I am planning a 3 1/2 day trip to Washington in a couple of weeks. I have a rough itinerary sketched out and was wondering if there was anyone out there familiar enough with DC to offer their review of my schedule to see if I am being realistic or not. I appreciate all your help!

Bring it on!

Does this even sound feasible??

Day 1
1:00 Arrive in Washington DC/Check into hotel
3:00 Arlington Cemetery
6:30 Night tour of monuments?

Day 2
9:00? Jefferson Memorial
FDR Memorial
Korean Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Einstein Memorial
White House
Boy Scout Memorial
Washington Monument
3:00 Holocaust – Daniel’s Story
4:00 Bureau of Engraving (have tickets)

Day 3
10:00 Air & Space Museum
Museum of Natural History
Museum of American History

Day 4
9:00 Ford’s Theater/Peterson House
10:00 National Archives
11:00 Old Post Office
12:20 FBI - have tickets
2:00 US Capitol - have tickets
3:30 Supreme Court

Day 4
8:00 National Zoo
10:00 Head for home

Wow, I'm tired! I think some of your itinerary sounds a little ambitious in some parts. You need to allow for a little wiggle room. For example, you really should allow more than an hour for the Holocaust museum (and other attractions), even if you are going to see a small part of it, in order to get the full impact. Do you have tickets for the White House already? If not, you need to allow for time to get them from the visitors center and for time to stand on line. Remember, the regular White House tours are only given between 10am and noon. Also, if you really want to see 3 museums in a day, I would suggest taking the guided tours. I am a docent at the Air and Space Museum. Regularly scheduled general highlights tours there are at 10:15am and 1:00, with tours in between (at the docents' discretion). It sounds like you did some great planning in getting as many tickets ahead of time as possible.

Get ready for LOTS of good advice from many posters.

My two cents: Day 2 - impossible. Day 3 - perfect. Last day: you'll barely scratch the surface running through the zoo. Allow 3-4 hours, minimum, for just a quickie visit.

Re the White House tour: PLEASE, please search and read other posts on this topic. If you must do the White House, you need to start at 5:30 am and devote half your day, no joke. And many of the posters say, and I agree, it ain't worth it.

Given your timeframe, if the trolley tours or tourmobile runs an evening run, you might try that as a way to see the monuments at night ... and if your ticket extends to Day 2, all the better so you can hop on and off.

You'll have a great time, you just need some fine tuning. And forget the W.H.

Definitely an ambitious schedule! I live here in DC and I agree, the White House is not what it is cracked up to be. Also the Old Post Office is basically a food court. Definitely allow more time for Holocaust . . . also I believe you need to get tickets ahead of time for that too. Also, you should see Iwo Jima while you are over at Arlington. I think it is the most impressive monument in DC!!

I guess I should have clarified a little more on my schedule.
1-White House-photo op stop only since we couldn't get tickets.
2-The Holocaust time frame I got directly from the museum. They suggested 30-45 minutes to see Daniel's Story only.
3-Old Post Office I was allowing as a stop for food before our FBI tour.

Any other suggestions?

You have more energy than I do. The Holocaust Museum is a wonderful place, and worth at least 3-4 hours. I've known many people to spend an entire day there.

Except for the White House, I'd say Day 2 is doable. Much of what you're looking at is close together, and you're doing it in a logical order. Just hope it's not too hot and humid that day! Day 3 also works.

If you're here on a Tuesday, take in the Silent Parade (Marine Corps marching band and silent drill team) at the Iwo Jima Memorial at 6 or 6:30 p.m. Great spectacle.

If you're hoping to see the monuments lit up then 6:30 is definitely too early. It won't get dark here till 8:30. The monuments - actually the mall area including the capital and White House - are great to see lit up. You also get a great view of DC from the Iwo Jima. At the Old Post Office there is a bell tower which has good views. I agree with the other posters, your schedule seems too ambious. It sounds like you're just planning on "seeing" things rather than actually visiting them. I think there's so much to see in the museums, not sure how you can do 3 of them in 1 day. Also, unless you're very lucky, it will be hot and humid here which may slow down your walking.

Just a small suggestion to help with day two. Move some of your visits to the memorials to the night before. We also spent just 3 days in DC. The evening we got there we spent seeing most of the memorials. I think we were out until midnight (but we were on CA time). The memorials were beautiful and the weather was comfortable. Have fun!

Yes, I agree that this is a bit too hectic. You've done a great job of figuring out the Best of Washington, so the next job is to cut out the stuff that would be part of your next trip here. For instance, if you arrive at 1:00 p.m., I think it would be hard to check into your hotel and make it to Arlington Cemetery by 3:00 p.m.

I would start the first full day with the Tourmobile, a trolley that drives you around the mall with on and off privileges. This will get your outdoor monuments finished and take care of Arlington, also. Maybe do this on your arrival night if you want to see things at night?

Next, I'd pass on the Einstein and Boy Scout memorials because, well, I've never heard of them, and your plate is really full.

Next, you plan to visit Air and Space, Natural History and American History. It's tough to do all three, so I'd skip Natural History. The other two are more impressive, IMHO, because they are so unique. Natural History? Well, it's nice, but most of its contents can be found elsewhere. Also, you might skip the Holocaust Museum, although I'm not familiar with Daniel's story. It is a fabulous museum, and it would be a shame to go there for just one thing.

