possible for your group.

We watched two of these, and the individuals/teens who got to do this were very moved.