Washington DC times to visit
 

It is the last week of May and I am visiting DC. All the monuments and museums are overrun with armies of high school groups. Next time I would like to visit DC when there are far less school groups. What would be a good month (besides Jan. and Feb. ---- too cold for me)?

Late February is not bad, used to go down there President's Day week. The fall would be a good time to visit as well.

September is a good time to visit here because it's too early in the school year for most schools to get a trip to D.C. organized. Also, the weather is generally pretty good--especially from mid-September onwards.

I would say October. Fall here is really beautiful. Not unusual for it to still be very hot in September.

I would recommend late Sept or Oct are a good time to visit here. Even early November can have mild weather.

We are there the week of Thanksgiving each year with family. Weather is almost always nice an hotels are much cheaper that week. Crowds are always heavy there, but that week seems to be somewhat lighter than other times we have been there.

The last time I was in DC I was there the last few days of October and the first few days of November. I never ran into a line or crowds. The weather was 60-65 degrees. Sometimes you needed a light jacket in the evenings. Great walk around weather. It felt strange to be eating out on the patio in November. I prefer this time of year because I just cannot handle the heat. Oh and it is beautiful. The leaves were just turning but they had not all dropped. It only rained one day in the morning.

I've been several times now over Veterans Day Weekend.... great time to visit.............lots of activities, parades etc and weather has usually been quite mild during the day and cooler at night.

I think October is the best because it is so beautiful with the changing leaves. Sept would be okay, of course, as the weather will be warm but the leaves won't be changing yet. And then November can be nice or gray and rainy, you don't know. But any of those would work. March seems about the same as November to me, can be rainy, not really warm yet, ok but nothing special.

I might be wrong, but it seems to me the school groups tend to come in the Spring and Summer, not the Fall or Winter for some reason. Maybe it's mainly Spring and then in Summer you just get lots of regular families as tourists. I think April-June are the worst.

Thanks for all the responses. Seems that sept. or oct. will be my best times to visit DC next time.

Late October is better, as the brutal hot weather has a way of coming back to surprise us for a while in September, and the city is pretty crowded on the Columbus Day weekend. Fall color and the year's best weather are usually found Oct 18-Nov 5 (no promises, of course).

Late October or early November. Not September.

Ok, thanks.

As I am planning my trip for the first week in November, I am finding that some of the guided tours, such as, Georgetown and the National Cathedral, stop as of October 31. If there is something that you absolutely want to do, check the availability before you set your dates. This is my third trip so I am wanting to do some of the "not so run of the mill" sites. Also check the days of the week that places are opened. I was very disappointed to in Baltimore where most museums are closed on Mondays and I was there only on Monday.