I've been to Washington DC five times now. I've wrote about almost everything there. If you want a quick run down on a museum or art gallery, just type it in the little search window on the website. Because I have been there so many times and wrote about it so many times, I'm only going to do the post about the Cherry Blossoms and this one. It seems like telling you the logistics is the most useful info I can give someone wanting to take a trip to DC.
I assume most people will want to stay in a motel/hotel in the city. Assuming you are driving, parking and driving is not a lot of fun. If you can get a hotel within walking distance of the mall your life will be a lot easier. . You will want to get to the National Mall. That is where the monuments and Smithsonian's are. We stayed at Greenbelt Campground twenty five minutes north of DC for $20/night. However, it wasn't for the faint of heart, Tuesday morning we woke up and it was 24 degrees. We drove into the city each morning and found parking. Another option is to stay across the bridge in Alexandria. This would save on hotel costs a lot. You would have to drive or take the train into the city, but it might be worth it financially.
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| FDR and his little dog |
If you can't leave your car at the hotel, there is metered parking along the mall and by Jefferson at East and West Potomac Parks. I'm not sure you'd get a spot by the mall, but in the morning there is parking at West Potomac Park in the lots and on the street. Closer to Haines Point there is free parking but it is only three hours which does you no good for a day in DC.
Once parked you have a few options for getting around the mall. You could walk, but this is a big area. It is a 45 minute walk from Lincoln to the Capitol. If you were to walk from the Jefferson area to the Smithsonian's you won't have any energy to enjoy the museums.
There is a cheap bus system that goes around the mall called the Circulator. It is only a dollar for a ride and well worth the time you will save walking and never mind the pain in your feet. The bus will take you to almost all of the sights. It is a good value.
https://www.dccirculator.com/ride/rider-tools/interactive-map/
However, by far the best way to get around the National Mall is on two wheels. Luckily, there are many options here. We brought our bikes down with us. We found parking near Jefferson and rode our bikes all day and night around the mall. I think this is by far the best choice.
However, if you don't have your own bikes or don't want to bring them with you there are other options. There is a ride share program called Capitol Bikeshare. They are red bikes that are stationed all over the city. With a credit card you can take a bike from any station and take it for a ride to your next stop. This system is hugely popular. At any time while you are walking, someone will be riding by you on a red bike. The bikes are cheap but you do have to follow the rules. They are meant from going place to place in short rides not to use for the whole day. None the less, Capitol Bikeshare is an easy cheap way to keep your freedom from schedules.
Lastly, new to me, are motorized two wheeled scooters. These are owned by Uber. They are a lime green color. Like the bikes, I saw them everywhere. Also like the bikes, you pay through a credit card online. They moved pretty quickly when not near pedestrians. According to a Google Answer, they cost 15 cents per minute
There are multiple options for getting around DC. They are all cheap and efficient.
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| Just starting to get dark |
Monuments at Night-
Even if you go to the monuments during the day, you will still want to got to them at night. They are cool during the day, but magnificent when all lit up at night. There are multiple ways to see the monuments. If you park near Haines Point in the evening you will have three hours of free parking. Do not park inside the gates at Haines Point because according to Google, they do lock the gates. I don't think you want to test that theory. But on street parking is free for three hours which should be enough time to see most of them.
Many of the monuments are close enough together where you can easily walk to them. Lincoln, Vietnam, and Korea are clustered in one area at the west end of the mall. From the bottom of the steps you can walk along the Reflecting Pool to the World War Two Memorial. You would also be as close to Washington as you need to be. A fairly long walk will get you to Martin Luther King and FDR. Jefferson is probably another 10-15 minute walk from FDR.
Walking to all the monuments I mentioned is doable. If you didn't tire yourself out during the day, you can easily enjoy the monuments and even the walks to them. However, just like the day time, you can use the rideshare bikes or scooters. As cheap as they are, I don't know why you wouldn't use them.
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| MLK |
Another option is to take one of the countless bus tours. I'll admit I have never taken one. I've taken my bike to DC four of the five times. The other time, in 2017, we were only there for two days and used the Circulator. The cost seems to be between $40-50/person to take a Monuments at Night Tour. The number of companies offering bus tours to the monuments seems endless.
Too be honest Laurie and I kind of make fun of all the tour buses. The people are lead out like lemmings. They have a certain amount of time at each monument. However, they do have some really good positive points. Most of the buses go to the Iwo Jima Memorial. With our bikes we did not dare to try to negotiate the traffic to Arlington. The Iwo Jima Memorial is one of the best. So we do miss out on that.
Another good reason to be a lemming is you learn a lot. Most of these tour guides are experts. The monuments are built with history and symbolism in mind. You can learn a ton of cool facts. You could also learn the same things on a ranger led tour during the day. But if you are at the monuments you may as well go home with some knowledge. A couple of examples: There are 87 stairs at the Lincoln Memorial. The reason, Four score and seven is 87. Another- when the Vietnam Memorial was being constructed a soldier threw his Purple Heart into the memorial. So it can be said with honesty the memorial has a heart. It is things like that you can get from a tour.
On the other hand, you are giving up freedom of time. The tours last a specific amount of time and to hit all of the monuments you can not linger at your own leisure. Laurie and I hung around Lincoln from sunset until dark because I was trying to get a photo of the monument with a plane going by and Lincoln being lit up inside. I had to wait for that balance where it was dark enough outside to make the lights of the inside glow. For the record, I should have put my camera on a tripod for this and used my shutter release cord. Still, we enjoyed the Lincoln Memorial for a good forty five minutes.
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| This one is Laurie's idea. Washington seen between the columns of Jefferson. It was an awesome idea |
At the end of our night we stopped at Jefferson. No one was there because all of the tour buses were home for the night. Even in the dark the clouds were a pinkish-yellow. I don't know if it was from pollution, the lights of the city, or just the glow this night. It was beautiful. It was our warmest day in DC. It was still about 62 degrees well after dark. It was the perfect night and with our bikes it didn't matter how long we stayed.
One last note, many of you are probably wondering if the city is safe at night. I have never felt uncomfortable or unsafe in the area of the National Mall at night. Obviously when there are crowds of a thousand tourists you have nothing to worry about. But even when we were the last people at Jefferson and we had a mile ride back to our car on a pretty quiet street, I never felt unsafe, nor have I at any other time I've been there.
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| This was taken right before we left for the night. It had been dark for an hour but the sky was still a pinkish-yellow. This is from the top stairs of Jefferson looking over the Tidal Basin |
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