I booked the Hay Adams hotel for a Washington DC trip in October with my husband and two kids 10 and 13. Is this hotel convenient to the museums and sights or can you recommend another decent hotel in a good area. Also, can anyone recommend a good tour of the city. Which museums and sights would you recommend and are they free. Do I need to get tickets even though there is no cost.

Great hotel. There are some closer to the attractions, but this place is a classic. Nicely redone a few years ago. You've got W as a neighbor.

I wouldn't budge.

On the hotel, completely agree with repete. Don't budge.

You don't need to get tickets in advance. I would suggest touring the capitol, Smithsonian - Air and Space and American History are my favorites. The Holocaust Memorial Museum was a moving experience and the facility is a work of art. Highly recommend it.

On one of my earlier trips, we had a rental car and drove to Mount Vernon and loved touring the home and grounds. Wonderful place. In addition, I suggest visiting Frederick Douglass' home, which also requires a car/taxi.

Of course you must visit the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials, and the new World War II Memorial.

Sorry can't help on the organized tour end as I've not taken one.

Have a wonderful trip!

Unfortunately, the American History museum will be closed for approximately two years starting September 5.

The Smithsonian museums are free, as is the National Gallery of Art. I highly recommend the National Museum of the American Indian. Children usually enjoy the Natural History Museum and the National Zoo as well (all are part of the Smithsonian museums).

Washington DC has many, many attractions. To find ones of interest to your group, click on the Destinations tab above, find Washington DC and take a look at the listings there.

We'll be in Washington DC next Sept. and have booked in the Harrington hotel close to a lot of interesting sites. We also booked on the Old town Trolley tour. We find this the best way to get to know a new city.You can get on and off the bus all day. THe next days we then visit more in depth the sites that are really interesting for us.You can order your ticket online.Paul

I also concur with the Hay Adams. Very nice place.

Timed passes (free) for the permanent exhibition are required for the Holocaust Museum. You can order them ahead of time or get them the day of your visit. The permanent exhibition would have been too intense for my daughter at age 10. There is an exhibit geared for children, no tickets required for this I believe.

The Hay Adams is great for you...keep it.

Honestly, it's hard to pick a city that has more options for a family than DC. I'm guessing you have a guidebook. There are plenty of "Children's Guide to DC" types, too.

You can wander down to the Mall and fill days' worth of time there between all the memorials and museums.

The Iwo Jima Memorial might be good timing, as the movie is coming out this fall, I bleive.

Kids seem to like the DC Ducks tours. I think the Holocaust Museum might be a bit much for them...

HAve a fabulous trip...

Interesting tid-bit to tell your kids: The monuments all face the Capital building. If you stand in front of them and face out...you'll see the building. The Washington Monument is great, book your time ahead and you get in pretty quickly. Also, quite interesting to get a tour of the Capital building, just call your Representatives office and they will set it up for you.

I live just outside of D.C. and often host out of town guests and go w/them to the museums. If you are ready at some point to "get off the National Mall" museums, your kids are old enough that I think they'd enjoy the official portraits of all of the Presidents. Those are at the newly reopened Natl. Portrait Gallery (free, no tickets needed). That museum is now housed in a beautifully restored bldg (the old Patent Office) along with the Natl. American Art Museum, which has a great folk art exhibit that I think you and your kids would like, as well as great exhibits of modern American art. They'd like the huge wall of a neon USA which has a video/TV camera in each state, playing things that state is known for- very very cool, and the huge wall of Olypmic video screen art.

http://www.npg.si.edu/

http://americanart.si.edu/index3.cfm

The NAtl. Portrait Gallery bldg. is across the street from the Internatl. Spy Museum, which they'd also like (private museum, timed tickets needed, costs $$, get tickets on the web ahead of time and go right when they open before it gets crowded if you are going on a weekend).

http://www.spymuseum.org/index.asp

Both of those bldgs are in Penn. Quarter, in short walking distance of a few blocks to Chinatown, which is a very cool and now trendy area to shop for young people (Urban Outfitters, a neon-lighted bowling alley, etc.). There are some traditional Chinese shops where you can stroll in and see herbalists dishing out medicinal herbs of all sorts, and your kids can enjoy a great assortment of Chinese and Japanese candies. We like the Chinese store just past CVS on the right on 9th St. There is a nice Chinese arch on the street and an abundance of good restaurants, both Chinese and American, in that area. We like "Wok and Roll" and go there often, whenever we are down in that area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown,_Washington,_D.C.

