Tips for Washington, DC

How fun! I grew up in Vienna, one of the VA suburbs, and worked in the city 2 summers, mom worked there for many years. I always took the metro in. I think I've driven in the city once, at 6am on a Saturday for a special event. I would guess that for the money, staying in the burbs would be a better deal. I know Vienna used to be the last stop on the orange line, so I wouldn't stay any further out than that - probably a 30-40 minute ride in, if I remember correctly. As for the 4th, it is most definitely a mob scene, and specifically on the metro. Honestly, it might be worth either staying in the city that night, or staying out of the city that night - as in completely. Maybe find out where the fireworks are near your hotel and take a cab there or something. Though the national fireworks are pretty awesome. For stuff to see, please keep in mind that I haven't lived there since 1995, so I may be a bit out of date... Love the Natural History museum, Air and Space, Holocaust (takes many hours to do it right), Hirshorn Sculpture garden is probably cool enough even for teen-ish boys if you want to see art. and there's more, much more. We always ate lunch at the Old Post Office. It's walkable from the Mall and has a food court like a shopping mall. Has a cool tower you can take an elevator up - less line (and cost?) than the Washington Monument, but still good views. Cafeteria under the National Gallery is also very cool, don't know if you can get there w/o paying to go into the museum. Vietnam Vets is very powerful, as is the Lincoln. Take your boys under the Lincoln where the bathrooms are - if you walk to the back you can see under the thing. It's an enormous cavernous space. Way creepy in by book! I suppose that's it for now. Please feel free to message me if you're looking for more.

Hey K.!
I have been to DC for both work and fun. I've also stayed in the city as well as in the suburbs and once all the way in Baltimore (which can also be a really great city). If you can find a reasonably priced hotel downtown, it can be a great walking city. However, the metro system really can get you anywhere. I did always find it more crowded during rush hours (7-9AM and 4-6pm) but never so much that I couldn't get on one of the first couple trains- and this includes a couple times when I was with large (7-10) groups. So if you need to stay outside the city, don't stress too much! Plus you're sure to get a bigger bang for your buck!

On another note- I wanted to make sure you weren't locked into the dates due to your flight. Southwest flight is easy to make changes with- no metter what special you got the tickets on. Just go online with your confirmation #s and you can change them. I know you got a deal, but they do run specials all the time (you can sign up for their Ding! alerts or just the basic email) that you could use the credits towards.

Hope that helps a bit!

We have done it both ways. The first time, we went we stayed not far from the Capital at a very nice Sheraton. We walked everywhere and saw a ton of stuff that we loved.

The second time, we stayed at the Omni out close to the zoo. My hubby was at a conference there. Daughter (then 11 or so)and I went used the metro the entire time and had no problems at all.

The Omni was walking distance to the zoo. We did that for a day and loved it. Now, walking distance to me and walking distance to someone else may be very different. My daughter and I have walked almost 20 miles on a trip in 1 day sightseeing and just getting further and further from our start point. We have done 10 mile hikes in the mountain as well. I don't mind walking a lot...just take good shoes!!

Both of our trips were in October and the Metro was not that crowded. I have no idea about July.

Enjoy.....we loved both trips and have special memories!

I went to college in DC and we always spent the 4th of July down on the mall. However, we went around noon and spent the whole day there (took a picnic, played ball, etc.). The mall will get very crowded in the late afternoon/early evening. It will become a mad house! The fireworks are great and it is quite an experience. However, you could also watch the fireworks from the Virginia side of the river where you could still see the fireworks but it would be a little less congested. Things to do include the mall (Smithsonians, especially Air and Space and American History), Washington monument, Lincoln memorial, the Capitol, the White House, Jefferson memorial, Iwo Jima, Vietnam memorial, Arlington Cemetary, the Spy museum, Holocaust museum, etc. Have a great time!

The nice thing about staying in D.C. is that you can go back and rest for an hour or so in the middle of a hot afternoon.

Be sure to go early to Washington monument to get your tickets (you can choose anytime, but the tickets for all day will be distribueted early in the morning). You can go get those tickets and then walk to WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and then the Korean Memorial (these are all around the reflecting pool). I also like the FDR Memorial.

Take a cell phone with you....they have numbers you can call to listen to descriptions of the various places (provided by the Park Services).

If you contact your Congressman now, you may be able to get a tour of the Capital.....that is really neat. Also, you can schedule a tour of the mint (to see where they make the money....but they don't give free samples).

Of course, all of the Smithsonian museums are excellent and each could take a day itself. Don't forget about Ford's Theatre....it is a neat experience. Also, the Holocaust Museum is excellent. My son had studied the Holocaust in school and had the concentration camp numbers of a girl who died there....he was allowed to go up to the library to look up her number and to learn a little more about her.

Check to see if there are any services that will be held at any of the war memorials (WWII, Vietnam, Korean). We saw a special service of one of the Infantry Groups at the WWII Memorial....one of the men (92 years old) stepped over and talked to us....he was wonderful.

Also, really pretty to go out to Arlington Cemetery to see Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It is a beautiful ceremony to see the changing of the guard.

Have fun.....as you can see, I love the D.C. area...it is so full of history.