We will be in DC the week after Memorial Day. There will be 6 of us ages 18 through 66yrs old. Are tours of the White house still off limits? We toured there many years ago. Now a new generation of UK relatives would like to visit. I love this City. Would like to know what has worked for other Fodorites when touring this beautiful city. Unfortunately we will only have about 1 full day and maybe another half day. Thank you for your help and suggestions.

I'm not sure what the situation is now with this President, but under the Clinton administration you needed to either be invited to visit by someone who worked in the White House, or get tour tickets through your congressman/woman.

I'm not familiar with the procedure - if there is one - for guests from out-of-country.

Check out this official site for White House tours: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/tours_and_events/
I understand that there are currently no tours being scheduled due to the change in administration, but I imagine that will change as summer approaches.
Since you only have 1 to 1.5 days to see the city, you might want to consider taking a tour on one of the hop on/hop off buses. That will allow you to see the major sites and then you might choose to go back and spend a few hours in one of the museums. Many people also like to take the "Monuments by Moonlight" tours. Finally, I can highly recommend the Segway tours. We did this one evening with our teens last summer and it was a big hit!

You need to contact your Congressman or Senators. Arrangements through their offices are the only way to get into the White House anymore. No just lining up outside. You need to be precleared even though you can bring almost nothing in with you.

These arrangements generally have to be made months in advance and you are probably too late for the Memorial Day weekend but there is no harm in asking.

In most cases, you must be a group of at least 10. What that means is that school groups are favored. Some representatives will put groups together. Each office differs in what it is willing to do.

Thank you SusanCS, Longhorn55 and LaurenKahn1. Great suggestions. We have decided not to try for the White House Tour. There is so much else to see and Longhorn55 We like your idea of the Segway tour. If they would let me try it so I am condfident I will not mow down everyone in front of me. It is a great idea. Thanks again. Thanks also to all the people who respond to our questions. This is a great Forum and so many people have helped me with our travels over the past few years

For security purposes White House tours are offered only to official groups organized far in advance. You need to have you the tour arrange through your Senator's or Reps office - and they will want copies of passports of any foreign visitors (and they may not be allowed).