I am recommending this as an "off the mall" experience because I had guests here two weeks ago w/young teens and my own 13 and 15 yr olds, and all the kids enjoyed the day I described to you above more than any other day we spent at the other Smithsonian museums on the mall.

They enjoyed the American History Museum, but it will be closed when you get here. They also really liked the National Museum of Natural HIstory (IMAX theater, dinosaurs, bug museum where the kids can interact w/the live bugs- this museum will be featured in a big movie cming out this winter about a night caretaker who finds out that the museum animals come alive at night, so your kids might find it extra cool to visit there before seeing the movie).

See: http://www.mnh.si.edu/

They also really enjoyed seeing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and Bill of Rights at the National Archives. If they haven't seen the movie "National Treasure", rent it before you go there. You can get timed tickets online for a self-guided tour that allows you to walk right into the rotunda where those documents are instead of waiting in the long line w/everyone else. You can arrange your timed self-guided tour online now.

http://www.archives.gov/

And of course the is the famous Air and Space Museum. And some families like to go to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, although you have to stand in line early in the morning for that one.

Here is the link to all the Smithsonian museums:

http://www.si.edu/museums/

Zoo - we have the panda cub and 3 new tiger cubs that were born in May and are to be debuted sometime in September. It is free and about 3 blocks from the Woodley Park metro stop on the red line.

I will join in and endorse the Hay-Adams. It is a great, if expensive, hotel. Since I live in the area, I have never stayed there, however. I probably couldn't afford it anyway.

Enjoy your trip!

You can get timed tickets (free) online for viewing inside the panda habitat.

You no longer need timed tickets to visit the pandas. They stopped that when the cub turned a year.

Hay Adams is top notch, service is second to none - you feel like royalty when you walk in there. I can't say enough nice things about our stay there, the comfort and elegance of the rooms, the excellent staff, etc.

We took the hop-on-hop-off trolley - got on within walking distance to Hay Adams and rode that all day. Sorry, I didn't read all previous posts to see if this was already mentioned. But, I would highly recommend this narrated ride around DC that goes by all the important attractions, you can get on and off it all day as much as you like - stop a lot, or ride a lot.

Highly recommend the National Archives, Smithsonian Space Museum, Lincoln & Jefferson Monuments, Korean Conflict Memorial, Arlington Cemetary, Mount Vernon, White House Tour if you can, Ford's Theater, etc. Hard to go wrong in this town!

Enjoy!

you may have gotten more than enough help.as you can see, washington has lots of great stuff. but it also depends on your particular interests. I am a fairly regular washington visitor. I am a lawyer, so visiting the supreme court, and ideally hearing an argument for a short period, was a high point. The library of congreess, and particularly the reading room, is amazing. young kids may not be as impressed. If you have a car, getting to bull run battlefield is quite easy--right near the new airport, surprisingly. alexandria is interesting.

If you do get a rental car to go see something like Mount Vernon (like one poster suggested), you should consider keeping it for a day or two to go see some other sights. Perhaps head out to Annapolis. Well worth the time to eat crab at Cantler's and see the town.

If you do not want to rent a car, Mount Vernon can be easily reached by public transport or an organized bus tour. You can also get there by boat from the pier on the Southwest Waterfront. If you take the boat, you have a relaxing ride and about 3-4 hours at Mount Vernon.

If you need further assistance, just ask right here.