Visit Washington D.C. during July 4th
 

We are considering a family vacation in D.C. over the 4th of July weekend. Anyone know any reasons why this is a bad idea?? We've never been to D.C., so this is also a tourist sightseeing trip. Thoughts anyone??

It will be very hot and humid. Millions of people for the 4th of July celebration. Those are 2 reasons why it won't be fun. With it being a weekend, everything will be crowded that week. Id pick another time.

Never been? I would recommend Spring or Fall when temps are comfortable.

Hot, humid and hundreds of thousands of others thronging the center of the city for the concert/fireworks. Can;t imagine a worse time to visit-espwith kids.

Well, the hot and humid part is expected - we live in N.C. the problem is there aren't a lot of choices of times to visit due to school/work schedules. We are somewhat limited to July if we want to stay longer than just a weekend. Can we suck it up and get through it or are we asking for disaster?? Oh, what to do??? Thanks everyone for you help!!

Go later in July than the 4th of July weekend is the easiest solution.

I don't think you are asking for disaster if you know what to expect. On the downside, you can expect hot and humid weather and huge crowds everywhere, especially in the museums. On the upside, you can also expect some activities and experiences you can't find anywhere else--the Smithsonian's Folklife Festival on the Mall, the fireworks display on July 4th and the PBS "A Capitol Fourth" free concert on the West Lawn of the Capitol. (I suggest you go to the dress rehearsal on the 3rd and take a picnic dinner.)

We went during the 4th of July week 2 years ago. We live in Florida, so we didn't really think it was too hot or humid.

We went expecting big crowds, and although they were, it wasn't unbearable. But we also did not go to the Mall for the fireworks, we watched them from an area next to the Arlington National Cemetary, and honestly it wasn't any busier at that location than the ones we watch at home. We also chose to avoid all the meusems and attractions in DC on this day, and visited an area in VA, some shops were closed but otherwise great.

We only used the Metro for transportation and that worked well, but again we knew it would be very busy after the fireworks, so we just took our time leaving the area we watched from and walking to the Metro at first when we got to the metro the whole station was bumper to bumper, so we waited about 15 minutes and by that time we just had to wait for next train, and altough it was busy everyone had a seat. Downfall to only using the Metro was that our hotel transportation didn't run a pick up from the station that late at night, so we took a cab back. No real problem. Also the Metro runs different schedules and routes on the night of the 4th and that helps things run faster and smoother, but it is also something to be aware of.

After a family discussion of the pros and cons, we're going for it. There isn't another time this summer that we can go for any length of time. And, the kids REALLY want to go to D.C. I think we are well informed - thanks to all your responses. We now know what attitude to approach the trip with - patience! Thanks everyone!! Happy vacationing to all.

Great! One tip, take advantage of booking online in advance if you intend to do any of the following:

Capitol tour
International Spy Museum
National Archives
Ford's Theater
IMAX at Air and Space or Natural History Museums, and planetarium at Air and Space (if nothing else you'll know that you'll have a place to sit down in the A/C for a while)
Washington Monument (although I don't particularly recommend going out of your way for this)
Holocaust Museum

Thanks DancingBearMD for the advice. I'll definitely start planning our trip with these activities in mind.

I'm open to any advice anyone has to offer that will help plan our trip!

How old are your children? We recently went to DC, and my niece and nephew, who are 5 and 7, loved the Duck Tour. My daughter went on it when she was 10 and enjoyed it as well.