DC Trip in April (drive, recommendation, planning, visit)
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They're different. The one downtown has its exhibits organized into subjects (e.g. World War II Aviation, Early Pioneers, etc.) The one by Dulles is basically a huge hanger with a bunch of planes, without any real organization to it. I like them both, though if I had to pick one, I'd pick the one downtown.
My advice would be to visit the one downtown while you're in DC. If you and the kids enjoy it, then make it a point to visit the one by Dulles while you're out in Northern Virginia visiting your friends. But if you or they don't enjoy the one downtown, odds are you won't enjoy the one by Dulles either.
Both of them have IMAX movie theaters. If the downtown one is still showing To Fly, be sure and see it. It's only 30 minutes long, but it's a wonderful timeline of flight, and very entertaining. (Hint: best seats are near the back of the theater and near the center of the row. You enter from the bottom, so you'll want to make a beeline up the stairs towards the back as soon as they open the doors. It's first come, first served, so get in line a little early.)
If you're coming from a place that does not have a subway, I recommend taking a ride on the Metro. Even if you only use it to ride one stop, from one part of the Mall to another. Your kids would probably enjoy the experience.
We don't have a Subway system near us. I've been looking at places in Airbnb and I plan to get a place near a metro stop.
Unforgettable. Lucky you, it has been closed for the past year, but starts again in April!
Also, ride the Swan boats on the Jefferson Memorial Tidal Basin...oops! Have to take the Paddle Boats as I see that now the Swan Boats are for disabled or those who cannot paddle. It’s a beautiful ride...
Unforgettable. Lucky you, it has been closed for the past year, but starts again in April!
Also, ride the Swan boats on the Jefferson Memorial Tidal Basin...oops! Have to take the Paddle Boats as I see that now the Swan Boats are for disabled or those who cannot paddle. It’s a beautiful ride...
Thank you for this. I was looking for something to do on Saturday morning and you have given me the best suggestion. I was planning on going to the VA side of Great Falls Park but now I will go to the MD side and do this!
See if you can reserve a White House tour now. The Capitol Building is impressive & getting in touch with your rep's office used to get you a more special tour than the usual tours, at least your kids can meet their rep & get a photo. The Holocaust Museum is very good as is Air & Space.
This ^^^^^
You should see the White House and the Capitol.
The Holocaust Museum is almost a must see for adults, but very, very intense.
I'm an Uber driver in DC. If you don't have the app you really should get it and utilize the service, not everything you will want to see is accessible by the subway.
I'm an Uber driver in DC. If you don't have the app you really should get it and utilize the service, not everything you will want to see is accessible by the subway.
We'll have a car but I don't plan to use it while we're in DC.
Already mentioned but I had to also recommend the Monuments by Moonlight tour. I went to DC a couple of years ago with my then 12 year old and that tour was one our favorite things.
We also enjoyed the National Cathedral - best views with the Washington Monument closed, which it probably still will be for your trip.
Spy Museum is unfortunately also closed for now, they will be moving to their new location but not until later this year.
I agree about saving the Udvar-Hazy part of Air and Space for the later part of your trip, it's kind of a haul to get out there and not worth a half day when you only have 2.5 days in DC.
Arlington Cemetery, including the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns
I think the Capitol tour is very much worth it - my kid gets a kick out of seeing Congress on tv and knowing we were in that chamber ourselves. And certainly worth signing up to see if you can get a White House tour, although the odds are always low for those.
And as many of the Smithsonian museums as you have the time and interest for.
And check out the DC Circulator bus that goes around the mall and the tidal basin. It's only a dollar to ride, and can be a good way to rest your feet for a little while while still getting to at least see some of the buildings around the Mall from the outside
There is a reasonably priced cafeteria in the basement of the National Gallery of Art, aka the Mellon Gallery, on the Mall - a little more pricey than you'd pay at home, most likely, but a quick way to grab a decent lunch and rest your feet.
The museum is also a good place for kids, with each gallery themed by time and country and artist. The French Impressionist gallery is outstanding (lots of Renoirs, including the "Girl with a Watering Can"), as is the Dutch Masters gallery. I think there are similar eating places in the other museums, but this is the one with which I am most familiar. All of the museums have wonderful gift shops - you can purchase prints of painting that take your fancy at the art museum's gift shop, rather inexpensively (more than the twenty-five cents apiece they cost during my childhood, alas!).
At the Museum of American History, must-sees include the Star-Spangled Banner, the doll house, Dorothy's Ruby Slippers (from the movie), and the giant-sized statue known as Washington After His Bath - he's really wearing a Roman toga, which of course he never wore in real life, hence the popular name. There are also walk-throughs with historic rooms that can be fun, plus things that go - engines, historic vehicles and mechanical stuff - in the basement.
Favorites at the Museum of Natural History of course include the dinosaurs, if they're back, plus the Hall of Gems and Minerals, an absolutely stunning collection. Expect crowds to cluster around the Hope Diamond case, but there are many other things of equal beauty, if not value, included. There may be a walk-through butterfly exhibit and there are taxidermy wild animals (that freak me out - others' takes may differ). Great museum store here.
All of the three above museums are on the same side of the Mall - across the Mall and closer to the Capitol is the Botanical Gardens, a favorite of mine during present-day winter trips to D.C. and also a childhood favorite during my long-ago summers in D.C. Just down the Mall from the Botanical Gardens are the Air and Space Museum and the Museum of the American Indian, both worth visiting. But there is so much to see and do in Washington that you will need to be selective, and plan a second trip in a few years to include what you miss this time.
Mount Vernon is wonderful for children, especially if you can take the boat down the Potomac. Snacks are available on the boat, too. If you can't manage this, the drive down to Mount Vernon is also beautiful, though expect some walking when you enter the grounds.
Enjoy your visit - right now, have the kids borrow children's library books or videos about Washington, D.C. to prepare (and maybe books about George and Martha Washington, dinosaurs, gems and minerals, etc., depending on their interests) so they'll get more out of their trip and get excited about what they're going to see and do.
Look into the open top bus tours. You can buy a 24 hour pass and they have multiple routes around DC and out to Arlington Cemetery and even the Pentagon grounds. It can be a bit expensive but it's an awesome way to see the city and you can get on and off like a regular bus.
Check out the Duck boat tours, the cherry blossoms look awesome from the water.
Botanical Gardens for sure if you like plants and stuff, National Zoo without question, and I personally like the Udvar-Hazy air & space museum at Dulles better, it has one of the Space Shuttles.
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