swtyboo

hi, im going to Washington dc on 4/2 (sat) peak of cherry blossom from nyc, taking the greyhound line bus. will be arriving at 11am. leaving on 4/3(sun) at 6pm. staying at mayflower renaissance (book from price line and got a really good deal.) travelling with my grandma (wheelchair), kid (8 years old) and my bf. the question i have is, weather i should get the ticket for old town trolley (buy1 day get 2nd day free$32 adult, $16 kid) or should i just use the metro to sightsee Washington dc. old town trolley is not gonna have the orange line running on sun 4/3. how should i get from the greyhound bus stop to my hotel?...thanks a lot

MikeT

1. Take a cab from the Greyhound station to your hotel. You are going to be exhausted and maneuvering the wheelchair will be a challenge the entire time, so just grab a cab. (if the wheelchair can be folded).

2. I'd see whether the Tourmobile is available. That would probably be a better option and will get you around the mall.

bardo1

The Old Town Trolley for 3 adults plus one youth is $112.

That buys roughly 10-12 taxi rides for 4. More than you'll probably need in your 36 hour stay in DC. Just take taxis to get around.

kayd

Avoid Metro. Even if all in your party were able-bodied, it would be a challenge on that weekend. But with a wheelchair user Metro could take hours from your sightseeing--needing to walk/wheel four blocks beyond your closest station entrance to get to the one with a working elevator, e.g.

Bardo is wise: Taxis all the way. They will always be available at the door of the Mayflower, which has a great central location for reasonably priced rides to the major sights. If you want to visit several sights on one taxi trip, you could ask the driver for an hourly rate ($25-30/hr if I remember correctly) and have him wait while you poke around one monument for 10 minutes or so, and then move on to the next.

longhorn55

While it may seem that you won't be able to get up into places like the Lincoln Memorial or the Jefferson Memorial with your grandmother in a wheelchair, let me assure you that there are elevators and ramps for ALL of the monuments and memorials in D.C. If you don't see the signs directing you to the elevators, just ask one of the U.S. Park Rangers. They are stationed at all of these sites.

obxgirl

I agree that taxi's are a better suggestion for this visitor than using the Metro, however, if the weather is fine and the cherry blossoms are peaking traffic in the area of the National Mall and the monuments will be nearly gridlocked. I suspect that's why the trolley tour isn't running in there on April 3rd.

If that is the case, a cab isn't going to be able to wait anywhere immediately near by while you visit and the rate for doing so might be much higher than the normal hourly price. Check ahead on that one.

Suggestion: take a cab from the Mayflower to somewhere within a reasonably short walking distance of where you want to visit. Or walk from the hotel to the National Mall, about 25 minutes to the west end of the mall. That's a lot for some and nothing for others, but walking in that part of DC is often the most efficient way to get around during the cherry blossoms.

kayd

Seeing the monuments around sunset by taxi might be worthwhile; gridlock around the blossoms usually lessens after daylight hours. We sometimes go to the Tidal Basin before sunrise to enjoy an hour of changing light on the water, blossoms, and monument before the crowds swell after daylight. (Dawn will be around 6:30 in early April, nightfall at about 8pm.)