As a trip to Washington is on our list, I am wondering what the best time of year would be to go? The kids have off school June-mid August, a week mid October, the Christmas holidays & spring break in mid March. We are not fond of heat without a beach or at least a swimming pool.
Thanks for your input,
Betsy

Christmas or mid-October

Well, obviously, if the heat will bother you, skip summer. Spring break is always a zoo in DC. I'd suggest October, for mild weather, with Christmas a close second. It's unlikely to be snowy, but the decorations around town and the National Christmas Tree are nice to see.

We like to go when the Cherry Trees come out. It is approx the first week of April.

I live here. The summer is too hot and crowded. Christmas could be nice, but it's not as special as New York. If Spring Break happens to occur at the time of the Cherry Blossom festival, that time in DC is beautiful, really just wonderful. If you can't be guaranteed to be near the time the blossoms come out, then I'd go for October - the crowds are gone, and the temperature is moderate.

Definately October when most of the tourists are gone, the weather is cooler, and the humidity is low.

I went in February and it was fabulous. We did not need to get advance tickets for anything, they were entirely walkup- even the Washington Monument elevator tour.

And people were super nice because they were not tourist-busy. We walked everywhere and used the Metro, did not need a car and never needed more than snug jacket. It wasn't even as cold as Chicago in November. LOL!

October

October is beautiful here!

Thanks everybody. I was thinking October, also. From the cherry blossom website, it looks like they bloom first 2 weeks in April which we would miss in mid-March.
Betsy

I'd definitely vote for October (weather) or April (cherry blossoms)!