Washington DC Touring
 

I spent a few days in Washington DC many years ago.

I remember buying a ticket for a shuttle bus that was a hop on hop off all along the Mall and over to the cemetery.

Does that still exist?
If not, any similar options?

Thanks.

This is the company that has the Park Service contract for Mall bus tours in 2014

http://eng.bigbustours.com/washington/home.html

This might be in addition to the bus, but I have to enthusiastically recommend the DC by Foot tours: http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/washington-dc-tours/

I used the Metro to get around, including to the tour meeting point, and really enjoyed the walking tour for its "up close and personal" perspective.

Take the Old Town trolley.Great. Paul

Actually, we usually do much better on our own.

What I remembered on that previous trip to Washington was a bus that was hop-on, hop-off but more like straight transportation and not a tour bus.

Maybe there's public transportation.

Big Bus Tours and Old Town Trolley are both hop on/hop off buses. I only recommend those for people who intend to stay on the bus for the entire route. Once you get off, especially in the busy tourist season, you usually have a long wait until another bus with available seating comes around.

If you enjoy sightseeing on your own, just use a map, your feet and perhaps Metro or a taxi to get around. IMHO, that's the best way to see D.C.

There's the DC Circulator, but I'm not sure that is what you have in mind. www.dccirculator.com

Lee Ann

The DC Circulator is cheap--$1. We did take it from Georgetown, into the Mall area but after that we ended up using Metro or regular buses more. But I liked the Circulator if the route fits your plans.

Aside from Arlington Cemetery, you will be better off doing it on your own, using a combo of feet and public transportation. I usually would cab it to the Lincoln Monument or FDR depending on where I wanted to start then walk the Monuments in a clockwise pattern from there which will leave you walking past the Wash. Monument towards the Smithsonian Metro Station.

For Arlington, I would recommend the hop on hop off tram with all the hills and you get some great info as well.

and the entrance to the cemetery is a short walk from the nearby Metro stop.

Thanks for the great info.

I think we'll do better on our own. We usually walk all day on trips.

I second Amy's tip for taking the free walking tours. Of course they aren't technically free as the guide works for tips, but having said that, because they do work for tips they are very entertaining and engaging. We have been to DC a number of times but this last time we joined a free walking tour of the monuments. We learned lots of new things not just about the monuments but interesting DC tidbits along the walking route. If we had had more time we would have taken more of their tours.

We stumbled upon free walking tours years ago in Europe and have done them in a number of international cites since and have never been disappointed. Prior to doing these we would do our own thing mostly with me with my nose in a guide book reading out loud to the family. So, hooking up with the tours was an especially great find for me. :)