Washington DC trip with teens

[sbgrace]

We're going to be in the Old Town Alexandria area for about a week in May.

I think we'll do metro to DC, but I'm wondering the best way to get around to the various points in DC and what we should see with our 17 year old teens. 

Are there other good things to see in that Alexandria area generally? None of us have been in the area before. 

 

[Terabith]

When I had a day in DC with my teens a few years ago, the one place I insisted on was the Holocaust Museum.  The place they chose was the Spy Museum.  It was very cool, and we did a escape room type thing that was worth every penny.  

Of course, the Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery and the National Cathedral are awesome and very much worthwhile.  

[mmasc]

You can do the metro to get around, or a hop on/hop off bus, or right on the National Mall/museum area you can rent scooters. 

Along with all of the normal monuments, museums, and National Mall, I’d highly recommend Arlington National Cemetery and the changing of the tomb guard ceremony. You can access the cemetery and all of the monuments by metro, with some walking of course. 
You can see a TON of stuff in one main “area”, so that’s awesome about DC.
 

Mount Vernon is good, too, but that’s not a metro stop. You’d have to Uber or bus to that.

[EmilyGF]

Our best trip was when we had the kids research and plan where to go. They became passionate about the places they researched! One guide even overheard my daughter talking and gave us a free hour-long tour because it was so exciting for him to hear such an excited kid.

When we did that, I made a long list of things I thought might be interesting and told each kid to research a few and decide one that we should do.

My cousins loved the Spy Museum, though it is a bit pricey. We went to the Air and Space by Dulles to see the shuttle last summer, but decided to skip downtown DC until this or next summer.

[Karen A]

There is SO MUCH to do! I did some research, and then surveyed my two teen girls on what they would like to do. 

We liked the nighttime monument tour by bus. Also took bus out to Mount Vernon, and bought tram tour for Arlington. A highlight for me was getting to watch (part of) a Supreme Court argument. Not sure they are still doing that, and we got in line (in the cold!) at about 5am.

Saw most of the mall museums. IMO Air and Space out by Dulles is better, but harder to get too--we had done that on a previous trip so didn't try. The (newish) Bible Museum just off the mall was a surprise hit--it had interesting "experiential" exhibits, a rabbi talking about translation errors that interested us. 

We did not go to the Cathedral because it was harder to get to on public transport, which is all we used, except Uber which we used for airport transport.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Karen A
added info

[YaelAldrich]

Just did this with my youngest (12B) and his best friend, whom I also tutor.  Lots of things are still half-closed or fully closed.  Maye that will be different by the time you go but check everything online.  We did the Spy Museum - pricy but so much fun, more than I thought we would have!  We did a ton of walking but also took one of the 'round the Mall buses as well.  Did both Air and Space museums - the Dulles one was amazing, the Mall one has a LOT under construction so not as much fun.  Wish we had more time in the Nat'l Museum of American History.  Want to go to the zoo but didn't get to on this trip. Have a great time!!

[Lucy the Valiant]

#1 Library of Congress

#2 Spy Museum

#3 Lincoln Memorial, especially if it's spring time ❤️

[katilac]

14 hours ago, EmilyGF said:

Our best trip was when we had the kids research and plan where to go. They became passionate about the places they researched! One guide even overheard my daughter talking and gave us a free hour-long tour because it was so exciting for him to hear such an excited kid.

Yes, I would offer them this chance for sure.