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Planning a vacation to D.C
Kyougu
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Registered User regular
Some may remember an earlier thread I made where I asked about going to vacation by myself. D.C was thrown as a good city to do this in, and being a political nerd, this made perfect sense.
Now I'm set on planning the vacation for around September, and I need some advice:
1)Time-Is one week overkill? I want to fit in cool stuff, but I also don't want to get bored.
2)Hotel Location-Any particular spots I should be looking to staying in?
3)Transportation-How's D.C's public transportation situation? I don't mind walking/taking the bus to spots.
4)Things to see/do-I'll be doing the Senate, White House, etc. Any other fun stuff? What about nights? Not into clubs, but wouldn't mind checking out some bars as long as they're not super trendy.
Now I'm set on planning the vacation for around September, and I need some advice:
1)Time-Is one week overkill? I want to fit in cool stuff, but I also don't want to get bored.
2)Hotel Location-Any particular spots I should be looking to staying in?
3)Transportation-How's D.C's public transportation situation? I don't mind walking/taking the bus to spots.
4)Things to see/do-I'll be doing the Senate, White House, etc. Any other fun stuff? What about nights? Not into clubs, but wouldn't mind checking out some bars as long as they're not super trendy.
Kyougu on
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2. ...
3. If I remember right, DC's metro is spotless. I remember getting around quite easily.
4. Went before I could drink so I don't know about the bars, but definitely take some time to check out all of the war memorials (assume that's included in the etc though)
Visiting wise, downtown and the center of the city are pretty touristy, good places to be. Once you get out from downtown into the more residential areas, it's pretty crappy. Stay in the tourist zones with the big blue signs.
The metro rocks. I don't have a lot to compare it to other than the tube in London, but I think it's great. Better than London's, anyway. You can get a week card for between $30-$50, depending on how long your trips are. You'll probably be fine with the short trip one, since you'll likely be staying downtown.
There's always something cool at the Kennedy Center, but I'm a literature nerd so I don't know if everything there would be up your alley. There was a really good bar that we used to go to frequently, but it's been a few months since I was in DC and I can't recall the name.
Get on yelp and look at bars around H St. and U St. Go to one of them, just for fun. Revel in the fact that I hate your kind (tourists) for clogging my bars.
Your bars? he's not going to adams morgan or arlington..
I don't mind tourists unless they can't figure out these things. It's a fun city - I'd recommend visiting Arlington Cemetary (accessible by the Blue Metro line).
I don't actually LIKE Adams Morgan bars. If it weren't for the Diner I'd never go there.
Dan's Cafe called. It said you suck.
2. Depends on your price range but you definitely want something close to a metro line. I had cause to stay at the Embassy Suites in DC a few years ago it was an excellent hotel with a free continental breakfast and it was right off the Red line.
3. http://www.wmata.com/ You can use their website to get times on trains/buses and plan out your travel around the town.
4. The free museum's are all pretty awesome and the monument's are worthy though the Washington monument isn't that exciting to go up in, the "new" Air and Space annex out at Dulles Airport is pretty awesome if you like planes or Transformers though I'm not sure they still have any of the Transformers 2 stuff up. You'd have to take a shuttle out there but you can pick it up from the Air and Space in DC if I remember correctly.
Some things you will need to get tickets for even though it's free, you either have to get there rat the but crack of dawn to get them or get them way in advance, like the White House.
There are also some good for profit one's as well like The Newseum, International Spy Museum, and you know I've lived here on and off for 20 years and I still haven't gone to Ford's Theater so maybe you should do that.
edit: crap. defeated.
As for places to stay, we stayed in a Best Western in Rockville, MD. The rate was reasonable (was splitting a room with 4 people total, though), continental breakfast, and <8 minutes away from a metro station. I'm pretty sure they even had a shuttle that took you over in that general area in the morning (there's also a parking lot there which is free in the morning, but I believe there's a minimal charge on weekdays).
