our hotel is not nearby and we are traveling around by metro. We have been approved for the tour but they provide no options for bags/purses/etc. HELP!

I assume you mean a purse or small backpack and not luggage. I just wore a light jacket with pockets for wallet, phone, glasses, etc.

If you were combining your visit to the WH with a stop at a museum, there are lockers and/or bag check at a couple of the museums on the Mall. Smithsonian/American History, National Gallery, etc.

The Trump Hotel has lockers at $5/hr! Seriously you should post this also in the USA forum so more folks with experience will see it.

We will be away from our hotel all day (with the WH tour at 1:30pm) and will have small backpacks for water, purse contents,etc. so some kind of storage is needed. I'll try the museums - that seems like a good option since we will be visiting those too. Thanks!

The Museum of American History has lockers but they are pretty limited. Or if you eat in a nearby/nice restaurant they'd likely let you leave something in the coat check.

Another option is to travel light that day or have only one person return to the hotel to retrieve or stowe your bags. Not to be snarky but it is amazing how light you can travel when you need to.

You shouldn't need to carry around anything all day other than what you could fit in a pocket or two. All you need is some ID, maybe a credit card or two, some cash maybe, and everybody seems to need a phone nowadays to walk around. For that one day, you could buy a bottle of water later on, or something. You could buy one of the travel vest things that has a lot of pockets, you surely don't need more than what you could have in several of those pockets.

You really do not need so much stuff. But it is a true a few of the museums have lockers, so if you have to do that.

I

Our group visited in 2011 and were sent a list of what was and was not allowed. Didn't you get something? AT THAT TIME we were told to leave everything in the bus and NO PHOTOS. However, when we got in, folks were taking pictures with their phones and no one stopped them. We had to have photo ID and I just put that in my pocket.

You should check with the source of your tickets but leave as much as possible in the room. We had to go through airport-like security before entering. Please report back about your experience---I know it will be very helpful to all.

I remember having to leave our things at the hotel and
returning to retrieve them. It does create a hassle with no lockers like they have at the Capital.

I just put my wallet in my pocket, and made do with a bottled water that day. Or Starbucks does free water.

the thing with museums check rooms and lockers is that you aren’t supposed to leave your wallets and phones in them anyway. The museum/gallery isn’t liable, and while it’s unlikely that someone would steal something, it’s still possible. And you need your ID for the tour anyway.

The most important thing I learned about traveling in DC is that every venue has different security rules. The White House was the hardest.

Mouse is right in that the more you can carry in your pockets, the easier this will be. But I don't have any pants that would fit a wallet. We also have an EpiPen and inhalers to carry.

Note: you will have to pull it all out for the security line.

There are left luggage facilities at London's main train stations

To be fair, I do have a very minimal wallet just for that sort of purpose. And outside of summer, I tend to gravitate towards coats with large pockets, so I could fit something like an inhaler.

And yes, it’s a standard security line. Easiest if you have nothing much in your pockets either.

Mouse, I wish you had been in front of me at the Capitol building. We were behind a lady who had gone to an iHop or similar that morning. I swear she had taken every kind of jelly packet plus a water bottle plus more stuff that was banned, all in an oversized purse with a bunch of compartments. The guard was pretty patient but by the end, you could see how done he was. There were like, 3-4 signs while we worked our way through the line advising us of the no food/no water, etc.

Not sure what this has to do with Washington DC? I notice this is your first post. Feel free to log in and post your travel question.