DC Travel Tips

In April my friend Tara and I went to Washington DC. I tried to get good advice for touring the city, but the only advice anyone gave was that we would run out of time. True, but not particularly helpful. Now, as the voice of experience, here are my tips:


1. Don't bother with the White House.

In movies they show tour guides leading you through various rooms telling you fascinating things. That may have once been true, but now you have ropes that you follow through about five rooms, with people standing around that will answer questions if you ask. For this privilege you have to contact your state senator and request a form that you fill out several months in advance requesting clearance and giving information for them to do a background check. On the day of the tour, you cannot carry any bags, cameras, or anything other than your keys and ID. That ended up being rather inconvenient, and combined with the letdown that the "tour" itself was, yeah, don't bother. There is a Visitor's Center just down the block where you can find pictures and information on the house, but no one will explain the difference between an Easter egg hunt and an Easter egg roll.

2. Don't bother with the Cherry Blossom Parade.

It is a small parade, but the real problem is that it is so poorly organized and brings in so many people. I am not saying not to go at cherry blossom time; the trees are beautiful and should be seen. However, on the actual day of the parade and street festival there are horrendous crowds, in lines that do not move for hours, while the sun beats down on you. (See the side photos of the Jefferson monument on Parade day and on a different day. The difference in population is exponential.)

The parade itself has long gaps, so we kept getting faked out that it was over, and then more banners would appear. Most importantly, if you are going to have equestrian groups, the cleanup crew needs to be directly behind them. This way the cute little girl scouts and the dancers in their elegant long kimonos do not need to dodge so much.

3. If you want to go to the Washington Monument, get there early.

There is just a limited amount of people they can put on each elevator trip. The tickets get taken fast, so even if you arrive in the late morning you will probably be too late. The form you fill out for the White House is not exclusively for that, but can also get you special tours or admissions to various monuments, including this one. I strongly recommend using it for the Washington Monument if you want to go. And if you don't, that is okay. It's pretty much a fast elevator ride and then a view. For something different, but similar, try the Old Post Office Clock Tower. It is very high, great view, but with less waiting. It may also be the only place in town where you can fully appreciate the park below, which has the city layout on its squares.

4. Do not eat at museums.

Of course they are overpriced. It's to be expected. The real question is, where can you find food that is not overpriced? We found two good locations. Actually, our real gold mine was the fellow I think of as the most helpful souvenir vendor in DC. I should have gotten a name; it would be easier to type. Anyway, he pointed us to the food court in the basement of the Old Post Office (he was set up across the street from the food court entrance), and answered many other questions. In addition, the lower level of Union Station has an extensive food court. Most of our meals occurred at those two food courts.

Now, you might think eating at food courts is kind of lame in such a great city. I asked around a lot to see if there was any traditional area cuisine we should try, and it looks like everything is pretty homogenized. If there is a good restaurant, it is probably some hole in the wall owned by immigrants who happen to be good cooks, and you could only find those accidentally while off the beaten track. So, if I am going to be eating the same stuff I could find anywhere, I'd kind of like it to be cheap. The one museum exception I suggest is at the Museum of Native American History. The have traditional cuisine for different regions, and that is kind of cool.

5. Take a tour the first day.

Our first day, we did a lot of wandering around because things would look interesting and we would head that way to see what they were, though often when we got there we still couldn't tell. Later, tour guides would tell us. The wandering was okay, but getting the lay of the land down early can really help you spend your time more efficiently. We took four tours total: the regular Tourbus tour, Tourbus Monuments by Moonlight, DC Ducks, and a boat tour to Mount Vernon. The two Tourbus tours are probably tied for being most informative, but I'm glad we took the others also, if for no other reason than that I really love boats. There are also walking tours, bike tours, Segway tours, all sorts of tours. Definitely take at least one and take it early.

6. Do not miss the tour of the Capitol Building.

It may sound boring, and being around Congress is generally not all the fascinating, but the Rotunda, with its statues and paintings, is so spectacular that it should not be missed. It was disappointing that we could not wander around at will, and that it was so crowded and noisy. Still, you really need to go.

7. If you do go to the Zoo, spring for a map.

The place is large, and the extra buck is well spent to see where you are and which direction you need to go.

8. Wear good shoes.

Even when you are taking a tour bus, there is still a lot of walking. Treating your feet right, both by what you are wearing and by incorporating rest breaks, will make a big difference.The one similarity DC has to Vegas is that everything looks closer than it is because things are really huge. It's just that Vegas is a giant monument to self-indulgence and DC is mostly a monument to sacrifice and serving your country. I guess that's why there were no buffets.

9. Check hours of operation for everything.

Most things close around 5 or 5:30 PM. It appears to be so they can hold fund-raisers after hours, but I am just basing that on seeing a lot of tables and glassware set up every time we left a place. The point is, if you sleep in, you are cutting a big chunk out of your opportunity to see things. Early to bed and early to rise is actually better here. (That is another difference from Vegas.)

10. The Iwo Jima monument is not in Arlington Cemetery.

It is outside of it, and that was never clear until we were about to leave the cemetery and realized we had not seen it yet. You have to go all the way out, then across this other park, past a carillon and you still keep going. Everyone says, "You'll see the flag", but we did not until right before we got there. I think we needed to ask directions of three different people. Still, it is worth it. It was a powerful image as a photo, and it is a powerful image as sculpture.


Finally, decide which things are most important and put them first as much as possible.

Yes, you will run out of time. I was disappointed to miss the Spy Museum, the National Aquarium, the ghost tour of old Alexandria, and the paddle boats on the tidal basin, but what would I have missed? Certainly not the Lincoln, Jefferson, FDR and WWII memorials, or the various Smithsonian museums we visited, or the National Gallery of Art where we really should have spent more time (it had been closed, so its reopening caught us off guard). Not the National Archives where we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights (in the presence of a thousand eighth graders). Even with what we missed there was so much that we saw, from a section of the Berlin Wall in the Ronald Reagan Building to Jerry Seinfeld's puffy shirt in the Museum of American History, to Giant Pandas sucking bamboo-sicles in the National Zoo.

Actually, I already specified, I would have skipped the White House and the Cherry Blossom Parade. I didn't know better, but now you do.