DC road trip Columbus Day weekend.

So we're planning on a family road trip to DC over a long Columbus Day weekend. Any recommendations on where to stay, the absolute must-see's, what to avoid, etc. etc.? Kids are 6 and 10.

Driving in from central Illinois.

Go.

And thanks!

We stayed at a Marriott about two subway stops from the Mall and Smothsonian. We could leave the car at the hotel and whenever the wife was tired we were only a few minutes from the room. The Mall after dark was beautiful. We only stayed one night so we didn't see much but it was a nice stop.

Learn the metro (its easy) and use it to get anywhere, avoid driving inside the beltway if at all possible.

Vienna/Fairfax area is not bad to stay at and the orange line is direct enough to the mall, good luck and plenty of people around here are from the DC area.

I'm planning on visiting a friend near Dulles on my next 3 day weekend. My itinerary is air and space, natural history, zoo, other air museum, and a E36 M3 load of pictures of monuments. He is a 15 minute drive to a metro station.

In reply to TLNXTYM:

We did the same trip 2 years ago for spring break, although we stayed with friends there. I'll say this though - the Memorial Mall is big...way bigger than it looks on TV, in the movies, or on a map. If you have even the slightest though of walking from...say the Capital building to maybe Arlington Nat'l Cemetery...just don't.

Also, some of the buildings had a line around the outside very early, and I know some also required/suggested tickets in advance. We didn't have any problem with the Smithsonian museums on the mall that we visited though.

+1 on staying outside the city and taking metro in. Weekend parking at metro stations is usually free, but not all stations have parking, and/or some have limited parking space available.

To be honest it has been a LONG time since I have been to any of the museums in the city. Air and Space museum was always my favorite, but I don't remember too much about the other Smithsonian sites.

Vienna/Fairfax is probably a good suggestion on where to stay, metro stations nearby, close to 66 if you decide to drive into the city, and you can also head west on 66 and go to the Udvar-Hazy Center, the portion of Air and Space museum that is not in DC and in Dulles, VA
https://airandspace.si.edu/visit/udvar-hazy-center/

If you or the kids have any interest in the Civil War there is the Manassas National Battlefield Park just a little further west on 66.
http://www.nps.gov/mana/index.htm

neon4891 wrote: I'm planning on visiting a friend near Dulles on my next 3 day weekend. My itinerary is air and space, natural history, zoo, other air museum, and a E36 M3 load of pictures of monuments. He is a 15 minute drive to a metro station.

If you're staying out by Dulles, be sure and hit the Udvar - Hazy Air Smithsonian hanger that is out that way. Lots of huge stuff that's not in display at the National Mall - Space Shuttle, Enola Gay, Sikorsky helicopters, various satellites etc. You can also go up the Dulles air traffic control tower and they have a mock-up of what happens in the tower. Entry is free, but parking is $15.

Check out AirBnB also for places to stay.

As far as sites not already mentioned:

*Arlington Cemetery is interesting - there is a bus tour that takes in most of the sites - Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, JFK's resting place, the mansion of Robert E Lee that is on the site.

*Memorials on the tidal pool - MLK, Jefferson, Lincoln etc. Roosevelt is a personal favorite.

*National Cathedral - huge gothic place on a hill overlooking Georgetown - busses run there but the Metro does not. There is a large parking garage beside the Cathedral and parking is in the $5 range. It's really a neat building - huge catacombs under the building, gigantic tapestries from the 1400s, acres of stained glass panels one of which has a moon rock in it.

I live in Alexandria and play the tourist guide when people come into town a lot. Old Town Alexandria is also neat - the George Washington Masonic Temple is worth a look, get off at the King St Metro.

Yeah, the U-H hanger. I can never remember the name but that's it. For my trip parking there will probably be the single most expensive thing I pay for.

Another metro recommendation.

Generically, get down to the mall. The museums and such are a big draw for kids, and many are located right around the mall.

To avoid exhaustion and tears, spring for a few rides on the pedal cabs, where you all ride in the back and the operator pedals you around.

If you've a smart phone, check out the various DC apps. There are a number of them.

Two reasonably good "visit DC" web sites:

http://washington.org/100-free-and-almost-free-things-do-dc

and

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g28970-Activities-Washington_DC_District_of_Columbia.html

If you want a good sandwich for lunch, find a Potbelly. There are 20+ around DC. And save room for their ice cream sandwiches.

People around DC love to spend their entire day in their car or on the train trying to get somewhere. Stay close to the stuff you want to see. Enjoy spending your time seeing/doing, not commuting.

If you happen to walk by Brasserie Beck on 11th & K, check out the inside and tell me how awesome it looks :)

Mount Vernon is also close to DC.
http://www.mountvernon.org/plan-your-visit/?gclid=CKSZs7bAtccCFQGqaQodA4oAlA

I live in Gaithersburg and commute to Southeast DC.

Always check the metro status http://www.wmata.com/rider_tools/metro_service_status/rail_Bus.cfm

Look down the page under Advisories, they have been doing a lot of weekend track work. I pretty much never go into town on the weekend, but if they have a "Busses replace trains" watchout!

If you are going to ride more than a few times get the plastic fare card rather than the paper (smaller machine, the big ones add value to plastic or give you a paper card that costs an extra $1 every ride.

Escalators: stand right, walk left, or prepare for people to be mad at you.

Driving the beltway stinks, you will most likely get tied up in traffic.

95 south of DC also stinks, been held up an extra two hours on that before as well.

For the trip, coming and going, you can find some zany funny things to stop at for the kids and you at this site:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

I've done the Metro a few times when visiting DC and can say it's only good if necessary. If you can afford a place a convenient walk to the Mall I'd strongly recommend that. Several shorter outings rather than a forced march from monument to museum to historical spot. Take your time, and take small breaks to give the kids ice cream from vendors. Kids remember stuff like that as much as a 555 ft tall monument.

Remember that the museums and such close around 5:30 so do them earlier and monuments later. If you want to go up the Washington Monument or into the White house you need to get your tickets now, there are no walk up tickets.

It's somewhat far from most of the tourist stuff, but Ben's Chilli Bowl on U Street is a National treasure. I lived in U about 15 years ago, on what was then the marginally safer end, and Ben's was always 100% worth running the 8 block gauntlet.

In reply to KyAllroad:

Staying close was worth the extra money. Especially to be able to sneak out at night to see the monuments. We walked the mall at about 10pm on a Sunday night and had the place to ourselves. We also found out the trains don't run all night to get back to the room but for a couple bucks we talked a guy running off with a double decker bus to talk a loop past the hotel.

Wow. Awesome tips guys. I knew there would be a wealth of information here as usual. Thanks!