The District of Columbia announced today that they're going to do away with the Mall Circulator bus. >sigh< They did not say when - if you're interested, I'd check on line for a phone # and call to be sure whether or not it will be there for you.
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The District of Columbia announced today that they're going to do away with the Mall Circulator bus. >sigh< They did not say when - if you're interested, I'd check on line for a phone # and call to be sure whether or not it will be there for you.
Try to make it to Union Station, right near the Capital. Great place to eat, and look around. The National Stamp museum is located right across from Union Station too. Have fun while enjoying your free museums. When you first get on the Mall, you should go to the Smithsonian Castle. Inside is the crypt of James Smithson, who the great Smithsonian museums are named after. The Castle has a big display of the Mall and nearby buildings that will give you some better direction once you have arrived.
I think it was pretty much effective immediately; apparently that particular route was on winter hiatus and they didn't even restart it for the busy cherry blossom season.
This thread has been very helpful, from a planning standpoint. So funny--I do very little planning anymore for Disney World trips (beyond hotel reservations and ADR's) but find myself poring over details for this DC trip. Let's hope that the government shut-down (should it occur) doesn't last very long, for everyone's sake!
Rita, I think the challenge is in knowing that downtown DC is a walking city (along with the Metro as a back-up) and to keep each day's itinerary within a certain area and reasonable time limits (since so many of the museums and other attractions close at 5:30 p.m.) I am fortunate that I started planning enough ahead of time that I found out about booking tickets or reservations for some of the tours ahead of time. Even so, I still wasn't able to secure tickets for the White House tour (no biggie there, though) or the Washington Monument. We'll try to get secure Washington Monument reservations the same day, if they're available--otherwise we'll just do the Tower view in the Old Post Office pavilion.
Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.
:twocents::laughing:
As far as the Bureau of Engraving, I'm pretty sure we did not get there before 8, but we did get in. Double decker busses were great. Rode both top & bottom. If you get in the mood for shopping, the Pentagon Mall is beautiful. And I'm sure you will be visiting the Lincoln Memorial.:thumbsup:
Thanks for the information. We'll probably be in line at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing around 7:30 a.m. and try to get one of the first tours of the day. If not, we'll go to Museum of Natural History until our tour time. And yes, the Lincoln Memorial is definitely on our agenda, along with the other memorials/monuments in that end of the Mall. Hope we have nice weather for all of this!
Hi All!
I'm going to D.C. this summer, and I need your help. We already have White House tour tickets, but what else is a must see. I will only have like 4 days to see stuff, and will be there with an almost 7 year old (history nut, so excited) and an almost 4 year old.
Thanks!
We enjoyed the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. It is always fun to see large piles of money sitting around. :)
There is WAAAY to much to see in the DC Area. So it is going to depend on what you would like to do. The Smithsonian Muesums are great. There are 14 of them, so go online and see which ones you like the most. Personally I love the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum. But there are art museums and specific Cultural museums all right there. Of course there are all the different monuments, they are really nice to go check out. I reccomemnd the Korean and Viet Nam Memorials, they are by Lincoln Monument. Also the WWII memorial is really something to see.
You can go see the original Constitution and the Declaration of Indipendence. Thats a must see for a budding History nut i would think.
Arlington National Cemetary is very close, just across the river. There you can see JFKs grave and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
You can drive down Embassy row and look at all the different embassies, thats kind of neat to do and could be a spur of the moment civic/geography lesson.
The nice thing is that everything in DC is pretty close together so its not that hard to find.
Hope this helps.
National Zoo is nice and is free. The Smithsonians are great as well. There is a branch of the Smithsonian Air and Space at Dulles Airport - also free and not at all crowded. The Space Shuttle Enterprise is housed there. The various monuments and memorials and Arlington are spectacular.
If you are looking for a great place to eat, try 'We The Pizza'. It is within walking distance from the capitol building and is amazing pizza. If you watch 'Top Chef' at all, it is owned by Spike. Best pizza I have ever had, hands down. Plus, they make their own sodas. It is good, cheap, and fun.
The Air and Space Museum near Dulles airport is not "free." There is a $15.00 parking fee. The National Archives is where the Constitution and Declaration of Independence is displayed. Have fun. You also have to pay for parking at the zoo. Take the Metro-subway if you can.
I've always been a big fan of the Natural History Museum (especially if people in your group love shiny things as much as I do, you'll want to check it out lol)
On our first trip to DC our kids were 7 and 10. The whole trip was planned with their ages and interests in mind. Our 7 year old knew a lot about Lincoln, in fact, she referred to him as the "penny man", we visited Ford's Theater and the house where Lincoln was brought after he was shot. At the Lincoln Memorial one of the steps is marked as the sight where MLK stood during his famous "I have a dream" speech, both kids knew a lot about him from school and that was meaningful for them. We visited the zoo, have to see the pandas! Also the Natural, American and Air and Space Museums. We went to Arlington on the Tourmobile and that wasn't such a great choice, it would have meant more to the kids now that they are teenagers. Mostly, they just complained they were hot, hungry and bored. We did visit the WWII, Korean, Vietnam and Roosevelt memorials, which they liked. My kids loved DC so much we went back five years later for another vacation and last year on our way driving home from Myrtle Beach they begged to stop overnight so they could visit the museums again. Have a great trip!