Yorkieabroad

Thanks all...some good tips coming in...I hadn't thought about needing ID for the senate tours, although I guess if we get one (not heard yet..) they will tell us then.

On the White House tours, I'd taken the amendment to the website (the red para) to be the latest, which tied in with what we got from Olsens office, but don't know if there are any exceptions...but then we're not really an exceptional bunch.....

Leslie..thanks for the link to your thread and photos. A mine of information in there.

Walking and public transport seem to be the way to go...comfy shoes all round.

Shame we couldn't follow the tips on when to go, but beggars can't be choosers, especially beggars with jail-aged kids....

Yorkieabroad

Nice pic...sort of how York might have looked if they'd bothered to learn how to use rulers before they started

The kids have already got liberty bell and Valley Forge on the list, but Franklin Institute was a new addition that someone else had mentioned too.

Wibblypig

LOL But that's what I like about York

We just got back from Washington DC (and NY, NJ, Philadelphia and Baltimore) yesterday I loved Washington especially I would highly recommend where we stayed, the Marriott Crystal Gateway. It cost us $99 a night, we stayed 5 nights, we had one room (2 adults, 3 kids aged 12, 10 and 6) and it was really well located, right on top of a Metro station and small shopping mall. However we found 5 days not enough to do everything there, we went to mostly the Smithsonian museums as they are all free. Don't be deceived by the length of National Mall, it's actually 2 miles in length! not surprised we were knackered that day we were walking backwards and forwards You can book a tour of the Capitol Building directly through their website, they had several time slots free when we decided to do it another time. We found the Metro fantastic, trains were frequent and it was very clean, NY should take notes! The only downfall was it was a bit too hot and humid for all that walking around, says the person who lives in Florida

We loved Philadelphia too. There is so much to do there and we regretted only going for the day and of course the day we were there was the only day it rained non stop the entire 2 weeks we were away!

You will have a great time We can't wait to go back to Washington....we will just pick a cooler time of year!

Wibblypig

P.S. You will need a car to get to the Air and Space Museum by Dulles airport, but it is worth it!!

We actually parked on the street outside the hotel as it was free from 6pm-8am and only a $1 an hour in between.

Yorkieabroad

Hmm, that's cheap for the parking.....the hotels we are looking at were charging 30-40/night for parking. I think we've pretty much decided to go carless for a few days, but may rent to go out to Gettysburg and on to Philadelphia, so we can time this with a car day, or else use the hotel airport shuttle (already confirmed they will let us do that!)

Wibblypig

The hotel we stayed in charged just under $30 a night for parking. We had picked the car up when staying in NJ, hired it for a week but were going to hand it back after 5 days when we got to Washington due to the cost of the hotel parking, but then we spotted the parking on the street outside the hotel and saw it was so cheap so just used that and kept the car for those 2 days. We didn't actually pay anything as we made sure we were out by 8am and back after 6pm.

kins

Every single driver was Ethiopian, and we must have taken 10 or 12 cabs. Some were great, others were so bad I nearly got out and walked home.

Having said that, I took a taxi into Chicago from Midway the other day, and within 30 seconds of getting in I was praying that I'd survive.

Hiro11

The Udvar-Hazy, a name that rolls off the tongue. One of DC's most underrated attractions.

Michael

It is part of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum but in Virginia which contains Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, a Concorde, and the space shuttle Discovery.

Wibblypig

Definitely We went 'for the morning' and ended up being there for about 5 hours

I would put a picture of my kids with Discovery, but I can't remember the easy way to add photos They are on my FB page though.

Dewey

Some ideas for things to do on the Washington DC Wiki
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Categoryistrict_of_Columbia_City_Guide

Yorkieabroad

Sounds like our sort of place. Its been added to the list. Our plans are generally loose because we always end up finding things and places that keep us longer than intended -but that's what makes a holiday good, right? .....our trip last year was shortened by about 1200 miles because we stayed places longer than planned

Yorkieabroad

Nice link - thanks! Been on here for about a decade, and never been on any of the wikis

Dewey

I don't think many of the membership realize anyone can add to the Wiki pages on this website, most of the USA City Guides are blank. I started contributing to the Washington DC city guide wiki about 6 years ago when I discovered a lot of the same types of questions were coming up on this board and there wasn't a knowledgebase like it elsewhere...I thought what would a Brit new to the District want to know? - where's the caff/pub/chippy/etc, and it just sort of grew from there. Enjoy!

Jerseygirl

How long are you going for? You can easily spend a week or more in DC...the fabulous museums, monuments, White House, Capitol Building, Arlington Cemetery etc and also Georgetown. IMO Philly and Baltimore don't come anywhere close to DC...so don't cut your visit to DC short by trying to see other places.

My daughter was 10 the first time she visited the museums...she was fascinated.