Last week
I barely scratched the surface of wonderful things to do while you’re in D.C. Here are a few more…some of these take some advance planning unlike last week’s recommendations. Others are great to do anytime. So here goes…
The Monuments: The Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, the Vietnam Veteran’s Wall, National WWII Memorial, and Korean War Memorial are all worth seeing. My recommendation — to maximize your time — is to walk this end of the mall at night. The Korean Memorial in particular is HAUNTING at night. We stumbled on it the first time at night, and it’s still my preferred way to introduce folks to it. Al the others are pretty stunning that way as well. Think all the white marble against the dark sky. And they are lit and staffed into the night, where the Smithsonians and other buildings usually close at 5.
If the kids are joining you, then go to the National Zoo — you can get there from downtown on the metro — the subway will be your friend anyway, so you might as well ride it to the zoo. The zoo is very well done. We loved going there.
And a tour of the Capitol is pretty neat, too. To book a tour, you need to work through your congressman or senator’s office. You can access the visitor’s center without a ticket, but will need a ticket for a tour. It’s best not to wait and hope to get one on the day you hope to tour. The White House tour is amazing, but again, you need some lead time to arrange – but it never hurts to call and see if you can squeeze on a tour. The link takes you to information on that.
Wow! That’s a lot to see and do — and all of those things are FREE! Well, your tax dollars at work. So be sure to take advantage of them — and there are at least a dozen free options I didn’t mention. These are simply the must do’s on my list.
The one place I haven’t been that I’d love to go is the Spy Museum. Imagine that! There is an entry free (it’s not cheap– $18 for adults), but I’ve heard it’s great.
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There is SO MUCH to do in DC. It’s like impossible to get it all done.
Cool posts. I plan to take my kids soon. It’s been years since I’ve been there.
I love the Mall at night. We were there last year, and, yes, the Korean War Memorial at night is really striking.
We love going to DC. We always go at Christmas time on the years we visit my family. My brother always takes us. We haven’t done a tour of the White House or the Spy Museum, but will hopefully do one this coming Christmas!!
~Mimi
OH, D.C. … my favorite city. I lived there as a child for 4 years while Daddy was stationed at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (Navy) and then I returned in the 1980s to teach for the DCPS. My mother always said that every American should live there for one year at least to get to know the history and see the wealth of wonderful museums and sights. She actually came back there and lived with me while I taught because she loved D.C. so very much.
Visiting from Holley’s and saw this post below the one you linked. : )
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Love DC!