Board 8 > Can someone familiar with Washington DC help me out

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I am going there for just like a half a day and want to know what my options are for seeing things or touring. Like, if we are going to walk alone where would we generally park to see some stuff? Or is it better to get a guided tour. How much does those cost, etc? Anyone have any ideas?

I've been there once, and I know you have to get a reservation in advance to see the Washington Monument, so keep that in mind.

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I've been there once, and I know you have to get a reservation in advance to see the Washington Monument, so keep that in mind.

I think that is just to go inside it right? I think with time constraints we might not have time to do a lot of going inside. Is walking feasible or need a bus? Where do you park? What's the best things to shoot for in limited time?

If you're going to the National Mall just to look at stuff, I think my family looked at everything in around 2 hours? But we didn't do things super in-depth, so if you wanted to really check out the buildings and stuff, it'll surely take much longer. Walking around the National Mall is doable, it's about 2 miles long. I think there were multiple parking structures around, but I don't really remember specifically. You'll probably want to check out the coolest government buildings and the Abraham Lincoln monument, I assume, those are probably the biggest draws. I don't really remember every detail, though, sorry.

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If you're going to the National Mall just to look at stuff, I think my family looked at everything in around 2 hours? But we didn't do things super in-depth, so if you wanted to really check out the buildings and stuff, it'll surely take much longer. Walking around the National Mall is doable, it's about 2 miles long. I think there were multiple parking structures around, but I don't really remember specifically. You'll probably want to check out the coolest government buildings and the Abraham Lincoln monument, I assume, those are probably the biggest draws. I don't really remember every detail, though, sorry.

I got a parking pass reserved just a block north of the capitol building. Was only $18 for the day so not bad. Figure we will go from like 9am to 5pm and get as much done in that time as we can.

Parking decks are decent in general, just pick the first one near your destination. But are you going for a protest, or cherry blossom season? Driving/parking in the city is a disaster those days. Park at a metro in Arlington/Alexandria and take the blue/yellow line into the city instead. Capitol bikes are the best if the weather is fine, since most of the city is in a 2 mile area and there's lots of bike trails, especially in tourist areas.

Do you just want to see touristy stuff? There's a ton of awesome local stuff in DC but you prob can't see it in a half day. If you rarely come to DC then a quick tour of a bunch of touristy stuff makes sense. In about 4 hours you could bike very leisurely from the Capitol through the mall, around BLM plaza (although it's been neutered now), then Tidal Basin (esp if cherry blossom season) & the outdoor memorials in that area towards Lincoln, then take the river trails past the Kennedy Center to Georgetown for lunch/dinner. Explore anything that catches your eye on the way. There's a lot of cool little side gardens and exhibits along the way.

If you can spare 2h for a museum, def do Planet Word. Super modern and innovative interactive AR exhibits in a cool location. Also it's free and doesn't need reservations 1 month in advance (typically).

American Art is another good quick museum with no reservations. It has the Portrait Gallery which is pretty classic, plus really awesome video art on the top floor (Nam June Paik & others)

foolm0r0n posted...

Parking decks are decent in general, just pick the first one near your destination. But are you going for a protest, or cherry blossom season? Driving/parking in the city is a disaster those days. Park at a metro in Arlington/Alexandria and take the blue/yellow line into the city instead. Capitol bikes are the best if the weather is fine, since most of the city is in a 2 mile area and there's lots of bike trails, especially in tourist areas.

Do you just want to see touristy stuff? There's a ton of awesome local stuff in DC but you prob can't see it in a half day. If you rarely come to DC then a quick tour of a bunch of touristy stuff makes sense. In about 4 hours you could bike very leisurely from the Capitol through the mall, around BLM plaza (although it's been neutered now), then Tidal Basin (esp if cherry blossom season) & the outdoor memorials in that area towards Lincoln, then take the river trails past the Kennedy Center to Georgetown for lunch/dinner. Explore anything that catches your eye on the way. There's a lot of cool little side gardens and exhibits along the way.

If you can spare 2h for a museum, def do Planet Word. Super modern and innovative interactive AR exhibits in a cool location. Also it's free and doesn't need reservations 1 month in advance (typically).

Going to be there May 9th. I am parking a block north of the capital building. Plan is to go from Supreme Court down the national mall to Lincoln memorial. Possibly into Arlington cemetery, but might skip that due to time. Then loop back.

Planet Word okay sounds cool. The air and space museum is closed for renovations. I am only interested in maybe the national archives myself. It appears you can only reserve a Washington monument tour the day before at 10am also.

Where do you rent bikes or Segways at?

Not sure about segways but bikes have stations all over the place for pickup/dropoff.

You don't want to cross the river on foot/bike. I'd go by car to see the cemetary. Metro would work too actually.

Also if you want to see the real air & space museum, swing by Udvar Hazy. Should be on your way if you're going west.

foolm0r0n posted...

Not sure about segways but bikes have stations all over the place for pickup/dropoff.

You don't want to cross the river on foot/bike. I'd go by car to see the cemetary. Metro would work too actually.

Also if you want to see the real air & space museum, swing by Udvar Hazy. Should be on your way if you're going west.

I won't have time for it, but I did hear it was neat. Okay then I'll cut out the cemetery. The one blog I read said they walked across the bridge to it and said they weren't sure why no one else seemed to. Lol.