Day 4 is interesting. I'd skip the Old Post Office unless you just happen to be standing in front of it and find yourself hungry. There are plenty of sandwich shops for office workers in the area, and you might just as easily do that. I'd pass on the National Archives given your tight time frame. It's nice, but you have to be a real historian to get into it that much, I'd say.

I'll call your attention to the furious pace you've set for the day with the FBI and Capitol tour with a stop at Supreme Court. If you are finished with FBI by 1:00, that gives you one hour for lunch and transport to Capitol. So that sounds like a good time for a cab. You might wish to skip the Supreme Court, too. I like the tour they give, but it really consists of sitting in some chairs listening to a brief history lesson on the Court. I'd use the time to see the Capitol at leisure.

I agree that zipping over to the zoo for just two hours might not be worth it. I'd substitute something that can be appreciated very quickly -- Ford's Theatre or the National Cathedral come to mind.

Also, I see that you have tickets for the FBI tour and Bureau of Printing. Good planning, but I wouldn't do these tours just because you can. There's a thread on this board called "Been There, Done That, Don't Bother", in which a few people (including me) questioned whether those tours were worth the trouble. You might search for it.

Anyway, I could go on all day, but the gist is that it is going to be smoking hot for your visit, so I'd focus on finding ways to see air conditioned things and minimizing walking. Also, know that eateries are tough to find among the major tourist areas, so you may wish to carry a box lunch and picnic to save time.

Have fun!

Re food, there are some decent cafeterias in the major museums, not cheap and not gourmet, but you can get just a slice of pizza and some fruit, or a salad as well as the usual hamburger and fries. As a local, I also suggest that you might skip the Bureau of Engraving, the Archives and maybe the FBI. I would give up all three for an hour or two in the Art Gallery (directly opposite the Air and Space Museum on the Mall). I also vote for more time for the Holocaust Museum and second the suggestion to see some of the monuments at night. They used to have the Washington Monument open until midnight in the summer, which was great. It was cooler waiting in line (and the lines were shorter). The museums close at 5:00 (Air and Space I think is 5:30). They have great IMAX movies at Air and Space--go there first on that day and go straight to the ticket booth and buy tickets for the film you want. Then you can plan your next several hours as you wait to see the film you chose. Pray for cool weather!

Is the "Einstein Memorial" the statue on Constitution in front of the National Acedemy of Sciences? If so, it won't take more than a few minutes to see.
One other caution about the zoo--although the grounds open at 6 am, the buildings, such as the elephant house, small mammal house, etc., don't open until 10.
I would definitely skip the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in favor of many hours at the Holocaust Museum, which is a very hard place to leave (I had planned to spend a morning there and didn't leave until 3).
I like someone's suggestion of visiting monuments in the evening. Fewer crowds, better temperatures.

Martha, that's exactly it.

The Einstein is one of the favorite DC memorials. And yes, it won't take more than a few minutes to see it. If you have a significant other with you, legend has it if you kiss in Einstein's lap, you'll be together forever (it's worked so far for me).

I haven't been myself, but have heard the Bureau of Engraving is well worth the visit. Also, I could easily do the 3 museums you mentioned in one day.

The food isn't very good in the museum cafeterias. I wouldn't recommend any of them. And as a college student, I discovered that Domino's will NOT deliver to the Lincoln Memorial .

The art museums are nice, but if doesn't sound as if you're interested in those.

I would only visit the Old Post Office if I were going to go up the bell tower. Otherwise, as mentioned, it's just a large food court.

MDC: I've been following this thread and realized no one asked the question - are you traveling alone, with another adult, or with children??? That could change your itinerary a little. For example, the museum of natural history is more fun if you have kids who are into the dinosaurs etc. And National Gallery might be better without children (although the last time I was there will my 4 and 6 year olds, the older one had a blast in there!). I still stand by my opinion of the FBI being a good tour. I also echo the sentiments of those saying the Holocaust museum deserves more time. I guarantee it's not like any other museum you've ever visited! As for food, there's actually a really good place under the museum of American history (that's the one currently with the exhibit of the presidents - excellent). Also, Union Station has a great food court with a huge variety. I think the monuments at night idea is a good one. I've lived here for 10 years now and I still need to do that!

All the suggestions I am getting are very helpful. I realize it will be a marathon run but our vacations always seem to end up that way! Yes, I am traveling with a 12 year old that is why we are only doing the Daniel's Story part of the Holocaust Museum. My next question is if we take the night time tour, I was told it leaves at 6:30 from Union Station (yes I wonder why so early) will we need to revisit the memorials the next day? Do the night tours allow you to get off and look at the memorials or are they just drive bys? All your help is greatly appreciated!

We just returned from a trip to DC . The Monuments a night are gorgeous. We actually walked into the gallery of the House of Reps , which was in session ,with no line at all just before sunset, saw the sunset on the Washington Monument from the back of the Capital ( towards the mall) , and happened on an Air Force Band giving a great concert including very talented vocalists. While we listened to the music, we watched the lights on the monuments as the sky darkened. As we strolled toward the Metro station , we could look back and see the Capital lit also . It was beautiful, inspiring and thrilling . Plus the temps were much cooler than during the day. DC is as humid as they say !