Like everyone else said, there are plenty of things to see. Due to the bad weather on Friday night we had to compact everything into Saturday, but we managed to see all the war memorials etc. at the National Mall as well as the holocaust museum. The latter is worth seeing, but be aware that you need tickets (which were free) to see the main exhibit which are for certain times during the day, so try to plan ahead if you go there.
One other thing -- they changed the metro fares and apparently have not updated the charts on all of the machines. You will need an extra .10 than what it says on the charts. All in all the metro was very simple. I'm used to traveling around NYC, and it felt a good deal simpler than that.
it's worth it just for the Blackbird. you'll never see something that looks faster. metro is pretty easy to navigate, it's all color-coded. just have an idea of where you want to go. a general map of the city/downtown will be useful.
you'll probably be skipping most of the summer crowds. i'm not sure if there's stuff happening on the national mall in september, but sometimes the smithsonian does these interesting cultural things
http://www.festival.si.edu/
prepare for humidity, and heat. bring a hat, drink water. september in DC is still a rice cooker.
if you can manage it, hit up the free Brookside Gardens in Wheaton
http://www.montgomeryparks.org/brookside/
it's always very pretty
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I hate to disagree, but I've lived here a good portion of my life and I still find new stuff to see all the time.
Similarly, there is the National Archives, Library of Congress, Museum of Natural History, Air and Space Museum, the Supreme Court, the Corcoran, the Hirschorn, the Arboretum, the Spy Museum, the Holocaust Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Zoo, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Pentagon (I think you need a reservation), the White House, the Capital, Arlington Cemetery (seriously, this is a place you must go, and give it plenty of time. Also, bring water and really, stay quiet around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier or people will hate you) and Ford Theater is a nice stop off too.
If you are interested in culture at all, there is the Kennedy Center, Warner Theater, the couple of Arena Stage locations and tons of other theaters in DC and across the river in Arlington/Alexandria.
In terms of memorials, there is the Vietnam Memorial and the Korean War Memorial right next to each other next to the Lincoln Memorial, which is pretty much my favorite building anywhere, and the World War II memorial at the end of the reflecting pool. There's also plenty of that in Arlington Cemetery and the new Air Force Memorial near the Pentagon.
Down the GW Parkway a bit south of Old Town Alexandria is Mount Vernon, which has some good history.
There's also tons of stuff in Old Town Alexandria, including Christ Church, which reminds me that you'll want to add the National Cathedral to your list in D.C. proper.
Oh, the Botanic Gardens are great too.
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That... depends on how much stamina you have and how hot the weather is. Also, it's no good to get yourself so exhausted that you need a vacation to recover from your trip. Planning two places per day is the maximum I would recommend (and i wouldn't expect to get through more than one).
Take good snack bars with you, in addition to your water. In fact, pack as though you were going on a day hike in the woods. Seriously. Wear really good shoes: your feet will happily murder you if you don't.
There are some good Thai restaurants, I guess near the Chinatown district.
As far as the White House is concerned, talk to your state senator, like, right now. If I remember right, there are restrictions like "you have to have groups of at least 20 people" or "you have to arrange a tour months in advance". At least, that was the case 2 years ago... no idea if it's still in effect.
The Zoo! It's free, but the animals aren't stupid, so they disappear during the hottest parts of the day. Arrive there early in the morning if you want to see them. There are also a couple of nice Irish pubs between the Zoo and the closest Metro station to the south.
Also, if you want to take a day trip out of the city, I would highly recommend Mount Vernon.
And SmarTrip cards are the best. ^_^ They work on the buses as well as the Metro.
It is amazing, but depending on traffic that's more like two hours. Each way. Still if you go stop off at the NSA complex, it's on the way. They have a very cool cryptography/spy museum. You can't get to the gift shop though - secure area.
Still and then some. You have to apply to go in through your congresscritter, then be checked and approved before you can join the tour. Long gone are the days when you could just show up.
I've lived in DC too, and I loved doing everything there. It doesn't mean I wouldn't get sick of going to museums or DC restaurants and nightlife for more than 3 days straight. In a world of limited time + resources, i'd argue that 3 days of DC + 3 days of NY > 6 days of DC.