How much do bike rentals cost?

I spent three days touring the National Mall before Covid hit, but we saw a lot and spent considerable time in the major museums there (like 3-4 hours each in Air and Space, Natural History, and Gallery of Art). That's obviously not feasible if you only have half a day, but if you have the time for a jaunt through one major museum, I'd recommend Natural History. I've never cared for jewelry, but some of the gemstones there blew my mind. They had one called the "Flame Topaz" that was one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen.

Also, it's cool how just about everything there is free to enter (and the only place with a line was Air and Space) and hot dog vendors were everywhere, so you could eat cheap n quick too. The only real expense we dealt with were the ubers to Alexandria and back.

CaptainOfCrush posted...

I spent three days touring the National Mall before Covid hit, but we saw a lot and spent considerable time in the major museums there (like 3-4 hours each in Air and Space, Natural History, and Gallery of Art). That's obviously not feasible if you only have half a day, but if you have the time for a jaunt through one major museum, I'd recommend Natural History. I've never cared for jewelry, but some of the gemstones there blew my mind. They had one called the "Flame Topaz" that was one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen.

Also, it's cool how just about everything there is free to enter (and the only place with a line was Air and Space) and hot dog vendors were everywhere, so you could eat cheap n quick too. The only real expense we dealt with were the ubers to Alexandria and back.

I am staying the night in woodbridge. And heading home upon leaving DC. Natural History is one I saw recommended a few times. I'll check it out. How do bikes work if you go inside a museum?

Dunno about that. We just ubered from my sister's house in Alexandria and then walked everywhere.

If it's Capital Bikeshare, you pick/drop the bike off at docking stations. It's $8 for a day pass. If you are staying on/around the national mall, then a bike is hardly necessary though.

Bartzyx posted...

If it's Capital Bikeshare, you pick/drop the bike off at docking stations. It's $8 for a day pass. If you are staying on/around the national mall, then a bike is hardly necessary though.

If you've only got a few hours using a bike will make your life easier. It's a bit of a walk to get to the Jefferson from the Lincoln, even stopping to see MLK Jr and FDR along the way. Also, if he's parked near the Capitol it's like 2 miles between that and the Lincoln, though all the museums are in between to break up the trip.

The bike would also make it a lot easier to go over the Memorial bridge if you want to see Arlington Cemetery and the Iwo Jiwa statue. Just be careful on the Virginia side as there's some road crossings along the way that always get me nervous.

I'll second visiting Udvar Hazy. That place was awesome, with the Space Shuttle and the SR71 and all the other old planes to look at. With that said, it IS out of the way, and for a short trip I wouldn't prioritize it over the Mall.

One day simply isn't enough time to see all the museums in full. There's far too many of them (and some aren't even on the Mall directly) and most are bigger than you imagine. I know you're going on a Monday, so that means no weekend crowds. But that time of year you always have to worry about tour groups, so hopefully that won't delay being able to get into things like the National Archives.

The other place to visit, if you had time, would be the Old Town Alexandria waterfront. It's just kind of a nice, pretty area. Plus I always enjoyed walking through the Torpedo Factory, which is actually a bunch of art studios you can walk though and browse. I'm assuming it's opened back up post-Covid but I haven't been back inside in a few years.

Bike makes it so much easier to be spontaneous and explore some side streets and such. Besides, the mall is just a giant grass field. Pretty boring to spend hours walking along that tbh. You want to go between the exhibits quickly.

foolm0r0n posted...

Bike makes it so much easier to be spontaneous and explore some side streets and such. Besides, the mall is just a giant grass field. Pretty boring to spend hours walking along that tbh. You want to go between the exhibits quickly.

Just worried about my 7 year old kid on a bike.

That said, I think I do intend to do a trip to NYC and hit up Washington DC also at some point, so I don't imagine this will be my only trip there. Just wanted to do something fun on the backend of my vacation trip and went for this.

Just play Fallout 3. You get to see everything, shoot super mutants, and you can fast travel everywhere!

The bikes are pretty big, bright, and chonky. They're designed for comfort rather than speed and you can adjust the seats up and down. That is a good question though about whether they're usable for a 7 year old. I feel like the answer to that is going to be yes.

There's also all sorts of scooters available for rent as well. Though 1) I'm not sure they're as prevalent on the Mall, and 2) I really don't think you want your 7 year old on one of those as they can go pretty fast.

Seanchan posted...

The bikes are pretty big, bright, and chonky. They're designed for comfort rather than speed and you can adjust the seats up and down. That is a good question though about whether they're usable for a 7 year old. I feel like the answer to that is going to be yes.

There's also all sorts of scooters available for rent as well. Though 1) I'm not sure they're as prevalent on the Mall, and 2) I really don't think you want your 7 year old on one of those as they can go pretty fast.

Kids these days are wild. He uses scooters, hoverboards, bikes etc. It's just whether the options would be decent for his size really and him being on a bike around crowds and potentially cars.

All the touristy stuff has really nice bike trails. And if it's a nice day in May, there's gonna be more bikers than drivers.

But if you'll be back soon then doing something more chill & walking is fine. I do think Georgetown is really nice to stop by no matter what though.