Washington DC low cost trip planning advice
 

Hello! I am planning to take a trip to Silver Spring MD and Washington DC this summer to visit family. I am looking at low cost/free sites to visit when I'm at DC to plan my trip around. Does anyone know of some fun places to visit on a budget? Thank you!

The Smithsonian is free.

DC has loads of free things - check out this site, for example.
Not sure how you will be getting around, but keep in mind that parking is expensive and often a pain to find in the District so public transport is a better option.

DC is great to visit on a budget. Hotels can be pricey, but traveling via metro is cheap and easy, and there are enough free museums and monuments to keep a person busy for weeks.

The Metro has been upgraded over the last three years, so be sure to use it. There are many free venues including the National Zoo, one of the best zoos in America, the National Arboretum and Botanic Garden, the National Cathedral and the gardens of the Franciscan Monastery. View the art such as Rembrandt and Monet paintings in the free National Gallery. There are free performances at the Kennedy Center every Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 6:00 pm.

All of the Smithsonians and the National Zoo are free admission. A couple aren't in the DC area and Air and Space on the National Mall is temporarily closed. The National Gallery of Art is free. The National Archives is free. The Library of Congress is free. The monuments and gardens on the National Mall are free.

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex, with 19 museums and the National Zoological Park (see list below).

• Anacostia Community Museum
• Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
• Arts and Industries Building
• Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York City)
• Freer Gallery of Art
• Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
• National Air and Space Museum
• National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Chantilly, Virginia)
• National Museum of African American History and Culture
• National Museum of African Art
• National Museum of American History
• National Museum of the American Indian
• National Museum of the American Indian’s George Gustav Heye Center (New York City)
• National Museum of Natural History
• National Portrait Gallery
• National Postal Museum
• Renwick Gallery
• Smithsonian American Art Museum
• Smithsonian Institution Building (“Castle”)

https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/factshee...ion-fact-sheet for the above Smithsonian list.

Some will require some advance work on your part to secure timed entry tickets. Have fun!

Welcome, Joshuacrosman5206, I don't know what you want to spend, but check out the Holiday Inn National Mall. I love being in a hotel that is convenient to my touristic spots. As mentioned above, so many of the D.C. museums are free, you might be able to spend a bit more. Pre-covid, there were some very inexpensive circulator busses.

The National Cathedral is not free to visit.

The Franciscan Monastery is an unusual, though worthy, suggestion.

If the weather is nice....visiting the monuments at night is my #1 tip. Particularly the memorials for FDR, WWII, and the Korean War are amazing at night. Day or night, at any of the monuments you can ask a National Park Service ranger for an impromptu tour. Usually, they are tremendously knowledgeable, just ask a question. The symbolism involved in the monuments is fascinating.