Washington DC: getting around downtown attractions
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MollyB · 05-08-2013, 06:01 PM

We will be visiting the DC area over Memorial Weekend and I am confused as to what the best way is to travel around the downtown attractions. We will be staying at Embassy Suites at the Chevy Chase Pavillion and will take the Metro downtown. In two days we would like to visit Arlington, the monuments and a couple Smithsonian museums. I am considering an on-off trolley tour but two days of that is rather expensive. Are there any other ideas that make sense? We are trying to avoid becoming exhausted by walking (will have 2 teenagers with us as well who are not sure this will be an exciting weekend). Is there a bus service that we can use to transport between the different areas? Taxi? Any other suggestions? Thanks for any help!

Huntermom · 05-08-2013, 07:46 PM

The Metro is a good way of getting around. There is also a bus system but I have never used it.

Most of the Smithsonian Museums are located within walking distance of one another. We would park once (finding a space is the trick) and then walk to different museums, although I think you should plan on a minimum of a half day at the major ones-natural history, air and space, American history, American Indian, National Gallery and the zoo. My kids also really liked the Holocaust Museum.

**chezp** · 05-09-2013, 01:55 AM

Whenever we've been to DC, we've used the Metro to get around. It's quick, it's convenient and cheap.

jlhill4444 · 05-09-2013, 02:13 PM

If you are trying to save money, the metro is the way to go to avoid walking too much. Most of the monuments near the capital and Smithsonian are within walking distance. Arlington can also be reached by metro. I would take the metro to the Federal Triangle or Smithsonian stop and walk around the mall/monuments from there. It is a bit of walking, but not too bad. If you want to do a trolley tour, just do that for one day to hit the places that re too far from each other to comfortably walk.

MickeyWatch · 05-09-2013, 05:17 PM

I was there last week for the first time and we used the metro to get to the zoo and from the airport to our hotel.

Keep in mind that the zoo opens at 6 am. We arrived at 8, saw the pandas eating bamboo shoots, took a quick walk around the rest of the zoo and were at the air and space museum by 10:30 via metro.

Once you are at the mall, unless you want to take a lot of short cab rides, you should be ready to do a lot of walking to get around. Capital Hill really is a hill. My daughter, who is a 12 year old competitive swimmer was worn out by the end of our first day.

jimmymac · 05-09-2013, 06:32 PM

There are hop on / off buses that run from the Capitol to Arlington. Almost all of the major museums are within walking distance. The metro is a great way to get around

Carousel96 · 05-09-2013, 07:13 PM

I've been to DC for convention/travel vacations for 21 years. Love the city and it's easy to get around.
A lot of the museums in DC are in a central zone with Metro Stops around the perimeter. Get a good map -- sometimes it's closer to walk from point A to point B than to get to one Metro stop and back from another.
Buy the plastic smartcards. They'll cost you $5 each, but the paper farecards carry a $1 per trip surcharge, so you'll save that $5 in a hurry.
Tourmobile is the only tram/trolly service that runs within Arlington (others will drop you at the visitors center) and I highly recommend it. Arlington can be a hike in and of itself.
I'm not a fan of the zoo. It has pandas, but beyond that, it's a zoo. There are plenty of things in DC that don't exist elsewhere that I think are a better use of limited time.

JJs_Mom · 05-09-2013, 08:01 PM

I don't think anyone has mentioned the DC Circulator bus system. It is $1 a ride and there are a few different routes around town.

cubfancolleen · 05-09-2013, 09:42 PM

You can walk the whole mall, from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial pretty easily. So in terms of museum trips, look at the map, and then plan on going around the mall like a clock, stopping at the ones you are most interested in.
Definitely just use the Metro to get to Arlington.
Regarding the zoo, the grounds open at 6 am. The indoor exhibits don't open until 10. There are a LOT of new exhibits at the zoo that does make it a worthwhile stop, but probably not if you only have 2 days.
ENJOY! DC is an great city!

nght10gale · 05-09-2013, 10:39 PM

We stayed at same hotel and loved it, so convenient to metro. Have you considered booking bike tour of the major sites? They have day time and after dark tours, we did this, we all enjoyed this, great way to see many sites. Would not have seen them all walking. Need to book bike tour ASAP as it sells out often especially night ones.

minemoz1 · 05-10-2013, 10:47 AM

We did a night trolley tour that took us to various monuments and the Iwo Jima memorial in Arlington. This tour offered really nice night views of the capitol, Lincoln memorial and Washington monument as well as a guide that gave you historical information. It was very good. We picked it up at the train station.

Download the Metro app to your smart phone. It will give you exact directions on how to get to where you are going, closests stations, where to change trains, etc. It also give real time arrivals so you'll know when a train is coming. It was very easy to use and made traveling around DC a snap. It's free and is available for iPhone and Android.

MollyB · 05-10-2013, 06:48 PM

Thanks everyone! This has been such helpful information!

MomToJedi&Princess · 05-15-2013, 10:50 PM

We used to live near DC and used the Metro for our touring. You can Metro to the monuments/museums and walk from place to place. Our kids were 7 and 9 when we lived there and they were able to walk the Mall area easily. The Mall area includes everything from the Capitol to Lincoln with the major Smithsonians in between. You can also see to Jefferson and the White House along this path. Arlington and the National Zoo are kind of separated and would have to be accessed by the Metro separately to either of these. There is so much to do that it could never be covered in one weekend whatever your mode of transportation. Pick what you want to see the most and the walking shouldn't be too bad.
Another option that I saw some people use was renting bicycles. Not sure about rates or anything with that but might be something to look in to.

MsPeggySue911 · 05-16-2013, 09:36 PM

The hop on hop off bus is not expensive at all. I think it is something like $35 per person but that is for 2 whole days. You definitely will need a tour type bus to get you to Arlington and the monuments but if you are taking the Metro to the mall then you can walk to all the museums from the mall. They are all in a big rectangle kind of going up one side of the road then down the other side of the mall.

When we have been to D.C we always use the hop on hop off bus but now you have to buy your tickets online before you go. You can't just buy them the day of anymore.

You can minimize your walking by just getting off the bus at one museum and getting back on and letting it take you down to the next museum. But the museums are not that far apart. And there are quite a few of them.

My oldest son DS28 was 12 when I first took him to D.C and he loved it there but my two youngest have never been and I think they would think it is boring because they are use to fun filled Disney vacations going to parks and such every day. Just going to museums and a cemetery wouldn't thrill them at all. But I still plan to take them someday.

MollyB · 05-16-2013, 11:52 PM

As I was reading these very helpful posts I started thinking "wait a minute, my family is USED to walking for hours on end around Disney Parks! Well be fine walking!". But then yeah, it's not the fun filled magic of Disney either lol. Thinking of doing the DC Ducks tour... That should be interesting and fun filled!