Fall trip to DC. Where to stay? Favorite things to do?

[ScoutTN]

We are thinking about going to Washington for fall break. I grew up going there often, but don’t know anything about what it’s like now. Educate me, O Hive. 

[Katy]

No clue but I’d love to go soon too. 

[Drama Llama]

What things are you interested in?  Food?  History?  Animals?  etc . . . 

Also, are you driving? 

[KungFuPanda]

We have relatives that like to stay at the Hilton in Alexandria. It’s right near that metro stop (and walking distance to BIL’s house . . . his house has 4 children. It’s not relaxing there. 🤣)  They fly into Reagan and don’t bother renting a car. Alexandria is nice and safe, you can metro into DC, and you can check out Mt Vernon while you’re there. 

[ScoutTN]

1 hour ago, Baseballandhockey said:

What things are you interested in?  Food?  History?  Animals?  etc . . . 

Also, are you driving? 

Yes, driving to get there. Though I’d like to stay where we don’t need to drive too much to sightsee. Where to stay?!

My kids are teens. Ds will want the spy museum and the WW 2 memorial. The museum of the Bible is on our list. Lincoln memorial. Not sure what else. Dd would like the National Gallery.

We’ll probably have 4 full days. We are more vrbo people than hotel people, though hotel pools are nice. 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by ScoutTN

[Slache]

Hop the Smithsonians.

I could spend a whole day at the National Mall. It is impossible to go to there without running into international visitors and I always loved talking to them. Make sure your schedule has you at the mall after dark because that's when it is most beautiful.

You could talk to your state rep now about a private tour of the Capitol. You could do a bus tour of all of DC. They have one at sunset that's just lovely.

I believe Arlington, Mount Vernon, Made in DC and The Kennedy Center are all right together, as are The Holocaust Museum, International Spy Museum, Ford's Theater and Eastern Market. To be clear that's two groupings.

For culture Adam's Morgan and Dupont Circle. Jumbo Slice is a must. Capital Grill is on the mall and it's a million dollars, but a great experience.

Ask me anything. I used to live there. Loved it.

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by Slache

[Farrar]

If you're more of an Airbnb/Vbro type, then you can pick most any neighborhood with a walkable metro stop. I'd stay inside the city for sure if you're going that route. Or in Alexandria/Arlington/Takoma but not farther out than that. Really any of the neighborhoods in NW are fine. As are many of the others like Capitol Hill, Brookland... I live in Columbia Heights and there are a lot of Airbnbs here. It depends a little bit on your tolerance for city as to what you're personally comfortable with though. If you go that route and stay not in a hotel, be sure you've chosen somewhere with parking if you're driving or somewhere where people are clear that there's plenty of street parking that's easy to get.

In four days, you don't need to go much beyond the basic DC things. A lot of people find the bus tours worth it - you see a lot of monuments in particular that way and it makes it easier. Since you've got teens, scooters are a decent alternative way to zip around the Mall. 

For not your basics... if you're early enough in fall, the last of the lotuses will still be up at Kenilworth. If you're interested in not the NGA art... There's always something interesting at Artechouse. The Kusama mini-exhibit will still be at the Hirshhorn (you'll have missed the Laurie Anderson, sadly) and the Futures exhibit should also still be open at Arts and Industries. The Renwick's big craft exhibit will be open - it's not open yet, but the Renwick usually gives you something interesting so it'll probably be cool.

[TheReader]

Following along -- we will be there in July when I go up to see my quilt. It will be our first time there....I'm so excited! 

[happi duck]

I loved the zoo but a lot of people don't.

It isn't near everything else but I thought the National Cathedral was worth the effort.  We chose a time when the was an organ demo and a tour.  

[lmrich]

Since you will have your car, consider a side trip to Mt. Vernon. It was nice to get away from the city. 

You can't go wrong just staying on The Mall and muesum hop.

The Library of Congress is worthy of a visit, too, and was quiet. 

I second the National Cathedral with a tour. 

We have stayed downtown several times (DH had a yearly conference there- super nice to have a free place to stay), and we stayed in Alexandria and used the metro when we went on a school trip. 

I have also enjoyed The Ford's Theater tour. 

We have done the Zoo as well. My kids were not thrilled as we have an excellent zoo in our city, and it was a ton of walking. But it is a good zoo if you have not been to a  Zoo in a while. 

Have fun planning!

[Cordelia]

District Taco and We the Pizza were some of my favorite restaurants when I was an intern there. 

[ScoutTN]

1 hour ago, happi duck said:

I loved the zoo but a lot of people don't.

It isn't near everything else but I thought the National Cathedral was worth the effort.  We chose a time when the was an organ demo and a tour.  

My Dh and Dd would like this.

[Clemsondana]

We go to a lot of museums, so my kids were somewhat disappointed in the natural history museum (the gems were great, but the dinosaurs and such weren't as good as ones that we've seen elsewhere) but liked Air and Space (both of them) and American History.  Our surprise favorite was the Library of Congress - we had an awesome docent.  We liked the Archives and seeing the documents (we watched National Treasure before we went 🙂 ).  We saw the outdoor monuments at night - they are impressive that way, and also almost everything closes at 5 so it was something we could do later.  We also did a cool tour of the supreme court, which was not in session, and saw the capitol but I don't know what of that is open now. 

[ScoutTN]

I remember seeing the Lincoln Memorial at night when I was little, maybe 7. Vivid memory.

Also watching the fireworks from a boat on the Potomac during the Bicentennial.

So many memories!

Edited April 12, 2022 by ScoutTN

[kirstenhill]

Some of my favorites were the Library of Congress, National Archives, and the Udvar-Hazy center of the Air and Space museum (outside the city, but we did it on the way in).   I also liked the monuments, the bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the National Gallery of Art.  

We stayed at a VRBO in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.  We almost always VRBO or AirBnB when we travel -- especially as a family of six this almost always works out better for us since we don't "fit" in one standard hotel room and we like saving money by being able to cook at least some of the meals in the place we are staying.  When we book these type of rentals in big cities, we always book near mass transit stops, and read the reviews carefully to avoid being scammed.  Since we've had a vehicle with us on most of our trips, including DC, we pick places that either have off street parking, or if applicable a street parking permit.  So far, we've always had great experiences.